Shoes Make It That Far

By Rick Ruffin

Someone please give Muntader al-Zaidi a gold star. It's not easy to get within striking range of George W. Bush.

I'm amazed those shoes made it that far. I'm amazed they weren't batted away by some invisible force field surrounding the American president, or shot down by some sort of mini Patriot missile designed especially for the incoming shoe.

After all, Bush isn't your average guy. He moves around surrounded by a phalanx of tinted-glass limousines and bullet-proof SUV's chock full of security guards, sniffer-dogs, bomb squads and secret agents that probably cost more money to maintain than can be found in the entire nation of Haiti.

When Bush traveled to Britain five years ago he wanted to retrofit Buckingham Palace, where he would be staying, so that it could survive potential nuclear attack. The Queen shot that idea down.

So, in retrospect, I'm amazed those shoes made it that far.

But what al-Zaidi did required a ton of courage. And while the Western media reports that the Arab world hails al-Zaidi a modern day hero ― David facing the Goliath of George Bush's America ― the fact of the matter is millions of people throughout the world realize that what the man did required ``cojones muy grandes," as the Mexicans like to say.

Or maybe he's just a little crazy, the end result of witnessing the systematic destruction of Fallujah, or countless other atrocities most of us will never experience and could never imagine.

After all, al-Zaidi got the crap beat out of him for his services to humanity. He now sits in an Iraqi cell accused of ``assaulting a president." He potentially faces 15 years behind bars.

When al-Zaidi flung those ``size 10s" he was speaking for the countless people whose cries have been smothered by American Patriot missiles, by American Predator drones, by American bombs, by American guns, by American firepower, by an America that cares only for ``having it my way."

And ``having it my way" means laying waste to large parts of the Middle East so that Americans can be safe 20,000 kilometers away on the other side of the world.

You see it's hard to bring down an unmanned Predator drone with an AK-47. And even if you do, what's the point? There's nobody home. The killer ― er, the pilot ― is riding a joystick at some undisclosed location. It's hard to bring down a B-1 bomber 15,000 meters above sea-level with a hand-held rocket launcher.

So, I can see why the man flung the shoes. George The First was, after all, a suitable target for his rage. As America's ``best and brightest" (sitting in their air-conditioned command centers) would say, ``We've got a target. Let's take it out."

When al-Zaidi flung those shoes he was speaking for more than just the humiliated Arab world. He was speaking for all of us who can tell right from wrong.

He was exhibiting the collective frustration of a world that has been forced to stand by and watch as an ego-driven boy soldier in Washington takes out his aggression on people he never met and will never know, and lives out his unrealized fantasies of being a true warrior.

If Bush had just a shred of decency he would do his best to see that Muntader al-Zaidi is released from jail. But that would mean admitting that the man did nothing wrong ― something Bush is incapable of doing.

That's because by admitting that this man did nothing wrong, Bush would be acknowledging that the rape and invasion of Iraq was a giant mistake on his part, and on the part of his entire cabinet of neo-con warriors.

We can wait for the cows to come home before Bush comes to his senses and asks that this harmless journalist be released from jail.

In the meantime someone please give Muntader al-Zaidi a gold star.

The writer, a graduate of University of Texas, Austin, now writes from Gangneung, Gangwon Province. He can be reached at rick_ruffin@yahoo.com. The views expressed in the above article are those of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of The Korea Times.