Luan Pra bang

I am pretty sure that the money the US is pouring in will be taken straight back in the form of oil so actually what is happening is US companies getting rich from Iraq's money. Bectel Halliburton etc are making billions from Iraq and even the canadian logging industry has made a killing though there are locally available materials avaiable at half the cost.
Iraq war has been an exercise in making money and opening up Iraq to foreign investors as well as forcing people to adopt a western Political system and Chicago school economic system.

billythekid

Looked ok to me. Not perfect, because if it was perfect the guy would have never got in the room.

BG training is mainly based on reaction to an unplanned contact.
Because of this the drills only kick in when something happens and you are always trying to catch up on something that has already happened.

Humans can only move so fast, even ones that have super dooper training

Anyway, even if the BG did fire he would have hit the only Brit in the room..

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

Disagree. The US wasn't doing too badly on the oil front from Iraq. yes they will save a fortune on a stable oil price but to say they are shipping oil out is pushing it.

As for forcing them to adopt a western political system - i think the real issue is that they are so full of infighting, and corruption and would sell their own granny for a potato that they have little chance of forming their own stable government.

Should the US be the one to change it? Maybe not. You could ask why we don't just storm in and remove Mugabe, whose job is it? But you can't blame the current violence and issues Iraq has on the US. This is Iraqis killing Iraqis.

5t.

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

Back in the real world.

BG training?WTF? I think you mean close protection.
Having had a certain bit of experience in this field I can tell you that they definately were slow to react. Not that anyone in as close proximity could be armed but if they were Bush would be dead.

I tell you exactly what happened here. All the people in the room were vetted and deemed safe. They would have then all been scanned re scanned and scanned again for anything remotely resembling a weapon.

The secret service were caught on the hop here because they were complacent because of the above. They wrongly thought dubbya was safe. This guy had time to get up out of his seat, walk down the aisle, take one shoe off raise his arm and then throw it and grab the other shoe before anyone reacted. Also note the people to react first were fellow reporters and photographers.

In short this was a prime example of how sh*te the Secret Service can be.

Removed.

These corny shoe jokes can't last, common sense will get the upper hand, or maybe a more polished comedian will appear.











I tried to get tongue in there, but 4 isn't a bad effort <---HA! Tongue

MJW

Must be the credit crunch then ...

jonc

Well you know what they say, ...If the shoe fits......

The Dogs B******s

I did type that originally

jonc

I've seen this before:

YouTube - random task fight scene (austin powers)

robby

was he a shoe bomber?

yoza

Just incase anyone else didnt know...

Throwing shoes at someone or hitting them with a shoe is highly insulting but is not limited to Islam.

It is supposed to be an insult in many Middle Eastern and Asian countries regardless of religion. It is cultural.

The sole of the shoe is considered to be dirty because you step on many items during the course of the day. That is why you see many Asians and Middle Easterners leave the shoe outside while entering a place of worship or someone's home.

I can think of worse, more insulting things to throw.

jasey

Jade Goody ?

pug32

Thats what i was thinking

and where were his security. The bloke got two bites at it and missed both times! scandalous

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

In short, the secret services shoed have reacted shooner.
What was the fella thinking? Its scandalous or is that sandleless

I'll get my coat>>>>>

davegtt

Dont mess with any man who can pick that beast up

LG John

So why should Bush choose to be insulted by something that, by his standards, is just silly simply because the locals see it as highly insulting. I don't care how insulting someone thought they were being, if I had a shoe chucked at me I'd just laugh at how lame they are and then laugh even harder when I found out that it was a top-drawer insult on their part. And fwiw, yes, I'd be laughing down my nose at how backward their culture is if throwing a shoe is as insulting as it can get

It's like everything: well all choose what we wish to be insulted by which is why so many people play the racism card so liberally and easily yet, as a rule, white people are notoriously difficult to 'insult' because they just shrug a lot of stuff as opposed to getting their knickers in a twist. Bush's reaction is perfect IMHO....just laugh in his face! Don't give him the pleasure of thinking you are in any way affected!

The Zohan

To true!

DCI Gene Hunt

Irony...... "Too true"

Dieseldog

I like to think that if I'd invaded a country resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, based, don't forget, on the lie of "weapons of mass destruction", "their connection with Al Qaeda and 9-11" along with all the other "evidence" we were assured was there, I'd show a little contrition when facing someone who has a bloody good reason to be upset (especially when in their country) and not just make a joke about it for the boys at Fox News to lap up. His inability to 'work' with people of different cultures and attitudes is a serious failing in a politician. But that's not the American way, and is a big reason the world is in the situation it's in, imo.

DCI Gene Hunt

Where did you get "hundreds of thousands" from, it stands at around 44K civilians killed Iraq since 2005, what a lie to base your post on?

Still nothing like applying some spin in an attempt at shock & awe

lozgti

I'd have caught it and wanged it back but then I'd be a poor example of a President anyway.

Jamie

StickyMicky

should have put the blokes shoes on and started moonwalking across the stage


it would have been funny as hell and made bush a proper legend LOL

SirFozzalot

Dieseldog

Casualties of the Iraq War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

... DCI - I didn't intend to (and don't wish to) go down the pedants route on this thread - the issue I was raising was more to do with the US arrogance and insularity.

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

And despite the comedian at the top i stand by what i said. All of these are being attributed to "the war" but looking at the figures an awful lot of it is down to 'increased lawlessness and sectarian violence'. Once again it is Iraqis killing Iraqis. They have an opportunity here to build a great country after years of oppression. However it seems due to in built intolerance and stupidity, not to mention petty squabbles the only way to rule to country is through oppression. Don't give them the freedom to do it. Sad really.

Also agree that Bush has no need to be insulted by a shoe. Perhaps he should have given the guy the finger for missing!

5t

ScoobyDriverWannabe

few more here
www.dumpert.nl - Bush Schoen GIF Galore

Jamie

MJW

'Increased lawlessness and sectarian violence' is a direct result of the war for christ's sakes !! There's no infrastructure or police, the natives are bound to be a tiny bit aggrieved. So to dismiss them as stupid is a totally unfair statement.
Not every country wants a democracy - especially a pile of sh*t democracy like the US where one president can fiddle two elections on the trot to stay in power. In fact the more you look around you the more you realise that there really is no such thing as democracy at all, it's just a smokescreen to make the people think they're having an effect on who governs them when in reality its all the same dick heads but flying a slightly different flag.

Removed.

I work for an American company, and they bang on and on and on about "Diversity", we have "Native American Month", "Hispanic Heritage Month" etc, told again and again how we need to understand and appreciate other cultures etc. This I believe is typical of American corporate culture and is a reflected in American public and political life. Bush should of known it was a serious insult from an Arabic cultural point of view. Let's face it he must of seen enough footage on CNN of Iraqi's slippering Saddam's statues and images at the end of the last invasion.

Saxoboy, I suggest you try giving someone the "OK" fingers and thumb sign if ever you're in Brazil, see if they choose to be insulted or not. An insult is exactly that in whichever language, culture or geographical location it's given in. If the recipient doesn't understand that, that's their problem.

I think most people would recognise that a shoe in the face isn't a compliment, let's face it, one of the reasons we wear shoes is to protect our feet from all the pooh, grot and dirt on the ground.