Iraqi Army Loves, Hates Shoe-Tosser

BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- The flying shoe incident has everyone here talking. To recap: Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi was detained after flinging his shoes at President George W. Bush during a press conference yesterday in Baghdad’s Green Zone. Muntader seems to have struck a chord with Iraqis; hitting someone with a shoe is a deep insult in this country.

The New York Times Baghdad Bureau blog has an excellent roundup of reactions from around the country. The Times even tracked down Muntader's brother, who said he was "proud of his brother — as all Iraqis would be."

As it happens, I was out visiting an Iraqi Army outpost in Sadr City, where several hundred demonstrators rallied this morning in support of the journalist. The demonstration ended peacefully, although soldiers who watched the crowd told me that a television reporter was inadvertently singed by a burning American flag.

Back in the operations center, the incident was replayed endlessly on local television. One of the officers on duty shook his head: "This isn’t good. This is violence."

A young private named Essa, however, had a different opinion. "It’s honor for Iraq, for the Iraqi people," he said. "It’s a great honor – a great thing to do."

Raed, a warrant officer, offered the long view: "This never would have happened in the time of Saddam. If that had happened, he would be executed straight away. They would chop him into a million pieces. Saddam would kill his cousins, his uncles, all his relatives."
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