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"The same people who entered 20 years ago with the occupier are
still ruling despite failures and corruption. The United States
knows very well that it brought in pseudo politicians," he told
Reuters, recounting his actions back in 2008 during the Baghdad
media briefing.
Bush, who was standing next to then Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki, ducked to avoid the footwear that spun at him from
across the room. Throwing shoes at someone is a deep insult in
the Arab world.
"This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!" Zaidi
shouted before security officials bundled him outside.
Bush had been criticized across the Middle East for his decision
to oust Saddam Hussein, an action launched based on faulty U.S.
intelligence that the Iraqi leader had amassed weapons of mass
destruction.
The U.S. president brushed off the shoe-throwing incident at the
time, saying: "It’s like going to a political rally and have
people yell at you. It’s a way for people to draw attention."
Zaidi, who served six months in prison for assaulting a visiting
head of state, left for Lebanon after his release but returned
to run for an Iraqi parliament seat in 2018 seeking to fight
corruption, although his election bid failed.
"You feel bitterness as you see people's pain 24 hours a day,"
he said.
He added that he continued to campaign against graft and he has
never regretted hurling his shoes.
"This scene stands as proof that one day a simple person was
capable of saying no to that arrogant person with all his power,
tyranny, arms, media, money and authority, and to say that you
(Bush) were wrong."
(Writing by Hams Rabah; Editing by Michael Georgy and Edmund
Blair)
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