Should Bush ask Maliki to pardon the shoe-thrower?

Mark “Black Hawk Down” Bowden says yes. I think it’s a no-brainer, but for different reasons:

The stunt was rude and no doubt embarrassing to the Iraqi authorities, but it is hardly a high crime. For Americans, the only serious issue raised by the shoe-throwing episode is how Mr. Zaidi was able to throw the second one. With its national pride at stake, the Iraqi government is unlikely to cut the journalist a break. If a gesture is to be made, it has to come from Mr. Bush…

It would also be a small way of acknowledging that Iraqis have borne by far the greatest measure of pain in this war, and that America’s handling of the country since chasing Saddam Hussein from power, while trending in the right direction currently, has not been a singular and shining success. Many Iraqis have come by their anger toward the U.S. honestly…

As the video now plays, and plays, and plays, with just the action sequence of hurled shoes and the ducking president, Mr. Bush appears ridiculous. It will stay that way and is certain to become, with several other unfortunate tableaus (“Mission Accomplished” comes to mind), an iconic moment in the Bush presidency. With a simple gesture of reprieve, he could completely rise above it. Mr. Zaidi would be nothing more than a rude prankster. The president would be the story’s hero.

Good points, although I’d argue it’s because the Iraqis are likely to cut Zaidi a break that Bush should climb aboard. Like I said last week, if Maliki makes an example of the Arabs’ new hero, he’ll be hammered for it before the next elections and lose credibility in the region. Whereas if he pardons him, it’s an insult to Bush, but Bush is on his way out and no one much likes him anymore anyway. What’s a beleaguered prime minister — who’s already taking heat for the beating the IP allegedly laid on Zaidi in jail — to do? By requesting the pardon, Bush would eliminate both the insult and, more importantly, the perception of Iraq as an anti-American state that would arise if Maliki pardoned Zaidi anyway. It’d also help get the Iraqi parliament back on track: Political nonsense over this incident has already led to the resignation of the speaker, a Sunni, who calls Zaidi “brave” and is angry that more MPs don’t feel the same way. I don’t know sectarian politics well enough to guess whether most Sunnis agree, but if so, that’s an even bigger problem for Maliki than his Shiite rivals hassling him during a campaign.

Dubya’s in a pardon-y mood anyway these days, so why not? While you ponder, here’s a clip of Iranians finding inspiration in Zaidi’s glorious Payless jihad.