An astute AntiWar.com reader explains why Allawi would rather claim to have been the victim of gun-wielding assassins than an angry mob throwing tomatoes and shoes:
In Arab culture its more acceptable to a man to be hit by a bullet rather than a shoe -or even worse!-by a sandal.And from the Department of I-wish-I-had-thought-of-that, The Wege at Norwegianity points at this post with this comment:thats why they tried to cover up that most humilating incident by claiming that it was an assasination attempt !
They were shoe(t)ing at Allawi the other day. Amazing how that Iraqi press turned shoes and tomatoes into guns and knives.So, I stole it for the title of this post.
UPDATE: Swopa speculates on Allawi’s electoral chances vs. Team Shiite.