"Not afraid to die" - Iraqi shoe-thrower set to get heroe's welcome on release

The man who did to George Bush what most men can't even imagine in their wildest dreams will be released from Iraqi prison next Monday.

Just in time to celebrate Eid! How exciting!



"This is your farewell kiss, you dog!

The only thing more incredible than the shoe-throwing itself is the fact that this guy lived to talk about it!

As his size 10s spun through the air towards George W Bush, Muntazer al-Zaidi – the man the world now knows as the shoe-thrower – was bracing for an American bullet.

"He thought the secret service was going to shoot him," says Zaidi's younger brother, Maitham. "He expected that, and he was not afraid to die."

Zaidi's actions during the former US president's swansong visit to Iraq last December have not stopped reverberating in the nine months since.

Next Monday, when the journalist walks out of prison, his 10 raging seconds, which came to define his country's last six miserable years, are set to take on a new life even more dramatic than the opening act.

Across Iraq and in every corner of the Arab world, Zaidi is being feted. The 20 words or so he spat at Bush – "This is your farewell kiss, you dog. This is for the widows and orphans of Iraq" – have been immortalised, and in many cases memorised.

Pictures of the president ducking have been etched onto walls across Baghdad, made into T-shirts in Egypt, and appeared in children's games in Turkey.

Zaidi has won the adulation of millions, who believe his act of defiance did what their leaders had been too cowed to do.

Read the rest here.

It's worth visiting for another glimpse at that unforgettable moment in history.

Seeing it again, I'm convinced that it wasn't the first time George dodged a flying object...the guy's a pro.