State Department on Nobel Prize: Better to be thrown accolades than shoes

From Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) - "Certainly from our standpoint this gives us a sense of momentum when the United States has accolades tossed its way rather than shoes."

That's the take of Hillary Clinton's State Department on President Barack Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, according to her spokesman, Assistant Secretary P.J. Crowley.

Crowley was referring to an incident last December, when an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during his final visit to Iraq while in office.

Muntader Zaidi, who worked for the Iraqi television station Al-Baghdadia, hurled both his shoes at Bush and called him a "dog" during a news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The president ducked and the shoes narrowly missed him.

The shoe-throwing, considered one of the highest insults in the Middle East, illustrated a deep anger toward the United States over its invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Crowley's comments suggested a recognition by the Obama administration that the Nobel prize was as much an indictment on the Bush administration as it was an effort to praise Obama's outreach to improve the U.S. image around the world.

Echoing comments by the White House, Crowley said the award was not just an "affirmation" of the Obama administration's foreign policy strategy of engagement, but also of it's robust foreign policy agenda, which includes efforts to promote non-proliferation, dealing with Iran and North Korea, and working for Middle East peace.