US must hear Iraqi voices

Shoe throwing as an act of political defiance has gradually but surely become the new fad in many parts of the world ever since Muntadar Al Zaidi threw his at outgoing US President George W. Bush earlier this month in order to humiliate the leader of the US-led war on terror.

From Pakistan to the Palestinian territories, demonstrators have been inspired by Al Zaidi's act. Protests have been held to repeat his act.

For US president-elect Barack Obama, the public's response to this event must illustrate a bold writing on the wall: America's controversial policies under Bush have been squarely negated in parts of the world.

For a minute, set aside the legal dimensions of the case, and consider just the political message underlining it.

Al Zaidi was notably keen to demonstrate the deep rooted anger in much of the Muslim world against the US, though his act did infringe the laws of Iraq.

The response to his act across the world says it all. This single incident has struck a chord which will be remembered for a long time as the action of a man who took it upon himself to express the public mood.

The lesson for Bush in this incident is one that he has failed to learn for most of the eight years as president of the world's so called largest democracy.

The policies unleashed by them have done little to promote the cause of democracy anywhere on the face of this Earth, no matter how much Washington justified them in the name of fighting terrorists.

Some of the legacies of Washington's policies have been felt worldwide dating back to the era before Bush became president.

Role of United Nations

The case of the subjugation of Palestinian rights is perhaps the most obvious example of all. The Palestinians, forced out of their homeland to live under Israeli occupation, were indeed forced to retaliate by launching an armed struggle.

Everywhere in the world where such campaigns of defiance have come together there has been an underlying political cause.

A typical feature of such campaigns has been that their participants have often been denied their just political rights which forced them to take up an alternative route to settle their grievances.

While instruments such as the United Nations or the International Court of Justice do exist as mechanisms to deliver justice, their track record has just been a source of disappointment.

The war in Iraq was unleashed on the basis of the UN's acceptance of this effort, and the case remains hugely controversial. The so-called weapons of mass destruction which the US ostensibly sought to find in Iraq were never discovered.

The lessons from this set of examples and historical track record are many. On the one hand, people forced into subjugation with their rights squarely compromised will always find ways and reasons to fight back, for it is in human nature to sooner or later agitate for freedom from oppression.

If the shoe-throwing incident would not have taken place, arguably, someone who was somewhere else in Iraq would have found reason and opportunity to insult the US.

On the other hand, the profound question is whether the United States would be willing to learn a lesson or two from this event which has now overshadowed Bush's farewell visit to the biggest battleground of his presidency. Judging by Washington's history, such lessons have seldom been learnt in the past.

For Obama, it is now time to appreciate a profoundly important lesson from history as he begins his four-year tenure. It would be a wasted opportunity if he continues to disregard the voices of oppressed people in lands where Washington remains deeply engaged.

Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.