Walk like an Iranian, throw a shoe

I admit it, I am just wasting time. I should be writing a lit review for a grant application, but alas, I just can't seem to stay focused on the work.

I am surprised by how much the shoe throwing journalist has generated buzz. No not by our snarky media in the US,,,,I figured it would be a big deal here. Lots of jokes as has happened. But how Arabs and others in the middle east are responding to it, surprises me. I'm not sure this incident needs Jay Leno to keep it going.

I heard on the BBC this morning, that in Iran, street vendors are setting up targets of Pres Bush and people take out their frustrations by throwing their shoes at him. So, here is my little Iranian street vendor,....

According to Time,

And one major issue will undoubtedly be case of shoe-tossing journalist Muntader al-Zaidi, who became a hero on
the streets of Iraq and much of the Arab world after his failed attempt to bean
President Bush at a press conference. Zaidi is to stand trial on New Year's Eve,
Abdul Satar Birqadr, the spokesman for Iraq's High Judicial Council said Monday,
on charges of "assaulting a foreign head of state visiting Iraq." Even if
putting Zaidi on trial appears to risk igniting public hostility, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
may yet seek to make the case work to his a political advantage ahead of next
month's poll, for which some 17.5 million are registered to vote.

The former speaker of the Iraqi Parliament praised Muntader the shoe thrower as "brave."

The newly resigned Iraqi parliament speaker on Wednesday praised the
journalist who threw shoes at President George W. Bush and said the legislature
should have supported him.

Is this a sign of a maturing democracy where "Muntader the shoe thrower" becomes a celebrity and hero of the political opposition aka Joe the Plumber? Such political characters have a long history in the US, so why not in Iraq?

But the effects of Muntader the shoe thrower go beyond just Iraqi politics. It has become a basis for pride and self esteem for Iraqi outside the borders of Iraq. For instance,

“

The Iraqi people are courageous people,” a taxi driver in Amman, Jordan, told me
a few days ago. It was strange to hear this praise after hearing years of verbal
abuse from Arabs in Jordan and Syria. When my uncle was shopping in the market
in Amman recently he heard a voice yell: “Are you Iraqi?” In the past this would
be followed by a speech about the war and the Americans. Instead the man yelled
to my uncle: “You made us proud.”

If this raises Iraqi's pride, egads, what would something more, erhm, lethal have done? Makes me kind of wonder. Political violence is one thing, but makes me feel good violence is another.

I don't really get it. But then, I didn't really get the outrage at the Danish cartoons. Ha, ha. And we should all be able to laugh a bit at ourselves. Now, I can laugh at Muntader the shoe thrower, but I don't get 'brave' (perhaps misguided, impetuous, maybe even dumb). I think it goes to show how different our respective perspectives are. And how much folks in that part of the world dislike us. I don't think it is just Pres. Bush (I really wish it were), but he is a stand-in for the rest of us.

The Iraqis might achieve what our Democratic Congress can't

Iraq Wants Withdrawal Timetable In U.S. Pact

BAGHDAD, July 8 -- Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday that his government would not sign an agreement governing the future role of U.S. troops in Iraq unless it includes a timetable for their withdrawal.

What if the Iraqi government is buying weapons for militias to kill Americans?

Love that provocative title.

WaPo reports our military preparing plans to tke military ations against Iran. At one level, so what. that is what the military does, plans to destroy every other country on earth. We probably have planned to invade Canada. On the other hand, given our current leadership, it is troubling.

I find this very troubling: "Speaking of Iran's intentions, Mullen said: "They prefer to see a weak Iraq neighbor. . . . They have expressed long-term goals to be the regional power.""

Nothing new there. In fact, isn't that the same reason we supported Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran? So Iran wouldn't be the regional power? And now we are doing it again, except, as critics in the talk back portion of WaPo point out, the Al-Maliki government is friendly with Iran. True. And the same government that is planning military action against Iran, also certified the election of an Iraqi government that is friendly toward Iran. Shouldn't the government of Iraq be outraged at the Iranian action?

But while Mullen and Gates have said that the government in Tehran must know of Iranian actions in Iraq, Mullen said he has "no smoking gun which could prove that the highest leadership is involved."

What if there is amoking gun that the Iraqi government knows about these arms shipments? What if they are paying for them? al Maliki has the most to gain by cozying up to Iran. Without his own militia, (which is why he is the compromise leader), he is personally rather powerless. But if he can buy a militia, or gain a lot of credit with arms, ..., well, this is all speculation.

Imagine that for a Bush legacy. Invade a country based on false premises, certify a democratic government that cozies up to a dangerous US enemy, which in turn is helping to kill Americans. Can his successor somehow get us out of there without leaving a disaster? None of the current Presidential candidates have a plan for doing so. I hoped Sen. Obama would propose something following his questioning of Gen Petraeus and Amb Crocker. So far, however, nothing.

John McCain's Foreign Policy Speech

WaPo has a decent article on John McCain's address to the World Affairs Council.

I'll say it right now (I already have said it, now I'll write it). Regardless of who wins the 2008 Presidential election, the new regime will be vastly better than the old regime. We should be rejoicing in the US, but partisan politics always messes up even the best of situations.

Even for dems, lefties, and all things in opposition to McCain, there is much good in the words (deeds, of course, are in the future). For instance:

"Today we are not alone," McCain said. "Our great power does not mean we
can do whatever we want whenever we want, nor should we assume we have all the
wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed."

Now, what democrat can disagree with the words?

More McCain:

"

We need to listen -- we need to listen -- to the views and respect the
collective will of our democratic allies," McCain said. "When we believe
international action is necessary, whether military, economic or diplomatic, we
will try to persuade our friends that we are right. But we, in return, must be
willing to be persuaded by them."

Yeah, we can argue over whether we should just listen to democratic allies (who would that include? Iraq? Palestine? Venezuela? Russia?) Nevertheless, I'm confident it would include nations who Bush has alienated such as France, Canada, Spain, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Finland. So, this is not a principle to disagree with, it is an argument over who to invite to a party.

One last cherry picked quote here: "Relations with our southern neighbors must be governed by mutual respect, not by an imperial impulse or by anti-American demagoguery," he said. I agree. I cringe everytime I hear leaders I'd like to support because of what they are trying to do, go off on the Great Satan America. yeah, great for applause lines, but itis poor leadership.

Now, McCain still wants to stay in Iraq for ever if that is what it takes. A precipitous withdrawal would be a disaster. Colin Powell was correct, you break it, you bought it (speaking of invading Iraq and overthrowing Saddam). I agreed then and do now. But, an open ended committment to do whatever it takes doesn't tell us when we can leave? what, when Baghad is like Boston? What we need is a plan to leave. We also need honesty. McCain should say, I was for the invasion of Iraq because, but we were wrong, and now we have a moral duty to help the Iraqis. This is what makes America great. We admit mistakes and we fix them.

Or offer reparations and get out. (The other great American practice, sue us.)