The Shoe Thrower

The Iraqi journalist who threw his (reportedly size 10) shoe at George Bush during a press conference has been released from jail, the New York Times reports. He claims to have been tortured by high ranking Iraqi government and US Army officials. Why doesn't that surprise me?

After the event, Bush himself quipped, “That’s what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves."

...and then they're tortured.

The guy now fears for his life and that of his family. They plan to flee the country and release the names of those who practiced torture.

I love the United States of America as much as the next guy, but way too many people have suffered and died in the botched "liberation" of Iraq and I'm glad this guy was brave enough to deliver what I consider the ultimate poetic justice. Seriously, I never thought Bush was a bad guy but you have to admit it's kind of messed up for so many people (Americans, Iraqis, and troops from other countries) to die as a direct result of his decisions and for him never to physically suffer any more than a mild headache or lost sleep because of it. It's just a shoe, but I think it was appropriate.

I struggle with the controversy over torture, I really do. The way I look at it, if I was 99% sure information gained through torture from one individual would save even some of the lives lost on September 11, 2001, I would have to authorize it. But it's still an illegal deprivation of that person's human rights, and a violation of international law, so what do you do? It's like the question my religion class in high school was always asked: "If you had to kill one person to cure cancer, would you?" It's a really, really difficult question.

I think the "shoe-thrower" case is interesting, though, because it shows us that allowing torture at the highest level of anti-terrorist efforts may save lives and may only hurt those most guilty of plotting against the USA. However, it also leads to a slippery slope of wishy-washy legality and culture within our military and, for instance, the Iraqi government where all moral authority is lost and you can't possibly stop torture from happening to a guy that just threw a shoe.

I wonder what Austin Powers would think of the journalist?

"Who throws a shoe? Honestly! You fight like a woman!"