Iraq-Australia (Olympic soccer) [R]

CNBC

[Azzurri]

Well, the ungrateful Iraqi soccer team won again, 1-0 against Australia in the Olympic quarterfinals. They will now play in the semis. Hopefully, the anti-US comments among the players are limited to the two or so Fallujah residents. There must be some pro-US players on the team and maybe they will eventually speak.

[coconutt2000]

Chances are the Pro-US guys did speak... They just weren't heard.

[LibSnubber]

They'd better say something positive real quick - those ingrates. Considering it was our troops that airlifted them out of Iraq so they'd be able to participate in the Games in the first place. If I were them, I'd be wondering right about now how I was going to get home after the Games are over.

[tsmith130]

I missed their comments. What did they say?

[Azzurri]

I missed their comments. What did they say?

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

[Azzurri]

Yeah, I mean... just because we massacred over 11,000 of their people (the most conservative estimate I could find, some estimate over 30k), and now are occupying their country, installing a government that is pro-US and not-so-pro-Iraqis, that's no reason to be mad...

Member since Aug 21, 2004
Hope your visit is a short one.

[teldon30]

it was ;)

[Moosehead]

This is from an Iraqi blogger...the writer of the SI article quoted two players from the Sunni Triangle as well as Uday's handpicked soccer coach who only took over when the German coach was forced to leave the country after death threats. http://nabilsblog.blogspot.com/ have a lot of things to say, after I knew the whole story that you heard from the press about the two players and the coach, First I have to say from where did those two players came from: 1-Ahmed Monajed This player came from Fallujah and after the events in fallujah and the military action over there to clean up the city from the terrorist and the thieves, a lot of innocent people died and a lot of houses destroyed, so let's say that Ahmed was one of the people who hurt from the military action, so of course he will say this and about when he said "I will come back to Iraq and kill the Americans" he said that because of what happened in his home. So I think when he said that he say it to express his feelings. 2- Salih Sadir This player came from Najaf and maybe he said that because the same thing which has been said by Ahmed Monajed, maybe he said that because his city was destroyed and a lot of innocent people died. And when he said Mr. Bush is using us to win his campaign, this is a bullshit. And about the Coach Adnan Hamed He benefit from Uday because he was the coach in Uday's time too, so he loss the money which Uday was giving him, and now he don’t have only the salary form the government.

[FreeReign]

Will the Iraqi players thank the Australian players for the sacrifice their countrymen have made?

[tsmith130]

Sheesh! Just goes to show you that America does not have a patent on whack-jobs. Hope the US military plane doesn't forget to take him back home. ;o)

[Cobra64]

How quickly some forget that if they didn't win, they would have been tortured by Saddam's son, Uday, or was it Qusay.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Or auctioned off by the other son, Ebay....

[Stars N Stripes]

I watched the match and I was really happy to see the Iraqis win, I'll be watching and rooting their next match as well. I think most Americans, and the rest of the world, can relate to this Cinderella story and I'm sure most people realize that this team wouldn't be where it is if we hadn't liberated their country.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were 2 or 3 players on the American Team that feel the same as the 3 Iraqi players... lol

[Catmom]

Who will they play in the semifinals?

[FreeReign]

I wouldn't be surprised if there were 2 or 3 players on the American Team that feel the same as the 3 Iraqi players... lol

You make an excellent point. Three people from the Iraqi team bad mouth the U.S. and it is assumed that it is everyone on the team. That's just what the bad guys want us to believe and we fall for it.

The line that separates the good guys and the bad guys cuts across National boundaries -- and their soccer teams.

[NavySEAL F-16]

I agree. It's like the caption under the AP picture saying it was "posed".

I don't trust the LSM -- who is doing the translating?

[68skylark]

Let's not be too hard on these guys -- we don't really know the whole story. It's possible that SI baited a few of them into making their remarks, or something else like that could have happened. I'm just glad they're free to play in the Olympics without fear.

[World'sGoneInsane]

From Yahoo news:

Iraq, whose only previous Olympic medal was a weightlifting bronze at the 1960 Rome Games, face either Paraguay or South Korea for a place in the final.

Their actions may speak louder than their words. History may prove they could not win a medal until now.

[Avenger]

"Hopefully, the anti-US comments among the players are limited to the two or so Fallujah residents."

Sure there are. The problem is that those players who speak out against the U.S. know that they are safe in that the U.S. will not track them down and kill them for what they say. On the otherhand, those people who support the U.S. are in real danger of being killed by fanatics. What would you do?