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.
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.
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.