On December 14, 2008 Zaidi drew international attention by throwing his shoes at George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad. Throwing shoes is an act of extreme disrespect in both the Arab and Islamic cultures. Neither shoe struck Bush. As he threw the shoes, al-Zaidi said "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog" and "this is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq." Two New York Times reporters described al-Zaidi as having been "embraced around the Arab world." Al-Zaidi has found support from his employer, thousands of protesters in Iraq, people in Syria, a charity in Libya, "around 200 lawyers" including some U.S. citizens, and from American critics of Bush and the Iraq War.Al-Zaidi's action was criticized by the Iraqi government.....