Iraqis Rally in Support of "Shoe Man"

I haven't seen this mentioned yet this morning in US news...

BBC NEWS | Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker:

Thousands of Iraqis have demanded the release of a local TV reporter who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.

Crowds gathered in Baghdad's Sadr City district, calling for "hero" Muntadar al-Zaidi to be freed from custody. There were similar scenes in Najaf.

Officials at the Iraqi-owned TV station, al-Baghdadiya, also called for the release of their journalist.

[...]

In Cairo, Muzhir al-Khafaji, programming director for al-Baghdadiya TV, described the journalist as a "proud Arab and an open-minded man".

"We fear for his safety," he told the AFP news agency, adding that Mr Zaidi had been arrested twice before by the Americans.

"We fear that our correspondents in Iraq will be arrested. We have 200 correspondents there," he added.

"He has no ties with the former regime. His family was arrested under Saddam's regime."

I don't condone physical attacks of any kind on political leaders, but it's essential for Americans to understand the mood in Iraq - or, rather, the many moods of Iraq.