Iraqi journalist throws shoes at Bush in Baghdad December 14, 2008

1. David Pelayo #19 7A Iraqi journalist throws shoes at Bush in Baghdad December 14, 2008 Security personnel surround President Bush after an Iraqi threw his shoes at him in Baghdad Sunday. A man identified as an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at -- but missed -- President Bush during a news conference Sunday evening in Baghdad, where Bush was making a farewell visit. Bush ducked, and the shoes, flung one at a time, sailed past his head during the news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in his palace in the heavily fortified Green Zone. The shoe-thrower -- identified as Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist with Egypt-based al-Baghdadia television network -- could be heard yelling in Arabic: "This is a farewell ... you dog While pinned on the ground by security personnel, he screamed: "You killed the Iraqis!" Al-Zaidi was dragged away. While al-Zaidi was still screaming in another room, Bush said: "That was a size 10 shoe he threw at me, you may want to know." Hurling shoes at someone, or sitting so that the bottom of a shoe faces another person, is considered an insult among Muslims. Al-Baghdadia issued a statement Sunday demanding al-Zaidi's release. Al-Zaidi remained in custody Monday while the Iraqi judiciary decides whether he will face charges of assaulting al-Maliki, a government official said. The official said al-Zaidi is being tested for alcohol and drugs to determine if he was fully conscious during the incident. Al-Zaidi drew international attention in November 2007 when he was kidnapped while on his way to work in central Baghdad. He was released three days later. Bush had been lauding the conclusion of a security pact with Iraq as journalists looked on. "So what if the guy threw his shoe at me?" Bush told a reporter in response to a question about the incident. "Let me talk about the guy throwing his shoe. It's one way to gain attention. It's like going to a political rally and having people yell at you. It's like driving down the street and having people not gesturing with all five fingers. ... "These journalists here were very apologetic. They ... said this doesn't represent the Iraqi people, but that's what happens in free societies where people try to draw attention to themselves." Bush then directed his comments to the security pact, which he and al-Maliki were preparing to sign, hailing it as "a major achievement" but cautioning that "there is more work to be done." "All this basically says is we made good progress, and we will continue to work together to achieve peace," Bush said.

2. Aquino was assassinated on August 21, 1983 when he was shot in the head after returning to the country. At the time, bodyguards were assigned to him by the Marcos government. A subsequent investigation produced controversy but no definitive results. After the Marcos government was overthrown, another investigation found sixteen defendants guilty. They were all sentenced to life in prison. Over the years, some were released, and the last one was let out in March 2009. Another man on the plane, Rolando Galman, was shot dead on-board shortly after Aquino was killed. The Marcos government claimed Galman was the triggerman in Aquino's assassination, but evidence suggests this was not the case. Sources http://articles.cnn.com/2008-12-14/world/bush.iraq_1_al-zaidi-iraqi-journalist-shoe?_s=PM:WORLD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benigno_Aquino,_Jr.#Assassination