Crosspost on AirAmerica.com

The throwing of not one but two shoes at President Bush by Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi during this past weekend’s press conference was met with mixed reviews. Many people see Zaidi as a hero, others are appalled at what he did, and some people like Fox‘s Neil Cavuto see this incident as proof that Iraq is truly liberated:

“What further proof then do you need that Iraq’s been liberated, right? Reporters there not only free to challenge leaders, sometimes they can even throw shoes at them.”

This is not proof of Iraq’s liberation; rather we should step outside the box and use this shoe throwing incident as an opportunity to understand the anger to which 8 years of Bush’s failed policies have given rise.

Bush was in the Middle East to show off the successes U.S. policies have created in Iraq. Even though Bush was speaking to a mostly Middle Eastern press corps, his goal was to convince non Middle Eastern people that the Iraq invasion is still a good thing. But how can you convince Iraqis that U.S. policies are great when the Iraqi civilian death count keeps rising? (Iraq Body Count reports 89,881 to 98,133 documented civilian deaths from violence.)

As the world ponders this incident, we should listen to what Zaide shouted at Bush when the second shoe left his hand, “This is from the widows, the orphans, and those who were killed in Iraq!” Let’s hope that President-elect Obama doesn’t make the same mistakes that Bush has.

Crosspost on AirAmerica.com