Iraq’s ‘weapons of mass destruction’

Iraq’s ‘weapons of mass destruction’

Phone messages in Arabic mocking US President Bush have been doing the rounds. Have you read any good ones? We have.

December 18, 2008 1:04 by Dana El Baltaji

Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at United States President George W. Bush at a press conference on Sunday, has gained folk hero status.

Since the incident took place, a Saudi man offered to pay $10 million for al-Zaidi’s shoes (“The $10 million is ready with me and I will hand over this amount for Al Zaidi’s shoes, which are more expensive than all my properties to be given to my sons,”said Hassan Mohammad Makhafa), an Egyptian man offered his 20-year old daughter’s hand in marriage to the journalist (“I find nothing more valuable than my daughter to offer to him,” said Saad Gumaa), an Internet game based on the incident has been created (the game begins with the following command: “OBJECTIVE: Hit President Bush in the face with your shoes! Do it!”), and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he thinks al-Zaidi is courageous, and the act was “funny.”

The incident has also sparked a number of sarcastic phone messages in Arabic. The following is a translation of a few of those messages (published in Gulf Times):

Following the shoe-throwing incident, “the US government has declared all the major shoe manufacturing firms such as Bata and Nine West as terrorist firms.”

“Soon after the incident, George W. Bush rebuked his intelligence staff on having provided him with false information on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and ignoring the arsenal of Iraqi shoes that can travel across from one corner of a hall to the dais. “

“Following the incident, the United Nations has called for convening an urgent meeting to discuss the crisis emerging from “the shoes of mass destruction in the Middle East.”

Do you have any of your own you’d like to share with us?