Unwilling Participants: Iraqi soccer players angered by Bush campaign ads featuring team

SI.com ^

[JLS]

And if one were an Iraqi who was told they were in a Bush ad, one might want to say a similar thing to keep the terrorist off you back and your families back. These guys have to go back home and survive in Iraq. Who knows what their real feelings are.

[Steve_Seattle]

I guess this end's our brief love affair with the Iraqi soccer team. Actually, it was more like a one-night stand.

[88keys]

Right...not only the biased reporting (Najaf does not "lie in ruins", and if it does, it sure as heck isn't our fault...hello? Sad'r?? you're fighting your own people...) but the consequences these soccer players will face when they get back home to good old Fallujah...you'd darned well better say the insurgents are "freedom fighters," at least at the moment...

I'd be interested too in who their new "coach" is, as well as how the "interview questions" were framed, and who the translator is...

[ride the whirlwind]

Wonder how much that cost Soros?

Yours seems to be the most probable reason for this attitude. Wish he'd consider things like this account from U.S. Marine Josh Ingram ~

'People Loved Us'

Excerpt:

So then we moved into an abandoned military school. We set up security right away, then we started sending out patrols and talking to people. We scouted out the schools and hospitals. We painted the schools, we gave candy to the kids and we went to the schools and gave the kids a bunch of soccer balls. It was pretty rare for a kid to have his own soccer ball.

[QQQQQ]

"To a man, members of the Iraqi Olympic delegation say they are glad that former Olympic committee head Uday Hussein, who was responsible for the serial torture of Iraqi athletes and was killed four months after the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003, is no longer in power."

Then they go on to bash Bush.

Don't they see the correlation? If it hadn't been for President Bush, Uday would still be torturing them.

[Irish Eyes]

And if one were an Iraqi who was told they were in a Bush ad, one might want to say a similar thing to keep the terrorist off you back and your families back. These guys have to go back home and survive in Iraq. Who knows what their real feelings are.

Interesting take on this, I had not thought of it in this way. However for one of them to say if he had not been playing soccer he would be fighting the Americans does make my blood boil.

[Sprite518]

Yeah Saddam would not Kill as many people. LOL! Salih Sadir must have lost some power, and he is ticked off about it. What an idiot!

Oh and I love this quote,

"Many people hate America now. The Americans have lost many people around the world--and that is what is happening in America also."


If this is so, then how come we have an immigration problem?

[DB]

Can someone explain to me why I shouldn't hate these people?

They aren't worthy of the American sacrifices that have been made.

[dsutah]

I couldn't help but notice that "CNN" owns "Sports Illustrated"! Or otherwise in charge of it! Now I "smell a rat"! I have a feeling, knowing how "CNN" is; that the truth is somehow in between. Or, there is only a small grain of truth, and a good deal of stretching and spin. There may be a few who are claiming to speak for the whole team, that are complaining about the ad.

[KQQL]

Morons.

Too bad UDAY is not there to CUT THEIR B@lls off.

---

SCREW THEM , I hope they lose their QF game

[numberonepal]

The ad, "Victory", DOES NOT feature the Iraqi soccer team, all it has is the Afghanistan & Iraqi flag!!

You are correct. The only people shown other than the Prez and First Lady are swimmers. The Afghan and Iraqi flags are shown along side the country names when the ad speaks of two new democracies at the games. Somebody gave these boys some bad information, not to mention the gift for them to even utter those words freely.

[BlackRazor]

I can't believe that Karl Rove didn't see the potential for backlash once those images were put into paid promotional ads.

What images are you referring to?

[bluerose]

"Hmmm? I'm wondering who in the Bush campaign didn't check with the Iraqi team to see if it would be okay. "

Why would anyone much less Pres. Bush need these ungrateful
players permission? That's the least they can do as thanks.

[CyberAnt]

Well .. there are too many factions in Iraq to take for granted that EVERYONE loves us .. or is required to love us .. that's just not realistic.

My personal opinion: I don't think any political campaign has any right to automatically use any picture or statement of ANYONE without their permission.

[mhking]

"Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign," Sadir told SI.com through a translator, speaking calmly and directly. "He can find another way to advertise himself."

Perhaps Sadir would rather Uday and Qusay were still around running the show.

[princess leah]

He spoke through a translator, hmm? Perhaps someone ought to find out who the translator is and what he translated. I think he might have had his own interpretation.

[Yardstick]

This is weird since the Iraqi team sported red, white, and blue ties at the opening ceremonies. I'm wondering if this guy was the only one who didn't...will have to go searching for those photos.

It's entirely possible that this Sadir guy was lying through his teeth when he said it and had the rest of the team rolling their eyes. The press would be glad to report his comments with no balance. I'm going to withhold judgement (though if what he says is true, I'll be pretty miffed).

[Guillermo]

Ahmed Manajid, who played as a midfielder on Wednesday, had an even stronger response when asked about Bush's TV advertisement. "How will he meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women?" Manajid told me. "He has committed so many crimes."

"My problems are not with the American people," says Iraqi soccer coach Adnan Hamad. "They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything. The American army has killed so many people in Iraq.

In fact, Manajid says, if he were not playing soccer he would "for sure" be fighting as part of the resistance. "I want to defend my home. If a stranger invades America and the people resist, does that mean they are terrorists?"

"The war is not secure," says Hamad, 43. "Many people hate America now."

[Rabbit29]

IF IT WERE NOT FOR BUSH, maybe they would not be talking to anyone at all. They should take that and choke on it!!

[af_vet_rr]

but the consequences these soccer players will face when they get back home to good old Fallujah.

I'd be interested too in who their new "coach" is, as well as how the "interview questions" were framed, and who the translator is...

Interesting you bring that up - their former coach was a European - who was warned by "freedom fighters" that if he came into Iraq to coach them, he would be killed (such charming people, those freedom fighters).

I firmly believe that if they go any further than just saying they are glad Saddam is gone, and say "we are glad the US liberated Iraq", their lifespans will be measured in days.

No "freedom fighter" would standby and allow national heroes, such as the soccer players, to give any thanks or credit to the US.