爱华网看了《纽约时报》网站，那里90%以上的美国网民一片欢呼声，非常高兴小布什被扔鞋，都是支持那个伊拉克记者，拿小布什开心的，只有极少数人提醒大家：他是我们自己选的，而且选了两回，当时我们也没制止他，要说有责任我们大家都有责任。看来美国人民还真的是不喜欢他们这个即将下台的总统。而中国网民则对小布什是一片赞扬声，说他真有涵养，被扔了鞋还能开玩笑，顺便还对伊拉克人民进行一下民主教育。这种现象真是很有意思。小布什这次在即将下台前还不辞劳苦去伊拉克，肯定还是很在意自己的历史地位的。但是，看来他在美国无论如何是不行了，还是来中国吧。
王小东
Touting New Security Deal, Bush Makes Final Iraq Visit
伊拉克总理替小布什档鞋Saul Loeb/Agence France-Presse — GettyImagesIraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, tried toblock President Bush when a man threw his shoes at the presidentduring a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday.
这嘴亲得怎么看着这么别扭？扔鞋的哥们被摁住By STEVEN LEE MYERS and ALISSA J. RUBINPublished: December 14, 2008BAGHDAD — President Bush flew to Iraq on Sunday, his fourth andfinal trip to highlight the recently completed security agreementbetween the United States and the country that has occupied thebulk of his presidency and will to a large extent define hislegacy.
But his appearance at a news conference here was interrupted byan Iraqi journalist who shouted in Arabic — “This is a gift fromthe Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog” — and threw one ofhis shoes at the president, who ducked and narrowly avoided beingstruck.
As chaos ensued, he threw his other shoe, shouting, “This isfrom the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.”The second shoe also narrowly missed Mr. Bush as Prime MinisterNuri Kamal al-Maliki stuck out ahand in front of the president’s face to help shield him.
A scrum of security agents descended on the man, who was about12 feet from the lectern, and wrestled him to the floor and thenout of the ornate room where the news conference was taking place.The president was uninjured and brushed off the incident. “All Ican report is it is a size 10,” he said jokingly before continuinghis news conference and noting the apologies of Iraqi journalistsin the front row.
Shortly before 10 p.m., Mr. Bush departed the Green Zone byhelicopter to Camp Victory, where he was greeted with cheers andwhoops from hundreds of troops inside the enormous rotunda of theAl Faw palace. Speaking at a lectern beneath an enormous Americanflag that nearly reached the domed ceiling, he praised thisgeneration of soldiers and reflected on the sacrifice of those whohad died.
He called the surge “one of the greatest successes in thehistory of the United States military.”
“Thanks to you,” he told the soldiers, “the Iraq we’re standingin today is dramatically freer, dramatically safer and dramaticallybetter than the Iraq we found eight years ago.”
Bush’s arrival here during daylight hours had been one measureof progress; his first visit on Thanksgiving Day 2003 took placeentirely at night.
As with previous visits — in November 2003, June 2006 andSeptember 2007 — preparations for the visit were secretive andcarried out with ruse. The White House schedule for Sunday had Mr.Bush attending the “Christmas in Washington” performance at theNational Building Museum in downtown Washington. Instead, he leftthe White House by car on Saturday night, arriving at Andrews at 9p.m. Air Force One remained inside itsimmaculate hangar until moments before taking off. A dozenjournalists accompanying him were only told of the trip on Fridayand allowed to tell only a superior and a spouse — and only inperson.
Air Force One arrived in Baghdad at 4 p.m. after a10-and-a-half-hour overnight flight from Andrews Air Force Basenear Washington. It was Mr. Bush’s fourth visit to Iraq. Onarriving here, he met the two senior American officials, AmbassadorRyan C. Crocker and Gen. Ray Odierno, on the tarmac. He metwith Iraqi leaders and was expected to meet with Americantroops.
The president and his aides have touted the security agreementas a landmark in Iraq’s troubled history, one made possible by thedramatic drop in violence over the last year. They credit the largeincrease in American troops Mr. Bush ordered in 2007 for creatingenough security to allow political progress to take root.
The new security agreements, which take effect on Jan. 1,replace the United Nations Security Councilresolutions that authorized the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.Iraqi officials extracted significant concessions from the Bushadministration over several months of hard bargaining, including acommitment to withdrawal all American forces by the end of2011.
Mr. Bush’s national security advisor, Stephen J. Hadley, said thesituation in Iraq today was “a pretty optimistic place,” a phrasethat few would have credibly used even a year ago. He described thesecurity agreement that will govern American military operationsafter the new year “a remarkable document.”
Referring to the Iraqi parliament’s contentious and livelydebate leading up to a vote last month, Mr. Hadley added that theagreement was a public one: “I think the only one there is in theArab world, and publicly debated and discussed in an electedparliament.”
There was an unmistakeable hint of triumphalism in Mr. Hadley’sremarks, as in Mr. Bush’s valedictory visit, even though thepresident is leaving office with the war very much unfinished.
“If you’ve been through 2005 and 2006,” Mr. Hadley toldreporters en route to Baghdad, when asked whether the president was“feeling pretty good” about the situation here now, “it’s hard notto feel awfully good about 2008 and into 2009.”
After arriving at the airport, Mr Bush quickly flew into Baghdaditself aboard a military helicopter, under extraordinary security.The flight passed uneventfully, swooping low over neighborhoodsalong the once notorious airport road. He landed at Salam Palace,boarded a civilian S.U.V. and drove a short distance to an honorguard with Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani.
The president made brief remarks at the end of his meeting withMr. Talabani and Iraq’s two vice presidents, Adil Abd al-Mahdi andTariq al-Hashimi. The three comprise Iraq’s Presidency Council. Thetwo leaders sat in arm chairs before their respective flags. Mr.Talabani spoke first, praising the president: “Thanks to him andhis courageous leadership we are here now in this building.”
Mr. Bush then spoke, calling the security agreements “a reminderof our friendship and as a way forward to help the Iraqis realizethe blessings of a free society.”
“The work hasn’t been easy,” he said, “but it’s beennecessary.”
