Talking Shoes

Muntazir - Iraqi Hero













Muntazir Al-Zaidi,according to family members, has been tortured. His guards forced him to watch a television channel run by Sunni extremists loyal to Saddam Hussein. They told him it was the only outlet in the world applauding his act, the journalist's brother, Oday Al-Zaidi, said after being allowed to visit him on Sunday. "They told him that his tribe and his family reject him," Oday Al-Zaidi said. "This is the only channel that supports you," the guards told him referring to the Iraqi satellite television Al-Raee.
"I met my brother for around an hour. He has been tortured while in detention for 36 hours continuously. He has been hit with iron rods and cables."
"There is very severe bleeding in his eye, and he has bruises on his feet and nose, and he was tortured with electric shocks." According to his brother, Al-Zaidi was stripped to his underwear before being placed in a cell.
"He told me he was sleeping on the floor of the cell when a very large man came in and dumped cold water on him and began hitting him with a thick cable," Oday Al-Zaidi said in a television interview.
His jailers had periodically demanded that he state in a videotaped confession that he had been ordered to commit the act by enemies of Iraq. "After the torture and the cold-water shower, I told them to bring me a blank sheet of paper and I would sign it, and they could write whatever they wanted. I am ready to say I am a terrorist or whatever you want," Oday was reported as saying what he was told by his imprisoned brother. "Muntadhar said I will not apologise for what I did -- not now, not ever."
The fact that he allegedly "confessed" to such nonsense adds considerable weight to his brother's allegations.
Bush is unlikely ever to escape the image of him ducking Al-Zaidi's shoes while standing side by side with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. The humiliating scene will doubtless be replayed whenever his Iraq record is reviewed.