UPDATE: Iraq Shoe Tosser Guy: The Animated Gifs
In a surreal event, an Iraqi reporter hurled his shoes at President Bush in his surprise ‘farewell’ appearance in Iraq. Amazingly the reporter was able to throw both shoes - with nary a sign of resistance from those around him. The first pitch came in on the inside, and Bush (showing more speedy judgment than I expected) barely got out of the way. Apparently many in the audience were there to heckle, instead of praise Bush, and the reporter is being hailed as a hero to the people in the streets. I’m sure many will say it was a savage move, but hey, it’s not like the reporter started a fak3 war in his country that killed thousands of innocents!_“Yesterday, in Baghdad, an Iraqi TV reporter threw two shoes at George W. Bush during a news conference the self-styled “war president” took part in alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki; the shoe-thrower referred to his gesture as a_
“farewell kiss” For although the activity might not specifically have been an item on their collective agenda, apparently numerous participants in the confab also had come to curse George W. Bush, not to praise him. (News of their criticism of the hapless, lame-duck, self-styled “war president” was still circulating even as the failed American leader turned up in Baghdad yesterday in U.S.-occupied Iraq, where, at a news conference alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, he was almost pelted by shoes. Notes the Washington Post: “Arriving [in Baghdad] for a surprise farewell visit, [Bush] staunchly defended a war that has taken far more time, money and lives than anticipated, but he received a taste of local resentment toward his policies when an Iraqi journalist hurled two shoes at him….Just after Bush finished his remarks…, an Iraqi journalist took off his shoes and threw them at Bush, one after the other. Throwing a shoe at someone is considered the worst possible insult in Iraq and is meant to show extreme disrespect and contempt.” The shoe-thrower yelled, “This is a farewell kiss!” as “he threw the first shoe.")
via SFGate: World Views : Climate-change conference: They came, they talked, they left..