What happened to the man who excited the world by throwing a shoe at Bush?

[Gandalf]

I was watching this video and found it very interesting. I never realised that the infamous shoe thrower went through such an ordeal. First he was beaten so bad that his eyes closed up and his teeth knocked out. Then they tortured him over 3 days with all kinds of inhumane methods. His body was beaten so badly that it turned purple and they even gave him some kind of electric shock therapy. They only stopped the torture when his brother started to publicise what was going on. And then 3 months in solitary confinement. His original sentence was 3 years, but eventually reduced to 6 months.



Still, it makes you think. Seeing as the WMD argument is dead and people are trying to justify the war by saying at least we got rid of Saddam, but the truth is that Iraq is a country teetering on the edges of civil war and the authorities are harsh and unjust. This is the story of a man that has been able to get his story out, how many others have been tortured or even killed in the name of the new and improved Iraq post Saddam? It took over a million dead Iraqi's to bring about regime change and even then the country's future is hanging in the balance. Surely the goal wasn't to bring in a regime that tries to justify torture and corruption?

Anyway, I think this man did a good thing in flinging his shoes at Bush. To many President's live a sheltered life with their security and in the bubble of their advisors, it was good for him to taste just a little of the anger that there is in the world. I doubt it kept him from sleeping at night though.

Thoughts?

[CFH]

I don't expect that anyone would be surprised to hear what happened to him. Not that it makes it right...

[Gandalf]

I was surprised it was so brutal. I mean, there is keeping somebody in custody and then there is state sponsored bullying. Kicking in someones teeth and then beating them black and blue is the kind of thing Saddam would do. They would likely have killed him had there been no focus upon him at the time.

I'm glad he is okay now though and it's great to see him being able to say in his own words precisely what happened. He was obviously very angry having seen a lot of the devastation up close. Throwing a pair of shoes was perhaps one of the nicer ways of dealing with invasion and mass slaughter. I would imagine the vast majority of people would like the opportunity to throw a pair of shoes at the head of George Bush.

[HattonTheHammer]

Doubt any of that is actually true. This fella is no doubt a saddam hussein fan that likes to repress women and children

If they did manage to give him a good hiding then well done to the iraqi authoritys. George Bush has done an amazing thing for there ungreatful country and deserves all the credit for it!

[ono]

Doubt any of that is actually true. This fella is no doubt a saddam hussein fan that likes to repress women and children

If they did manage to give him a good hiding then well done to the iraqi authoritys. George Bush has done an amazing thing for there ungreatful country and deserves all the credit for it!

Frightening.