[LETTERS]Throwing shoes for peace

An Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at George W. Bush as the U.S. president made comments that the war in Iraq was not over and the U.S. presence would continue. Nothing like this usually happens in a press room as a president makes a speech. However, it happened all of a sudden during Bush’s speech.

Now that the journalist is being investigated by prosecutors, we must ask: Why is this Iraqi journalist being investigated? Because he threw his shoes at the president or is it because he has the potential to motivate others to be anti-American?

I would say the answer is the latter. After he was taken into custody, hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries began protests denouncing America and urging for the journalist’s release. Bush or President-elect Barack Obama must rethink what the U.S. has generated in the Middle East.

Is it simply about launching peace in this world? Words are easy, but reality shows that those words aren’t in fact the truth. Now it’s time to think about what the Iraqi people want. That would be the only way for the U.S. to achieve its apparent goal of launching peace.

Chung Eun-Jee, Sookmyung Girls’ High School