[UPDATE: SHOE SCULPTURE REMOVED ON ORDERS FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES]
Saddam’s hometown unveils statue dedicated to man who threw shoe at President Bush
nydailynews
BY DAVE GOLDINER – DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A statue dedicated to the man who threw his shoes at President Bush has been erected in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown.
Many Iraqis considered it poetic justice when a journalist tossed his shoes at President George W. Bush last month.
Now the bizarre attack has spawned a real life work of art.
A sofa-sized statue of the shoe was unveiled Thursday in Tikrit, the hometown of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Baghdad-based artist Laith al-Amari described the fiberglass-and-copper work as a tribute to the pride of the Iraqi people.
The statue is inscribed with a poem honoring Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who stunned the world when he whipped off his loafers and hurled them at Bush during a press conference on Dec. 14.
In the Arab world, even showing someone the sole of a shoe is considered a sign of disrespect.
Al-Zeidi was charged with assaulting a foreign leader, but his lawyer is asking prosecutors to reduce the charges. The trial has been delayed.
The shoe attack spawned a flood of Web quips, satire and even street rallies across the Arab world, where Bush is widely reviled for starting the war in Iraq and backing Israel against the Palestinians.
A Turkish shoemaking company also claimed its sales skyrocketed after some reports said it made the shoes that al-Zeidi tossed at Bush.
(Source)
The death of over a million people are a direct result of George Bush’s negligence. Saddam was hung for the death of five thousand people which he believed were an enemy danger. I could wonder how many woman and children were involved and killed in Bush’s premeditated war and lie. Anyone that would believe that the Iraqi people are going to forget this murder spree is crazy in the head. And our soldiers that are coming home and killing their self aren’t doing it cause we all love them, which leaves another charge opened on this commander and chief, “manslaughter”. If Bush succeeded at anything it would of been the dishonor of Honor.
“And a year from now, I’ll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush. There is no doubt that, with the exception of a very small number of people close to a vicious regime, the people of Iraq have been liberated and they understand that they’ve been liberated. And it is getting easier every day for Iraqis to express that sense of liberation.â€
— Richard Perle, 9/22/03
(thanks to Ned on reddit for this quote!)