From war to shoes to torture: Violence begets violence begets violence

By now surely you've heard the amusing story of the Iraqi journalist, Muntadar al-Zaidi, who threw his shoes at George W. Bush, while calling Bush "a dog", during our president's weekend visit to Iraq.

"This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq," he shouted.

In Arab culture, it is a huge insult to throw a shoe at someone. In fact, it's even rude to show the sole of your shoe to another person.

So a part of me wanted to cheer. Bush certainly deserves a good disrespecting.

When the incident occurred, the authorities dragged al-Zaidi off the premises and arrested him. He has been sitting in prison ever since.

But he's not just sitting there in prison. He's being tortured.

While in custody, al-Zaidi has reportedly been beaten, and is suffering a broken arm, broken ribs, and internal bleeding, along with "signs of torture on his thighs."

This is wrong.

I do not condone al-Zaidi's shoe throwing stunt. While many people around the world are praising al-Zaidi, elevating him overnight to cult-hero status, I submit that it is a crime to attempt an assault on a world leader, and such an act and should not be glamorized, praised, or encouraged. Al-Zaidi should face some charges.

But he does not deserve torture. No one does.

But violence begets violence begets violence.

When I first spoke out against the shoe throwing, I was criticized. The ironic thing was that I was criticized by so-called pacifists, so-called anti-war activists who dislike Bush because of his violence. These pacifists were cheering for al-Zaidi's act of violence against Bush.

I dislike Bush as much as anyone. But a true pacifist will oppose violence against anyone and everyone, by anyone and everyone. No cherry picking. Otherwise, where will we ever agree to draw the line?