A Shoe for Two

The Iraqi journalist who chucked both his shoes at President Bush after denouncing him as a "dog" was practicing the "worst insult in the Arab world" in attacking Bush. The size-10 heater was not a simple show of anger, but a calculated symbol reflecting much of the disdain for Bush war policy.

The Globe and Mail reports that the insult is a potent symbol of disrespect in the Arab world:

As the lowest part of the body, the foot is the filthiest in Arab culture, sharing space on the ground with animal waste and other refuse. It's farthest from the head, and the farthest from heaven.

Another symbolic shoe-related insult. . .