Shoe thrown at bush
US President George W. Bush has arrived in violence-wracked Afghanistan on a surprise trip after making a farewell visit to war-torn Iraq.
Bush’s plane landed in the dark at the Baghram air base outside the capital Kabul on early Monday. The US president is to hold talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and address US troops during the visit.
Earlier, Bush arrived in Baghdad on Sunday on what had been called a farewell trip to a country which has cost the US thousands of military servicemen and billions of dollars.
On a whirlwind trip shrouded in secrecy and marred by dissent, President George W. Bush on Sunday hailed progress in the wars that define his presidency and got a size-10 reminder of his unpopularity when a man hurled two shoes at him during a news conference in Iraq.
"This is your farewell kiss, you dog!" shouted the protester in Arabic.
In this image from APTN video, a man throws a shoe at President
George W. Bush during a news conference …
Five years of invasion has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis, while according to Human Rights Watch during the deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s reign, 250,000 to 290,000 people were killed over 20 years.
Bush’s visit to Afghanistan comes as more than 5,400 people including many civilians have been killed in Afghanistan due to fierce fighting between insurgents and US-led NATO forces. Despite the presence of western troops, insurgent attacks have hit a record high in Afghanistan this year.
The visit also comes as the International Council on Security and Development said in early December that the US and its allies were in a genuine danger of losing Afghanistan as the Taliban continues to expand its influence on almost 70 percent of the country.
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Bush’s Baggage
