It was intended to be not just an assault on our visiting President, it was intended to be an insult to our entire country, and the obvious progress that has been achieved in transforming the government of Iraq from a tyrannical regime ruled by a genocidal maniac into a government elected by the people of Iraq.

It is an indictment of what has generally become the (perceived) purpose of the profession of journalism worldwide. I am a professional journalist, and the transformation from reporting the news to interjecting personal bias both saddens and sickens me. And, I'm not just speaking of the attack, I'm also talking about the overall reaction to it by this country's mainstream media. Their reaction would have been very different had the President-Elect been the target of the attack.

Let the Iraqi government determine the punishment for this foolish "reporter". Under Saddam, he most certainly would have been executed. That may well have involved his having to view his wife and children being tortured and raped in front of him before he was put to death. I'm sure the current Iraqi government will be far less barbaric in handling this case. Locked up for a couple years sounds about right to me.