I was looking around ESPN trying to find something to write about and came across this story.

The International Olympic Committee has upheld a ban on Iraqi teams at the Beijing Games, saying Thursday the government missed the deadline to address accusations of political interference.

The IOC decision culminates a drawn-out internal feud in Iraq that many see as an extension of Shiite payback to Sunnis who once held a cozy niche in Saddam Hussein’s regime.

So, we will not see any Iraqis in the Olympic Games in Beijing in a week or two. Some will remember the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, when the national soccer team made a Cinderella run to the semifinals, where they lost to Paraguay, 3-1. A native of Iraq who left Baghdad 5 years before who saw the match said afterwards, “They make us forget our situation in Iraq, they make us forget our misery. They make us very happy. We are very proud of them” (from a story in The Washington Post on August 25, 2004). 

This is not the first time that this has occured. In 2000, due to the Taliban’s grip on sports, the IOC refused to let Afghanistan participate in the Sydney Olympics. Remember, this was before 9/11.

NOW IT’S TIME FOR MY OPINION!

Let the guys play. You know, it’s not their fault that the country’s in turmoil. It’s 4 people just trying to represent their homeland in archery, judo, rowing and weightlifting. I mean, here in America we let guys who are accused of drunk driving and assault back into the leagues, guys who are arrested, guys who committed actual crimes. They can come back and make millions of dollars for endorsements and contracts (i.e. Kobe Bryant, arrested for sexual assault in 2003, to name one of many). Athletes in Iraq were tortured if they did not do well. For instance, an Iraqi soccer player was jailed for 10 days because he missed a penalty kick. When the US invaded Iraq, they found torture devices in the headquarters of the Iraq Olympic Committee. Ridiculous. These guys probably did nothing to break the law, yet they cannot compete because their governments are too concerned with their own butts to worry about others’ hopes and dreams.

I know that we did this in the 1980 Summer Olympics. That’s because a guy named Jimmy Carter couldn’t handle the pressure of being President and that’s why he got booted from office the next year. 62 countries, led by our “example”, had their athletes’ hopes and dreams destroyed because they couldn’t stand something happening hundreds of miles away. By no means am I condoning what the Soviets did. They invaded Afghanistan for almost no reason. But does anyone remember the Roman Empire, who did that kind of thing all the time? It’s just because the leader was smart and commandeering and knew what he was doing. Guys like Julius Caesar and Augustus were smart men. We could even look back in Biblical times. King David was a fighting man. It should happen. It’s just that Americans were used to freedom and justice. Remember, if I was living back then, I probably would have been ticked off at the Soviets too. But, in retrospect, should we really have hurt hundreds of athletes because we couldn’t stand a few tanks moving into across a country’s border?

This is a different situation in Iraq. Their Olympic Committee is in shambles. Four of the reps, including the chief, were kidnapped in 2006 and have not been heard from since. One of the guys running the Committee now is the eldest son of the late Sadaam Hussein.

DONE WITH MY OPINION

I’ve given you my opinion. You can agree, or take your own side. Whose side are you on? Feel free to comment.

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