'So What?'

Bush Acknowledges Huge Iraq Occupation Mistake With A 'So What?' Reality-based observers have long known that the Bush administration's attempts to connect al Qaeda with pre-invasion Iraq have been nothing more than a campaign of misinformation. Al Qaeda had no presence in Iraq prior to the 2003 invasion, and even afterward, the so-called "al Qaeda in Iraq" never amounted to anything more than a "microscopic terrorist organization" with "850 full time fighters." But regardless of the facts, one theme has been constant from this administration. The presence of al Qaeda, terrorists, "special groups," and foreign fighters (typically from Iran) is sold as justification for the invasion and occupation, when it is actually the result of the invasion and occupation.
That's what makes this part of the interview between President George W. Bush and ABC News' Martha Raddatz, highlighted by Ali Frick at Think Progress, so extraordinary.
BUSH: One of the major theaters against al Qaeda turns out to have been Iraq. This is where al Qaeda said they were going to take their stand. This is where al Qaeda was hoping to take-
RADDATZ: But not until after the U.S. invaded.
BUSH: Yeah, that's right. So what? The point is that al Qaeda said they're going to take a stand. Well, first of all in the post-9/11 environment Saddam Hussein posed a threat. And then upon removal, al Qaeda decides to take a stand.

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Arabs Across Middle East Hail Shoe-Hurling Journalist

This is a farewell kiss, you dog," al-Zeidi yelled in Arabic as he threw his shoes. "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

"He did what Arab leaders failed to do."

BAGHDAD — Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets Monday to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, as Arabs across many parts of the Middle East hailed the journalist as a hero and praised his insult as a proper send-off to the unpopular U.S. president.
The protests came as suicide bombers and gunmen targeted Iraqi police, U.S.-allied Sunni guards and civilians in a series of attacks Monday that killed at least 17 people and wounded more than a dozen others, officials said.
Journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who was kidnapped by militants last year, was being held by Iraqi security Monday and interrogated about whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at Bush during a press conference the previous day in Baghdad, said an Iraqi official.
He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Showing the sole of your shoe to someone in the Arab world is a sign of extreme disrespect, and throwing your shoes is even worse. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam with their shoes after U.S. Marines toppled it to the ground following the 2003 invasion.
Newspapers across the Arab world on Monday printed front-page photos of Bush ducking the flying shoes, and satellite TV stations repeatedly aired the incident, which provided fodder for jokes and was hailed by the president's many critics in the region.
"Iraq considers Sunday as the international day for shoes," said a joking text message circulating around the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Palestinian journalists in the West Bank town of Ramallah joked about who would be brave enough to toss their shoes at Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, another U.S. official widely disliked in the region.

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