|
|
|
|
US First Lady Laura Bush, pictured in September 2008, said Sunday she was "not amused"
|
First Lady Laura Bush wasn't amused when an Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at the president during a news conference in Baghdad this month.
“It was an assault,” she said. “And the president laughed it off, he wasn’t hurt, he’s very quick as you know he’s a natural athlete and ducked it, but on the other hand it was an assault.”
But despite her unhappiness, the first lady saw an upside to the Dec. 14 event.
“As bad as the incident is, in my view, it is a sign that Iraqis feel a lot more free to express themselves,” she said.
"I know that if Saddam Hussein had been there the man wouldn't have been released, and probably would've been executed," she said of the Iraqi journalist, who was arrested following the Dec. 14 incident and has been in custody since.
Bush also said she disagrees with critics who have deemed her husband’s presidency a failure.
Bush noted that during her husband’s presidency the country has been safe from terrorist attacks since September 11, that the administration toppled dictators in Iraq and Afghanistan and provided treatment for disease to millions in sub-Saharan Africa. She criticized the media, particularly the coverage of the response to Hurricane Katrina which she described as being “not really factual." Early reports gave the "misimpression" that 10,000 residents died in the 2005 storm, said Bush. An estimated 1,800 people died in the storm and the flood.
“Do I think the press is fair? No, absolutely not,” she said.
點擊查看更多雙語新聞
(Agencies) |
本月在巴格達舉行的一次記者招待會上，一名伊拉克記者向美國總統布什投擲了“鞋彈”，這令第一夫人勞拉?布什大為不悅。
她說：“這是人身攻擊。總統先生一笑了之，他沒有受傷，你知道他天生就是當運動員的料，身手矯捷躲過了它。但從另一個角度說，這就是一次人身攻擊。”
盡管極為不悅，第一夫人還是從本月14日這起“鞋彈事件”中看到了積極的一面。
她說：“在我看來，盡管這件事很糟，但可以看出伊拉克人民享有了更多的表達自由。”
她說：“我知道如果薩達姆?侯賽因還當政，扔鞋的人不會被釋放，也許早就被處決了。”制造“鞋彈事件”的記者在事后一直被關押。
勞拉還表示她不同意某些批評人士說他丈夫是個失敗的總統。
勞拉指出，在他丈夫的任期內，自9?11事件后美國再沒有受到過恐怖襲擊。美國政府推翻了伊拉克和阿富汗的獨裁政權，并為撒哈拉以南非洲國家的數百萬貧民提供醫療援助。
她指責媒體報道常有失偏頗，特別是對卡特里娜颶風救災不力的報道不實。勞拉稱此前媒體將2005年卡特里娜颶風的遇難人數誤報為1萬人，而實際上據估計死于此次颶風和洪災的人數為1800人。
她說：“我會覺得媒體公正嗎？不，完全不會。”
（英語點津 實習生許雅寧 編輯） |
