Answers!

Rick-
Good question. I asked my Iraqi counterpart what he thought of "the shoe guy." He was embarrassed for Maliki, he was embarrassed for his country, and he was sorry it happened. From what he said, it was a shameful thing to throw shoes (or throw anything) at an invited guest, and it was shameful that he did it in the presence of the guy who invited him to the country.

Most Iraqis I have dealt with, from dirt-farming poor folks with no car, no electricity, and no shoes all the way up to business owners and Iraqi Army officers say the US presence is a good thing. Of late it has kept people honest. Usually the extremists will be the ones ranting for the US to withdraw. But they won't do it to your face.

Iraq is an interesting place in terms of relationships and things said. You can say the wrong things to your neighbor-- really bad things, and the next day reconcile an dit is like nothing happened. But if you don't reconcile in the right way, you will never be forgiven.

A lot of the media you get is Baghdad focused. And Baghdad is like New York, LA and Chiicago all combined; you get the best of the best and the worst of the worst.

Hope that answers it. Thanks for reading.
Ron