Bush takes a size 10

U.S. President George Bush had a close encounter with the footwear of an Iraqi journalist this past weekend. Bush was at a press conference during one of his surprise visits to the Iraqi capital when Muntadar al-Zeidi, a reporter with Al-Baghdadiya TV channel, hurled his size 10’s at the outgoing President,

Before guards could wrestle the hostile interrogator to the floor, he got off a second shoe and shouted, “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” The Iraqi prime minister aided in the defense this time, holding up a hand to try to shield Bush. Bush, uninjured, laughed off the incident: “All I can report is it is a size 10,” he said later. link

Writing on the Modesto Bee blog embedded reporter Adam Ashton, who was in the room when the shoes started to fly, tells it the way he saw it,

As [the press conference] ended, a couple Iraqi security guards in
suits took away two more Iraqi journalists because one of them called
Zaidi’s protest “courageous.” Hammed bravely stood up for the
journalists. Talking to a friend just isn’t a crime. They were released
a few minutes later after some American officials intervened on their
behalf.

Some of the security guards started looming over members of the
White House press corps who flew in with Bush, at least until a White
House communications aide shooed them away.

The press conference was not aired live. Few political events are here.

Many of the broadcast reporters feared the Iraqi government would
take their cameras and tapes. They expect that things will be tougher
for them next time they cover one of Maliki’s events.

“This will have consequences for us,” one reporter told us.

That’s a shame. All the Iraqi reporters in the front row apologized
to Bush. It was a reporter who yanked Zaidi to the ground before Iraqi
or American guards could reach him. link