The Shoe Thrower

Muntadher al-Zaidi, the shoe thrower, is an Iraqi journalist from the TV station Al-Baghdadia. Thousands of Iraqis protested his arrest today and the TV station is demanding his release vigorously. Below is the statement by the TV station.

Any action taken against Muntathar will remind us of the actions and behaviors taken by the reign of the dictator and the violence, the random arrests, the mass graves and confiscations of freedom from the people - Al Baghdadia TV

Meanwhile many in the Middle East are calling him a 'hero' for having the guts to do such a thing. A minority, however, said that this was probably not the best way to send his message. Whether you thought this guy was outrageous or not, he has become the talk everywhere in the Middle East and that is probably what he wanted.

Friends described Zaidi as "emotionally influenced" when he was kidnapped by militants in 2007 for three days and traumatized when he covered US bombing of Sadr City in Iraq as a journalist. The bombing may have caused him to lose it, reportedly. More than 100,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed along with 5,000 US soldiers. If this wasn't enough, in addition, today, a Human Rights group is accusing the Iraqi criminal court for poor treatment of prisoners such as Zaidi. Also Foreign Policy magazine says that: "a new 500-page government report detailing how $50 billion in U.S. taxpayer money was badly misspent during the reconstruction of Iraq may prove more significant to Bush's legacy. "

Zaidi has also garnered his own Wikipedia entry.