The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush is still not ready to forgive

George W. Bush had just finished his last speech to the Iraqi people, in Baghdad, as president of the United States. In a little over a month, he would be leaving the most powerful office in the world and handing over responsibility for a devastating war that he had launched five years earlier.

He shook hands with his Iraqi counterpart and was about to leave the podium when a journalist named Muntadhar al Zaidi quickly rose to his feet.

“This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!” Mr al Zaidi shouted, before launching his shoe at the American president. Within a second, his second shoe came flying, followed by the words: “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."

Mr Bush was able to dodge the leather projectiles, but the size 10 shoes still left a mark. Mr al Zaidi became a local hero and global celebrity — a symbol of the anger felt by many Iraqis after their country was left devastated by the US invasion. Americans back home got a small glimpse of that anger.

This month marks twenty years from the start of the war, and yet Mr al Zaidi is not ready to forgive.

“Every day, every anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, I ask myself why? I feel sad and angry. Why did George W. Bush destroy my country?” he says.

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“The occupation has gone, but they left behind more corruption, more problems, many militias. Now we have more problems every day. Iran controls Iraq because of the occupation of the US. There is no service for people, there is not any government support. No hospitals, no schools,” he tells The Independent by phone.

Mr al Zaidi’s protest may have seemed small, but it left a legacy. Years later, he is still a spokesperson for his country’s ills as one of the most memorable opponents of the war.

In all those years, he has been remarkably consistent in his feelings about his country and the damage done by the invasion. He had seen it up close when he reported on some of the most deadly episodes of the war — on civilian deaths caused by US bombings and the sectarian killings that followed.

“My reports were focused on the victims of the occupation,” he says. “I covered the crimes of US soldiers. Sometimes they killed people — I focused on that.”

Mr al Zaidi began working as a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia TV in 2005. In November 2007, he was kidnapped by unknown assailants and held for several days before his release, part of a string of similar attacks that came as a result of a chaotic security environment. He was also detained twice for questioning by US forces.

Despite those incidents, the idea to protest Mr Bush came to him years earlier, he says. He thought back to the assurances of Bush administration officials that US soldiers would be welcomed by flowers.

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“I wanted to tell the people of the world that we didn’t receive the occupation with roses, but we will receive it with shoes,” he says. His protest had an added cultural significance in the Arab world, where showing the sole of a shoe to someone is considered a sign of deep disrespect.

In the moments before he rose to his feet that day, many thoughts ran through Mr al Zaidi’s mind.

“I thought about my family, friends, I thought of the people who were killed by the occupation. I thought about all the things in my life I could not do,” he says.

The act itself was over quickly. Mr al Zaidi was wrestled to the ground by security staff nearby, and his life was changed dramatically. He was taken away by Iraqi president Nouri al-Malaki’s staff and subjected to severe beatings.

“It was a very difficult moment,” he says. “They broke my nose, my teeth, they beat me everywhere. They broke a chair on my back and they poured cold water over my body. For three days they beat me in the house of al Malaki,” he says.

After a few days, he was handed over into the custody of the Iraqi judiciary, and was eventually charged with “attacking a visiting foreign president.”

In his first court appearance in February 2009, Mr al Zaidi said he became furious while watching Mr Bush "smiling that icy smile" standing next to Maliki, according to a report from the time. He faced a maximum of 15 years in jail.

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At his sentencing the next month, a judge asked him if he was innocent. “Yes, my reaction was natural, just like any Iraqi,” he replied.

Mr al Zaidi was sentenced to three years in jail, but his story didn’t end there. His jailing sparked a wave of support from Iraqis and from across the Arab world, with demonstrations calling for his release in Baghdad and around the world.

His fame only grew during his time in jail. On 15 September 2009, he was released from prison after serving nine months and was welcomed by throngs of family and supporters, who slaughtered sheep in his honour. At a press conference on the day of his release, he said he was tortured while in jail.

Mr al Zaidi spent time living in Lebanon and Switzerland before returning to Iraq in 2018 to run for office. He ran on a platform of tackling corruption and promised to “put the ‘thief politicians’ in jail,” but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Today, Mr al Zaidi lives in Baghdad and no longer works as a journalist. Time has not softened his views on Mr Bush or the invasion he launched.

“George W Bush should be in jail,” he says, “and America should close the embassy in Iraq.”

Asked if he would throw his shoe at Mr Bush again if given a chance, he replies: “He doesn’t even deserve my shoe.”