President Bush never quite got the book thrown at him for invading Iraq, but the next closest thing happened today, CBS News reports. A correspondent for a Cairo-based Iraqi TV station hurled a pair of shoes at the outgoing president during a press conference in Baghdad, shouting, “This is a farewell kiss, dog,” Bloomberg reports.
Bush escaped the footwear attack unscathed, later quipping, “All I can report is that it is a size 10.” The assault puts Bush in questionable company; throwing shoes at someone is an Arab sign of deep disrespect, and Iraqis threw their footwear at a toppled statue of Saddam Hussein following the 2003 invasion. “It doesn’t bother me,” Bush said. “So what if he threw a shoe at me.”
(More George W. Bush stories.)