BAGHDAD — On a whirlwind trip shrouded in secrecy and marred by dissent, President George W. Bush on Sunday hailed progress in the wars that define his presidency and got a size-10 reminder of his unpopularity when a man hurled two shoes at him during a news conference in Iraq.
“This is a farewell kiss, you dog!” shouted the protester in Arabic, later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo. “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”
Bush ducked both shoes as they flew past his head.
“It was a size 10,” Bush joked later.
The U.S. president visited the Iraqi capital 37 days before he hands the war off to his successor, Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it. The president wanted to highlight a drop in violence in a nation still riven by ethnic strife and to celebrate a recent U.S.-Iraq security agreement, which calls for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.
“The war is not over,” Bush said, adding that “it is decisively on its way to being won.”
Bush then made a surprise stop in Afghanistan, his first in more than 2 1/2 years and only the second of his presidency.
Bush spoke to U.S. soldiers and Marines stationed in Afghanistan at a hangar on the tarmac at Bagram Air Base.
“Afghanistan is a dramatically different country than it was eight years ago,” he said. “We are making hopeful gains.”
Bush then took a helicopter ride to Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s palace in Kabul, where he received a warm personal welcome.
“I and the Afghan people are very proud and honored to the profoundest depth of our hearts to have President Bush with us here today,” Karzai said as they sat side by side.
But his message had a little sting. He emphasized how Bush’s visit came only after repeated requests and said he wished that Bush had more time and that the Afghan people could see Bush in person.
During a news conference after the meeting, Bush told Karzai he had an excuse for rushing back to Washington: His wife demanded his return to attend a holiday reception at the White House later today.
“After all, I did sneak out of town in the dark of night,” he joked.
No clear victory
In many ways, the unannounced trip to Iraq and Afghanistan was a victory lap without a clear victory. Nearly 150,000 U.S. service members remain in Iraq fighting a war that is intensely disliked across the globe. More than 4,209 members of the U.S. military have died in the conflict, which has cost U.S. taxpayers $576 billion since it began five years and nine months ago.
There are about 31,000 U.S. service members in Afghanistan, and commanders have called for up to 20,000 more. The need is especially great in southern Afghanistan, a stronghold of the Taliban and the place where recent spikes in violence have proved the insurgency capable of reasserting itself.
Polls show most Americans think the U.S. erred in invading Iraq in 2003. Bush ordered the nation into war against Sad dam Hussein’s Iraq while citing intelligence claiming the Mideast nation harbored weapons of mass destruction. The weapons were never found, the intelligence was discredited, Bush’s credibility with U.S. voters plummeted, and Hussein was captured and executed.
On the shoe: “So what?”
“There is still more work to be done,” Bush said after his meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
It was at that point the journalist stood up and threw a shoe from about 20 feet away. Bush ducked, and it narrowly missed his head. The second shoe came quickly, and Bush ducked again while several Iraqis grabbed the man and dragged him to the floor.
In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Hussein with their shoes after U.S. Marines toppled it to the ground during the 2003 invasion.
White House press secretary Dana Perino suffered an eye injury in the news-conference melee; NBC News reported she was hit in the face with a microphone. Bush brushed off the incident, comparing it to political protests at home.
“So what if a guy threw his shoe at me?” he asked.
Al-Maliki, who spoke before the incident, praised postwar progress: “Today, Iraq is moving forward in every field.”
Later, Bush crossed the Tigris so he could meet al-Maliki at the prime minister’s palace. The two signed a ceremonial copy of the security agreement.
