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When George W Bush flew to Baghdad for a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on 14th December, 2008, he had hoped the headlines would reflect his triumphant appraisal of his deployment of American troops. Instead, it became known as the day he got some shoes thrown at him.\nThe man throwing the shoes was Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who yelled in Arabic: \u201cThis is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, dog!\u201d. The president ducked, and Zaidi let his other shoe fly. \u201cThis is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!\u201d. Bush ducked that one too.\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how the episode inspired a brief moment of Zaidi-Mania in the Arab world, including various offers of marriage; reflect on the torture he endured as a result of his protest; and investigate the copycat attacks around the world\u2026\xa0\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018Raw Video: Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoe at Bush\u2019 (AP, 2008): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM3Z_Kskl_U\n\u2022 \u2018Why I threw the shoe, by Muntazer al-Zaidi\u2019 (The Guardian, 2009): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/17/why-i-threw-shoe-bush\n\u2022 \u2018The Iraqi Journalist Who Threw His Shoes at George W. Bush Has Thoughts About Milkshaking\u2019 (Mother Jones, 2019): https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/06/the-iraqi-journalist-who-threw-his-shoes-at-george-w-bush-has-thoughts-about-milkshaking/\nFor bonus material and to support the show, visit\xa0Patreon.com/Retrospectors\nWe'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.\n#2000s #Person #Politics #War #Strange #Iraq #US\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices