Posted on 08/21/2004 10:42:15 PM PDT by M. Peach
Soccer players say president shouldn't exploit their success Updated: 10:15 p.m. ET Aug. 21, 2004ATHENS, Greece -
Iraqi soccer players reacted angrily Friday after being told that their nation's Olympic participation was mentioned in TV commercial by the re-election campaign for President Bush.
The players called on Bush to stop using them to win votes in the United States. “Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign,” midfielder Salih Sadir was quoted as saying. “He can find another way to advertise himself.”
However, the Iraqi Olympic delegation accused journalists of deliberately provoking an angry response from their players. “Our purpose is not to politicize the football team in any way,”
Mark Clark, a consultant for the Iraqi Olympic Committee, said. “It seems the story was engineered.”
The flags of Iraq and Afghanistan appear in the Bush commercial ahead of the Republican National Convention, to be held in September.
A narrator says: “At this Olympics there will be two more free nations—and two fewer terrorist regimes.”
Another Iraqi player asked: “How will (Bush) meet his God having slaughtered so many men and women? He has committed so many crimes.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Well Fallujah must be a hotbed of soccer talent - because there were more than a few that felt this way. The mere fact that they could feel this way boggles my mind.
Thanks for posting that.
I am amazed at the uncritical and almost hysterical responses here. Exactly the sort of responses the Media Rats were hoping to engender.
You can always get a quote or two like that if you really work at it. Did they poll the entire team? I don't think so.
Of course the athletes liked Saddam, they were treated like royalty until they lost, and than their heads were chopped off.
It is the feelings of two players, maybe even all of them, but they are literally simplistic in their political views. They are probably the equivalent of peasants during the French Revolution... quick to judge, quick to talk, and quick to follow.
I do agree that it is very ungrateful of them, and I am angry at them, but I still want them to win. A win for them is a win for us, no matter what the players say. Nobody with a brain would be able to argue against the fact that they wouldn't have this chance if it wasn't for us, and if they continue to say stupid stuff like this, it will only hurt them, and if we don't show too much outrage, and limit our expression to one of disappointment, then we will look like their gracious but unappreciated benefactors.
Let's take the high road on this one and at least ignore them, or at most - cheer them on.
OK - OK - once again bamboozled by the media - I wish the reporter for the article I posted would have been a little more objective.
Sometimes I don't know what or who to believe anymore - where the hell is the objectivity in reporting anymore?
I think they are Misconscrewed, Blued, and Tattooed.
It got thrown out about 50 years ago.
``Bush helps to destroy our country. After a year and a half, we have passed into a very bad situation. ... We'll never believe Bush can be with us.'' -- Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad
http://sports.yahoo.com/oly/soccer/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpcTEybmJhBF9TAzk2NjcyOTgwBHNlYwN0bQ--?slug=ap-iraq-australiasoc&prov=ap&type=lgns
To say ungrateful would be euphemistic.
If it weren't for the global threat of radical muslims left unchecked getting their hands on WMDs, today and in the future (e.g. North Korea), we could say let them all kill each other in the desert sand...
AH don't blame the dumd soccer guys....after all the media have been tracking them down and forcing them to say trhings that are negative....cause they won't search out the good news ...you know that Iraq is actually in the olympics this year (oops I said olympics is the IOC going to sue me now)?
Thank you -- glad I read your post. I feel much better now.
Give me a break.
So these happen to be Iraqi soccer players. I can't blame them if they don't want their presence at the Olympics politicized.
If President Bush is attending their event, I hope he's doing it because he enjoys the game.
It's bound to be a good one too. :-)
Oh, a big mouthed bench warmer.
I wouldn't doubt that they are afraid of Arab terrorists as well. "What, you were silent when the evil one tried to use your name for the Jews? Well take this! ...."
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