The shoe message won’t be forgotten
DURING the sacking of Baghdad by the invading American forces in the spring of 2003, their marine troops toppled the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdous Square.
Though the area was cordoned off to the general population, a group of Iraqis was jubilantly helping the US troops to pull down the statue of the disgraced president.
When the statue came tumbling down, the Iraqis danced and cheered. Then shoes were thrown at Saddam’s statue, a grave insult in the Arab world.
A Marine draped an American flag over the head of the statue but took it down moments later. That was on April 9, 2003.
These powerful images, captured by embedded journalists from large and powerful US and other Western media organisations, were beamed to all corners of the world.
With headlines ranging from the "Fall of the Butcher of Baghdad" to the "Liberation of Iraq", it was a field day for the media of the free world.
But five years and eight months later, the perpetrator of the invasion, President George W. Bush, paid a surprise visit to Iraq and at a press conference, a pair of shoes were thrown at him by an Iraqi television journalist.
As he threw his first shoe, Mun-tazer al-Zaidi reportedly shouted: "This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog."
And for his second shoe, Muntazer said: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq."
Bush managed to dodge both shoes.
But the damage was done as the shoe-throwing was an act of the utmost contempt that could be delivered to anyone in the Arab world. But by then, Bush had already received the ignonimity of being the new Butcher of Baghdad.
While it can be said that all’s fair in war (and love as well), in which both the victor and the vanquished had been "given the shoe", others may argue that the insult was worse for Bush who received it "live" while Saddam’s was aimed at his statue.
Despite that, Saddam is dead, hanged on the decision of an Iraqi kangaroo court widely perceived to be initiated and dictated by Washington.
On the other hand, Bush, who ordered the invasion without United Nations sanctions and had lied to convince the American public and to justify the aggression, retired from a two-term presidency and can be assumed to enjoy his retirement.
There are attempts to indict Bush for war crimes alongside his cohort Tony Blair, the retired prime minister of Britain, but these efforts, pursued by non-governmental organisations, are unlikely to come to fruition.
But while both Bush and Blair may get to enjoy their retirement, it does not mean that the rest of the world had forgotten their roles in pursuing the illegal war on Iraq, which had caused the death of thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis.
Against this backdrop, on Tuesday, the American soldiers withdrew from all major Iraqi cities and towns, keeping to the timetable that promised a complete withdrawal by Dec 31, 2011.
The agreement which took effect on Jan 1 this year was signed during Bush’s eventful visit in November last year, when the shoes were thrown at him.
While the agreement specifically stated that withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi cities, localities and villages must take effect by June 30 and a complete withdrawal by Dec 31, 2011, President Barack Obama has pledged that most of the troops would be withdrawn by August next year.
Whether these American troops will leave Iraq by next year or the year after is anybody’s guess. But the whole invasion and occupation of Iraq had indeed underscored the arrogance of the superpower.
Lest people forget, the whole premise of the invasion, which came after the attacks on American soil on 9/11, was that Iraq was a rogue state that had weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The US, having imposed sanctions against Baghdad since the first Gulf War that led to the deaths of half a million Iraqi children, the Bush Jr administration pursued what his father started and managed to convince the American legislators on the need to invade Iraq.
The American media assisted in Bush’s beating of the war drums, publicising the existence of WMD in Iraq, the notoriety of Saddam and the need for a regime change.
The tag-line was the liberation of Iraq and the democratisation of an autocratic nation.
Hence the need to beam the images of the jubilant Iraqis who were throwing shoes at Saddam’s statue to convince the world how happy they were with the fall of the Iraqi leaderSaddam and the arrival of the liberating American forces.
But the signs were there from the start. The minute the Marine wrapped the head of Saddam’s statue with the American flag, resentment could be seen even among the celebrating crowd.
While many Iraqis might have been happy to see the end of Saddam’s rule, that did not mean they were happy to be occupied by the Americans.
By now, there is no doubt whatsoever of the hatred most Iraqis felt towards the American occupation as they celebrated the partial withdrawal of the foreign troops from their cities and towns.
With the troop withdrawal to be commemorated as a the “Day of Sovereignty” for the Iraqis, it is obvious that to the people of Iraq, the American presence was an occupation, no matter how Washington would want to spin it.
President Obama may not suffer such contempt and disgust as his predecessor, but until and unless he clearly shows his preparedness to depart from the policies of the Bush administration, Obama may yet find his “Baghdad” in Teheran or even Pyongyang.
Saddam will, however, not be forgotten, and neither will Bush.
Muntazer will probably be a footnote of history sooner than later, but. However, not his shoes will not. A sculpture of one of the shoes was erected in Saddam’s birthplace of Tikrit in January this year, only to be ordered to be taken down by local authorities.
Chances are that the replica may re-emerge after the American troops withdraw completely. And once it does, it will have an endearing presence. But rest assured, Bush will never enjoy such affection.
The writer was in Baghdad when American forces invaded Iraq.
The New Straits Times Online: SHAMSUL AKMAR: The shoe message won’t be forgotten
nice post; how can it be forwaded?