Shoes for thought

Re “Iraq to Bush: shoe,” editorial, Dec. 16

Your editorial concludes with the comment that “Bush made light of the incident, saying all he could report was that the shoe was ‘a size 10.’ ”

Soon afterward, the president made light, in fact made a mockery, of a much more serious issue -- the Iraq war.

During a television interview, he claimed that one of the major theaters against Al Qaeda turned out to have been Iraq. When the reporter said, “But not until after the U.S. invaded,” Bush’s answer was, “Yeah, that’s right. So what?”

While Americans soon will forget Bush’s size-10-shoes comments, arrogant words such as “So what?” will not be easily forgotten, as they go to the character of our highest elected leader.

Dorian de Wind

Austin, Texas

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All shoes aside, the most revealing part about this story is that a person in Iraq can be arrested for “insulting the Iraqi state.”

If an Iraqi can’t freely insult the Iraqi state, what’s the point of Iraqi democracy?

Louis Tripodes

Pasadena

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For the last eight years, I have agreed with very few of President Bush’s foreign policies ... but I would definitely pick him for my dodge-ball team.

What the president lacks in foreign relations deftness, he makes up for in shoe-dodging dexterity. Last pick on the playground: his Secret Service detail.

David Winter

San Clemente