Iraq will compete in Beijing Olympics after all!

IOC: Iraq will not compete in Beijing Olympics


LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The International Olympic Committee says Iraq will not compete at Beijing because of Iraqi government interference.

The IOC suspended Iraq's national Olympic committee in June after Baghdad dismissed elected officials and installed its own people who are not recognized by the IOC.

The IOC Charter forbids political interference in the Olympic movement.

Iraq missed a Wednesday deadline to submit a team for the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Games because of a stalemate between the two sides. Four Iraqi athletes were expected to compete in archery, judo, rowing and weightlifting.

The IOC says the Iraqi government did not accept an invitation to come to its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, to try to end the dispute.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Copyright 2007-2008, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

That's too bad. All the years of training and hard work for those athletes and they don't get to compete.

The United States shouldn't compete either.



Screw the Chinese

gs78 wrote:

The United States shouldn't compete either.

Why? All that would accomplish is punish innocent people who have dedicated their lives to compete in the Olympics. While some of the Olympic athletes (like those in basketball) have more important moments in their careers, most of these athletes do not (quick, can you name an American water polo player?).

Why so the Chinese can make money and be given center stage for three weeks,


We boycotted Russia in 1980 for the Olympics and their nation collapsed in ten years


People won't be happy until the Chinese bastards are ruling the world.


Neither Bush, Nor Obama, Nor McCain understand this.



And people keep buying chinese made crap at Wally Mart and wonder why our economy is in the toilet

The Chinese are on center stage for 3 weeks regardless of whether we compete in the Olympics or not. The Russians boycotted us in 1984 and our nation didn't collapse.

But Who cares about the Russians?


They were a bunch of steroid cheats before the Iron Curtain fell


I blame the I.O.C for awarding them Chinese Bastards the Games anyway!


Then Again I think a Frenchman is the leader of the committee


What do the French know about Foreign Affairs?



That's why the Germans kicked their asses; And we had to rescue them morons

And the I.O.C is wrong for eliminating baseball and womens softball after this year.


But I guess Ping Pong and Badminton are so much more popular throughout the word

gs78 wrote:

What do the French know about Foreign Affairs?


That's why the Germans kicked their asses; And we had to rescue them morons

France's location - sharing a border with Germany is what allowed the Germans to "kick their asses". The United States did not win World War 2, it was a team effort that allowed the Allies to win on the European front. As the old saying goes World War II was won with British ingenuity, American money and Russian blood. The key battles were fought on the Eastern front in Russia - I mean look at the number killed in various battles:

Spoiler:

As for Japan, don't forget about the Australians, they fought Japan and held them back successfully. The Americans were able to finish off the Japanese war effort by committing two of the most deplorable acts of terrorism in human history killing over 250,000 people the vast majority of whom were innocent civilians.

(cough)
Know enough?

gdennis59 wrote:

(cough)
Know enough?

I had to look up those figures - I didn't memorize them :haha:

Ohhhh ok

Still though, the part about Iraq not being able to compete is

Now I think I have used just about all the smileys.

Forgot this one though.

I worry about our athletes having to endure the "off the charts" pollution in the air and water there. We may end up with a lot of sick Olympians! They NEVER should have let them host the games!!!

That's another reason;

The Air Pollution


Go Point GogetemTigers

catbox_9 wrote:

gs78 wrote:

What do the French know about Foreign Affairs?


That's why the Germans kicked their asses; And we had to rescue them morons

France's location - sharing a border with Germany is what allowed the Germans to "kick their asses". The United States did not win World War 2, it was a team effort that allowed the Allies to win on the European front. As the old saying goes World War II was won with British ingenuity, American money and Russian blood. The key battles were fought on the Eastern front in Russia - I mean look at the number killed in various battles:

Spoiler:

As for Japan, don't forget about the Australians, they fought Japan and held them back successfully. The Americans were able to finish off the Japanese war effort by committing two of the most deplorable acts of terrorism in human history killing over 250,000 people the vast majority of whom were innocent civilians.

And if The World had stood up to Germany and Japan; instead of appeasing them for decades, WW2 would not have happened

And the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in one of the biggest sneak attacks, At least we warned them we were going to drop the bomb, they wanted to fight to the death [ code of the Shogun] the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings saved hundrends of thousands of U.S soldiers lives if we invaded the Japanese Mainland

gs78 wrote:

And the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in one of the biggest sneak attacks,

I won't disagree here and the attack on Pearl Harbor does justify entry into the War, but I won't agree that it makes using nuclear bombs acceptable.

gs78 wrote:

the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings saved hundrends of thousands of U.S soldiers lives if we invaded the Japanese Mainland

Perhaps, but some notable Americans of that day argue that the war in Japan was pretty much over prior to the atomic bombings.

According to then-General Eisenhower

Quote :

...our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act....[it was]my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary

Others who disagreed with the use of atomic bombs include Douglas MacArthur, William D. Leahy (the Chief of Staff to the President), and several others.

According to Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet:

Quote :

The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan.

Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to President Truman had this to say:

Quote :

The use of [the atomic bombs] at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender.

Perhaps?

Can't go change something that happened more than 60 years ago


My Point is that an ounce of prevention is worth apound of cure

China may start the next World War;

The I.O.C awarding them the games and the Western Bloc refusing to boycott them does not help

Didn't Einstein help develop the Nuclear Bomb?

Awarding them the games is the problem. I just can't get behind punishing hundreds or thousands of athletes for political reasons.

What's amazing is how readily Beijing won the games. In the first round of voting the votes were as follows (it takes 52 votes to win - if nobody gets 52 the city with the fewest votes is eliminated prior to the next round of voting):

Beijing - 44
Toronto - 20
Istanbul - 17
Paris - 15
Tokyo - 6

Nobody got 52 so Tokyo was eliminated and they voted again:

Beijing - 56
Toronto - 22
Paris - 18
Istanbul - 9

Something fishy was going on though, why did Istanbul receive 8 fewer votes in the second round of voting when it was the same voters.

gs78 wrote:

Didn't Einstein help develop the Nuclear Bomb?

Yes although he was very critical of its use.

The voting system is crooked


Same way baseball and softball won't be played in the 2012 Games


Anyway

Goodnight Catbox

Night, gs!

One last thought on the atomic bomb...

While I am strongly opposed to its use during World War II, I can understand the argument in favor of it. What pisses me off is when people arrogantly go on and on about how great it was and how we kicked their ass with it. These people are incredibly proud that the US was able to kill so many people so easily like it was something to be proud of.

While its absolutely necessary to fight back if a country is at war with you, killing tons of people is never something to be proud of. If I served in a war (which I would never do - I'd rather go to jail) I can't imagine I'd be proud if I killed someone on the other side.

The fact is that while the people you're fighting are you're enemy, they would likely hold no animosity against you if you weren't at war. The only people that truly hate the opposition are the leaders of the warring nations who just sit around nowhere near combat and let their countrymen die in large numbers.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Olympic ban lifted for Iraq's athletes
Associated Press

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The International Olympic Committee says Iraq can take part in Beijing Games, lifting its previous ban.

IOC officials say they have reversed an earlier decision because the government has pledged to ensure the independence of its national Olympic committee.

The decision follows last-minute talks Tuesday between Iraqi officials and the IOC in Lausanne.

Iraq is expected to send two athletes to Beijing. Five others lost their chance to go when the final date to select competitors for archery, judo, rowing and weightlifting passed last week.

Well that's good news!

Sounds like a lot of trouble to send two athletes to the games


Probably finish last


Let alone not come close to medal

Some of the best stories in the Olympics aren't the winners but rather the people who don't win.

I still say the West should have boycotted this



Let the Russians, Asians and Arabs compete


China has no business hosting the games