Letters

Richard Thompson, Catonsville

Shoe-thrower sends an overdue message

For years, huge and growing numbers in the domestic and international communities have wondered: Where's the outrage over the actions of President Bush.

At long last comes Muntadar al-Zeidi, an Iraqi journalist, who threw his shoes at Mr. Bush during a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ("Bush visit to Iraq marred by protest," Dec. 15).

Most of the American and Iraqi people celebrate the end of the Bush regime and look forward to the end of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Michael J. Marsalek, Bel Air

Thank you, Muntadar al-Zeidi, for doing what so many of us have dreamed of doing over these last eight years but have never had the chance to do.

President Bush deserves neither respect nor gratitude for his destruction of an entire country and its culture.

Mr. Bush refuses to acknowledge his responsibility for the thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths and millions of refugees his invasion of Iraq has caused, and he will most likely never be held accountable for his crimes against humanity, Iraq and his own country.

I only wish the shoes had hit him.

Maria Allwine, Baltimore

Flying Bush to Iraq is a waste of funds

Please explain to me why the president's latest trip to Iraq, which must have cost the government hundreds of thousands of dollars, is any different from the auto executives flying to Washington on their private jets ("Bush visit to Iraq marred by protest," Dec. 15)?

Both trips are a waste of money - a waste that neither the auto companies nor the federal government can afford.

Wallace C. Knapp, Ellicott City