Before I get my head bitten off again, let's just clear up one thing. "The Shoe" was a most fitting farewell to a person who brought so much grief and sadness to Iraq in the name of freedom. It was hilariously insulting and I am sure George Bush will remember this incident for the rest of his life. But I say this as Salam the Iraqi citizen and blogger … ask me again what I think of the incident while I have a press pass pinned to my shirt and I'll probably cringe.

Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi citizen, might have expressed eloquently with that shoe what many of us felt about Bush and his war, but al-Zaidi the journalist did us all a disservice.

Al-Zaidi told the judges that when he saw president George Bush smiling he "imagined millions of Iraqis killed every moment at Bush's orders" and his action was a spontaneous outburst of anger, not intended to kill or humiliate the president.

There are many times when the smugness US officials have displayed during press conferences would get me shouting at televisions and radios, so I can understand the anger. But al-Zeidi, by being there as a journalist, had a much more important duty than hurl abuse and shoes.

He was there, while many others were not, to ask the questions we needed answered. Instead of hurling a shoe in the name of those widows and children he should have asked president Bush how he feels about having tens of thousands killed and millions displaced as a direct result of his actions. To this day I want Bush to say "sorry", just once for all the grief he caused and that final press conference was the chance for Iraqi journalists to see if George Bush has anything to say to us Iraqis through our own journalists. Highly unlikely, I know, but I would have wanted to try. I still believe that a well-aimed pen, while it might not make such a striking TV image, is mightier than a shoe that missed.

There is a lot in Iraq that needs to be built up from scratch. And one institution we're still working on, and need very much to keep this stuttering experiment in democracy going, is a free, independent and respected press. While we, and the rest of the world, got a cheer and a laugh out of that shoe, I believe it didn't do much good to Iraqi journalists and journalism.

The shoe was an insult to the Iraqi state as much as to president Bush but the sentence of three years' imprisonment does seem too harsh. OK, so no one wants press conferences in Iraq to turn into shoe-throwing competitions every time passions flare, but Mr Maliki: have you seen how some Iraqi journalists are treated by your government's police and military? Why not let this one go with a rap on the wrist and give this thing a fresh start? And while you're at it, could you also clear the rumours about Iraqi journalists having to wear soft, light shoes at press conferences?