Flying Shoes

BY BEKIR COSKUN
HURRIYET- First off, the Arab reporter was successful.

The two shoes that he threw hit their mark - in other words, the place where Bush's head was supposed to be.

But his head wasn't there.

I could tell that our colleague had practiced tossing shoes at home, or else Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki, standing next to Bush, may have been hit by at least one of them.

Secondly, Bush also had gotten practice .

Probably he'd been briefed on what to do when people throw eggs, tomatoes, and carrots at him. He ducked in a split-second, keeping one eye on the first shoe projectile.

When he saw the second shoe coming, he ducked again .

Thirdly, the shoes that were thrown were Iraqi.

They were probably old, and half of their weight when they were first bought.

If a Turkish villager had thrown his boot, this could have done a lot more damage, even to Maliki .

Fourth, we should remember this shoe. After US forces entered Baghdad and helped pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein, people used their shoes to hit its head.

Once they were saved from his dictatorship, people who once admired and obeyed Saddam began to hit his head with their shoes.

But then Saddam was replaced by the US.

The solution of a submissive, foolish, unquestioning mind is again a shoe.

Here, you've seen that shoe in the air.