During former President George W. Bush’s visit to Baghdad last December — a visit made to bid farewell, converse with Prime Minister Nuri al-Muliki and mark greater security in Iraq after years of bloodshed — an Iraqi reporter lost his temper and hurled his shoes at Bush.The reporter, identified as Muntadar al-Zaidi, apparently screamed, “This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog!” as he hurled one shoe at him, then the other before the authorities intervened.Throwing a shoe at someone is considered an act of supreme disrespect in the Middle East. The American equivalent would be, roughly, spitting at someone.The action has symbolic significance and was not meant to cause bodily harm. Zaidi merely threw his shoes to express contempt.Coupled with the widely negative opinion of Bush, this has caused the incident to become the butt of political jokes across America.The repercussions have been unforgiving as far as Zaidi’s future is concerned. Much to Iraqi outrage, Zaidi was originally sentenced to 15 years in prison for his stint.Since then, his sentence has been trimmed back to three years. Many feel this is still too harsh, even though Zaidi was lucky to not be subjected to worse treatment. Still, public sentiment is on Zaidi’s side, and many feel the punishment was shockingly harsh for the crime.Even Bush found the incident amusing, rather than a cause for alarm. “I don’t know what the guy’s cause was. I didn’t feel the least bit threatened by it,” Bush said.This is not to say the reporter should be released without consequence. A slap on Zaidi’s wrist would suffice. Namely, he should be fined for disrupting public order and perhaps detained for a few days.This isn’t to say the reporter should be honored for unruly behavior. While there are many that share Zaidi’s sentiments and others that merely support his actions as a freedom of expression, his actions were an embarrassment for his people.In addition to minor legal repercussion, it would be appropriate for Zaidi to catch heat from his employers. Iraqi journalists need to set higher standards for public behavior in order to maintain a collectively positive image.But jail time for shoe flinging is too extreme a punishment. It is possible the charges have resulted from a polarization of feelings toward the former president.While many side with the reporter, other Iraqis, such as the Prime Minister, have nothing but praise for Bush. “You have stood by Iraq and the Iraqi people for a very long time, starting with getting rid of the dictatorship,” he said after the shoe-throwing incident.If the Prime Minister believes sentencing Zaidi to jail is necessary to politically appease the U.S., he apparently hasn’t heard the jokes generated at the incident’s expense. Others — including Ahmed al-Massoudi, a spokesman for the parliamentary bloc loyal to anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sad — felt that Bush’s visit was a “show of force.”Massoudi never commented    directly on whether he thought the fiasco was justified, but it is likely he, and others like him, condone the incident as a legitimate form of retaliation against perceived hostility.Essentially, given the context, this incident is more of a case of bad manners than actual assault, and it  needs to be treated as such.While truly aggressive action and public misconduct should never be condoned, Zaidi’s humorous assault is hardly threatening enough to warrant jail time.Slap him on the wrist and send him on his way.Linnie Leavines is an 18-year-old mass communication freshman from Central City.–Contact Linnie Leavines at [email protected]