Saturday, December 27, 2008

Let al-Zeidi go free

Shoes I've been on the sideline for the al-Zeidi/George W. Bush shoe throwing incident. I keep thinking that Bush would issue a statement saying that he understood that what al-Zeidi did was a form of protest. And that, in the spirit of our core American value of free speech, Bush would like to see al-Zeidi freed. After all, he's already had crap beaten out of him while in custody awaiting his trial.

Consumers for Peace issued a press release calling for a protest in Washington to ask the Iraqi Government to free Al-Zeidi.

The treatment Al-Zeidi has received should shame all Americans and is likely to motivate as much anti-American sentiment as have the photos of torture at Abu Ghraib," said David Swanson, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org. "While our President and Vice President openly confess to authorizing torture, their puppet government in Iraq tortures a man for throwing shoes, in complete absence of even the pretense of 'interrogation,' much less a ticking time bomb. Freeing Al-Zeidi will not fix this situation. We must also put Bush and Cheney behind bars.

Good luck with the whole putting Bush and Cheney behind bars thing. Nobody in power has the stomach for the kind of self-destructive political process required to hold these men accountable. We will have to settle for making fun of them instead.

I think the Iraqi government should free al-Zeidi. It is the right thing to do. I would like to hear what you think.

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Free the man.

Carolyn Ann
So lets see: a visiting head of state comes to this country, .say from India, and a Pakistani journalist throws a couple of shoes at his head...he should be set free and not held to the rule of law?

How about a Chineese head of state, and a Tiwaneese or Tibetain jounalist attacking him? Free them, no legal process?

How about a White racist American jojrnalist throwing his shoes at a Black US President? It's all good??

I dispise Bush as much or more than most...but its short sighted and thoughtless , in my opinion, bordering on suborning anarchy, to suggest that a nation's laws should be ignored, and the violent actions toward a head of State should ostensibly be endorsed.

If Iraq isnt going to be a nation of laws...then what exactly would we like it to be, given the lives that have been wasted bringing it to where it is now?
1 reply · active 846 weeks ago
What attack? The man threw a shoe as a from of protest. it is about the same as throwing a rotten tomato here in the states. Plus, he's been damaged enough. They beat the crap out of him. Talk about the rule of law.
Hmmm...so what youre saying is throwing a shoe isnt an attack...its an acceptred form of nonviolent protest? . And if the cultural form of protest were throwing a rock or two...that would be accepted form of protest too? ____Ok...so a protest: Then please answer the questions I posed above. especially about a White racist journalist throwing his shoes at a Black US President. Attack, or just a "protest" against the Black President's positions and policies? No time should be served? just maybe a tazering and a free pass?____As for his being beat up...lol. Somehow I can't really get all that heated about it. I imagine if the regime were under Saddam, or in Iran, or Syria, or Saudi...we'd be discussing this guy's actions postmortem. That he got beat up in a middle eastern country, after embarrassing the regime in charge, is hardly a surprise, nor is it a get out of jail free card. They kill women for being raped in some of those cultures. ____Nah...hating bush just isnt a good enough reason to support this guy. and that is the only reason any American is using to justify leniency... whther they are willig to admit it or not
Zeidi shamed all of us who've stayed safe through the great unraveling of our own system of Rule of Law. Mojoey has the goods. Murderous ScoffLaw Dictators should not be protected by the laws of their victims' communities. Period.

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