The United States on Monday vowed to continue its Iraq policy after President George W. Bush received a taste of local resentment toward his policies when an Iraqi journalist hurled two shoes at him at a news conference.

"That's one incident, and one individual's views. But if you look at the direction that we're heading in Iraq right now, it's in a very, very positive direction, and we hope to see that continue," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said at a routine news briefing.

An Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at visiting U.S. President George W. Bush and called him a "dog" in Arabic during a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad on Sunday.

The reporter, who worked for Baghdadiya television, jumped up and threw both of his shoes one by one at the president, who ducked and narrowly missed the attack.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2008)