Political ad upsets Iraqi players
Iraqi soccer players said they are angered that President Bush has referred to their Olympic delegation in a campaign ad and called on him to stop, Sports Illustrated reported Thursday on its Web site.
"Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign," Iraqi midfielder Salih Sadir told SI.com through a translator. "He can find another way to advertise himself."
The Bush campaign is running an ad in which the flags of Iraq and Afghanistan appear.
A narrator says, "At this Olympics there will be two more free nations - and two fewer terrorist regimes. With strength, resolve and courage, democracy will triumph over terror and hope will defeat hatred."
There are no images of Iraqi soccer players in the ad.
Another player was harshly critical of the president.
"How will he meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women?" Ahmed Manajid told SI.com. "He has committed so many crimes."
There was no immediate response from the Bush campaign on the criticism from the Iraqis.
The players said they were grateful that Saddam Hussein's son, Uday, was no longer in charge of the country's Olympians, SI.com reported. He had tortured players for playing badly. U.S. troops killed him last year in Mosul.
Still, the team's coach said the ad was inappropriate and that the team does not support the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
"My problems are not with the American people," Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad told SI.com.
"They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything," he said. "The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the (national) stadium and there are shootings on the road?"
― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 20 August 2004 13:47 (twenty-one years ago)
he was supposed to go windsurfing, which is apparently UNAMERICAN now too.
(don't tell the windsurfers)
― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 20 August 2004 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)
Bloody Hell
I've just seen this campaign ad. It's one of the scariest things I've ever watched. Yeah, even scarier than the other Bush campaign ads.
Just the inference that the Bush campaign has created 80 'new' - like over the past 30 years - democracies out of 'terrorist regimes' which is a COMPLETE fucking lie because a great deal of these countries we'd consider democracies nowadays are places like Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Poland and India WHICH WERE HARDLY THE HOTBED OF 'TERRORIST' ACTIVITY IN THE FIRST PLACE. Even Greece itself is now considered a democracy since civilian rule was restored in 1974. Also look at the real number of countries that have had democratic elections since 1972, and it's more like ~20 rather than the 80 countries the Bush ad claims.
'FREEDOM IS SPREADING THROUGHOUT THE WORLD LIKE A SUNRISE', apparently. Even so, if the 80 countries over the past 32 years is true (which it isn't) then only creating two new democracies over the past four years IS A BIT BELOW THE BATTING AVERAGE.
This ad is just utter bullshit on some many levels and people are just picking apart the stupid shit about the Iraqi football team, which has probably just been planted by Rove so nobody noticed the real lie so they can repeat it over and over - 80 NEW DEMOCRACIES, LESS TERROR, YOU'RE SAFER AND BUSH DID IT ALL. VOTE BUSH.
― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Saturday, 21 August 2004 10:47 (twenty-one years ago)
'BUSH TO ATHENS': PRESIDENT BUSH PLANS TRIP TO OLYMPICS, SOURCES TELL DRUDGE. MAY ATTEND IRAQI SOCCER GAME. 'TRIP BEING PLANNED IN SECRET'... SECURITY CONCERNS AND 'DISRUPTION' OF GAMES AT ISSUE... 'THE PRESIDENT WILL NOT GO, IF IT BECOMES TOO MUCH OF A DISTRACTION,' TOP SOURCE REVEALED LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON... TOP BUSH SOURCE CAUTIONS PLANNING FOR TRIP IS BEING RESEARCHED AND IS IN PRELIMINARY STAGE. TRIP WOULD BE FOR FINALS AUG 28 [SATURDAY]... DEVELOPING...
I think he's hoping Iraq will lose to Paraguay in the semi-final on Tuesday so he doesn't have to bother to go.
― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Sunday, 22 August 2004 02:53 (twenty-one years ago)
Alternatively, Kerry's soccer nickname was "the Camel", "because of his size, the shape of his face and his loping running stride."
Make a crack about the Camel and the Iraqi soccer team, anyone?
― robots in love (robotsinlove), Sunday, 22 August 2004 03:10 (twenty-one years ago)
PRESIDENT BUSH PLANS TRIP TO OLYMPICSsnipers of the world, do your stuff.
Unite and take ooooooovvverrrr...
― Jimmy Mod, Man About Towne (ModJ), Sunday, 22 August 2004 07:18 (twenty-one years ago)