Posted on 01/15/2014 8:43:58 AM PST by Dave346
Now that the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory to Americans that all but screams don’t go to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, you have to wonder: Why is the U.S. government taking such a contrary position about these Olympics?
And what will be the consequences?
For any travelers who do go? For the U.S. team? The U.S. Olympic Committee? Longer term, for the prospect of an American bid for the 2024 Summer Games — the International Olympic Committee tending to have a long memory about governments that don’t play ball the Olympic way, especially when it’s the American government.
Seriously: why this disconnect?
The State Department does not always issue travel alerts; it does so to “disseminate information” when the U.S. government identifies “short-term conditions” it believes “pose significant risks to the security of U.S. citizens.” The government issues “travel warnings” for more serious situations in which it urges Americans not to go.
In this instance, one wonders whether the distinction makes a difference, given the publicity the advisory generated — Associated Press, the New York Times and other major outlets — and the language it contained.
The advisory also runs the considerable risk of putting the USOC — and, worse, American athletes — in an awkward, or worse, position. At the 2014 Games, the USOC has to rely on the State Department, some number of FBI agents and other American assets but, mostly, the Russians themselves for security.
In Sochi, the U.S. team will also be largely at the Russians’ disposal for logistics and transport.
To be clear, since the attack by Palestinian terrorists on Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Games, security has been priority No. 1 at the Olympics, Winter or Summer.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
The US should send in it’s “Gay Delegation” first to make sure it’s safe.
Homosexuals , less than 2% of our citizenry, are driving foreign policy to fit their agenda. Some animals are more equal than others, you know.
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