April 28, 2004

Spitz raises Olympic fear

Olympic legend Mark Spitz believes security concerns may see the United States withdraw from the Athens Games.

Spitz, who won seven swimming golds in 1972, says heightened terrorist fears may prompt drastic action from the US.

"I would say that about six months ago it was highly unlikely," Spitz told BBC Five Live.

"But each day it becomes more probable than not that ongoing conversations will take place as to how important it is to put athletes in harm's way."
[...]

But Spitz believes that any US decision to pull out of the Games will come at a late stage, and could trigger a "snowball effect" as other countries follow suit.

"We are looking under the microscope at all the different terrorist acts and we know there is a high degree of probability that something could happen in Athens," he said.

Mark Spitz knows whereof he speaks: he was sent home when the Israeli wrestling team was taken hostage by the "Palestinian" terrorists during the '72 Munich Games both because he was such a star and because he was Jewish.
I'll never forget watching this on Live TV when I was in high school and feeling in the pit of my stomach how horrible the "Black September Massacre" was; little did we all know that that was the real beginning of IslamoFascist terrorism.

I've felt uneasy about the Games when the subject came up, but after the Madrid bombings and what happened in Spain thereafter, I knew that Athens would be a nightmare!
Greece has asked NATO to provide security, but how good could that be, with most of the good fighters already busy fighting the war in Iraq or Afghanistan?
This is a World War and not the time to do things we'd do in peacetime like the Olympics especially in a foreign venue and one that is not all that friendly to America right now.
Besides, the Greeks have taken out insurance in case the Games are cancelled in full or in part because of "war, terrorism, earthquake, etc." and worse still, they can't get the roof on the main stadium.
In addition to that, many of the other Olympic venues aren't finished.
Can you believe that the ancestors of these same people built the Parthenon in 447 B.C... without modern tools and modern labor unions?
Trying to hold the Olympics, given the current world political climate with the ongoing WOT, would be enough of a problem anyway, but given the logistical and security problems that seem aggravated by Greek lethargy and inaction make it a "no-go."
Let's tell Team USA to stay home!