one would think that once ordinary Iraqis came to face with their occupiers without any Marines present, they'd let their real feelings show... i mean, they'd REALLY let them show

and they did (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040813/483/olymos23008132026)

no embarrassing incidents, no rudeness, no snubbing, no "let's stare somewhere else and hope they won't make eye contact" moments, but rather something a little different: hugs and smiles

..oh .. i know... they aren't really Iraqi Olympic athletes. they're CIA agents... :eek:

a pic is worth a thousand words. no media bias can fuck this up... not even Arab News or IRNA

Sure bias and fuck it up, all the media needs to do is not show it.

on a side not: Is it true the Iranian wrestler won't fight because his first match is with an Israeli?

And what do you think they would do? Pay evil with evil?
Besides, the athletes gained a lot with the war. But a big percentage of the Iraqui population didn't. They represent a part of the Iraqui population, not all of it.

yeah.. the population which won't have holes drilled in its legs by Uday if they don't win a medal..

and yes, the Iranian world Judo champion is not going to fight because he was drawn against an Israeli.
you see, the Iranian is a pussyfart... he's simply afraid to fight. :D

but actually, it wasn't really up to him.. his superiors would've waged Jihad on his ass if he would'a fought

hey, its a public meeting, in front of the press, of people who benefit from the current set up. Hardly a meeting of the local council from Najaf or suchlike.
But on the other hand I personally think most Iraqis see no particular need to be nasty to the americans, though that could change.

Well yes they are embodying the spirit of the Olympic games in Athens they aren’t going to start an impromptu fight in the middle of the stadium now are they? I was hoping that like Korea the Palestine and Israel can one day come into the Olympic Games as one state as well. I think they are justified in being happy they aren’t going to get tortured when they come home that’s a start, but in no way does that actually represent the feelings of most Iraqi’s.

apparently the "spirit of the Olympics" was not enough to change the Iranian judo world champion's mind

speaking of loony fanatics, check this out (http://www.allahpundit.com/archives/000804.html)

also, another gesture full of the "Olympic spirit (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3541180.stm)":
Under pressure from China, Taiwan participates in the Olympics under the name of Chinese Taipei, and its national flag and anthem cannot be used when its athletes win medals.

so the Iraqi athletes were so excited about the Olympic spirit, yet their fanatical neighbours and the gentle Chinese were not... right?
the Olympic Spirit is something you can put in your ad campaigns if you work for the Olympic Marketing department. it's bullshit. in ancient Olympics nations stopped their wars for the time, but in recent history they simply cancelled the Olympics and continued warring.

don't give me the Olympic Spirit bullshit.
look at the pic again.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040813/capt.olymos23008132026.greece_olympics_opening_cer emony_olymos230.jpg

the Iraqi guy is HUGGING the American.
what do they care about press? there are no consequences or repercussions if they dont smile. they could've made a strong political statement by snubbing the American team. maybe they weren't even aware of the cameras rolling on them yet they hugged and smiled at the Americans anyway

Olympics nations stopped their wars for the time, but in recent history they simply cancelled the Olympics and continued warring.

The UN I believe has asked for a period of peace, at least in Israel/Palestine, and the Arab league has preemptively denounced any form of terrorism against the Greek Olympic games. You may not like that though, you like it when they go into your lap.

what do they care about press? there are no consequences or repercussions if they dont smile. they could've made a strong political statement by snubbing the American team. maybe they weren't even aware of the cameras rolling on them yet they hugged and smiled at the Americans anyway

Oth, my question to you is really so what? These men and women have a reason to hug to kiss and who knows what else to the Americans. Could it have been staged? Sure they usually are especially when 1 billion people are watching. I am assuming these were real feelings for the American’s the fact remains this won’t change one mind in Iraq, Iraqi’s want America out.

one would think that once ordinary Iraqis came to face with their occupiers without any Marines present, they'd let their real feelings show... i mean, they'd REALLY let them show

and they did (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040813/483/olymos23008132026)

no embarrassing incidents, no rudeness, no snubbing, no "let's stare somewhere else and hope they won't make eye contact" moments, but rather something a little different: hugs and smiles

..oh .. i know... they aren't really Iraqi Olympic athletes. they're CIA agents... :eek:
I think that calling them ¨zionists¨ is a better buzz word for these ugly propagandists.
Oops, I forgot that the CIA is ¨ZIONISTS¨... oo!!! help us out SICK Arabists!
Is zionists under CIA, or vise versa?
LOL

itbakh al-yahud, kus ammak, for infiltrating the Iraqi Olympic team and the CIA :eek:

on a side not: Is it true the Iranian wrestler won't fight because his first match is with an Israeli?
That is true, and I'm sure that it is in the name of alla.

Remember how they refused Israel's help at their earthquake's suffering population when Israel was closer then any other Western nation?

But of course their BLIND HATE is the problem, not what the west does.

speaking of The Ban on Israel, after technical win in the absence of the Iranian judoka, the Israeli judoka Udi Vaks proceeded to the next round to fight against an Algerian who in fact did fight Udi... also last year in some international tennis tournament i can't recall, Pakistani athletes competed against their Israeli counterparts in the doubles match...
more and more this ridiculous Jew Ban is frosting

but not by Iran.. who only 25 years ago was maybe the most friendly nations to Israel in the ME (those friendly people are still there and are providing some useful intelligence on the Mullah's Iran)

the Ayatollahs and their anti-Zionist propaganda and their nuke ambitions will fall eventually - it is inevitable because tyranny always fails in the end.

... i got carried away a little..
let's discuss some more about the Iraqi Olympic team and the US
hey hypey hypey hypey... hey tiassa (aka "brave soldier") ... who else.. 567, preacher X, M-16, all the mujahideen.. what do you think?

Iraq is in contention for it's first Olympic medal since 1960. All you naysayers can go on and on about how the US invaded rather than liberated Iraq and how the "insurgents" are freedom fighters. But if you watch the faces of the Iraqis at the Olympics, or their performance, you can see that they are now free men. Free for the first time in there lives. They were set free by the action of the US military. It's there for all to see.

I think you are deluded if you actually believe that it is possible to maintain law and order in a country like Iraq, with such diverse ranges of people...

There will forever be problems out there, only now responsibility belongs to the westerners...... REally stupid if u ask me!!

Sadam Hussein kept all the rogue people in his country from creating tensions.... Now we've gone there and created a country of many tensions....

I think Bush had a personal problem with Saddam related to what his Dad never finished off....... There was no real reason to invade Iraq other than for oil and to finish co-called "unfinished business" at an inappropriate time. The biggest criminals here are the Americans if you ask me!!

Oops I think I got a bit carried away there ;)


Well done to the Iraqis winning at AThens :clap:

So what do the Iraqi's think?

Sadir, Wednesday's goal-scorer, used to be the star player for the professional soccer team in Najaf. In the city in which 20,000 fans used to fill the stadium and chant Sadir's name, U.S. and Iraqi forces have battled loyalists to rebel cleric Moktada al-Sadr for the past two weeks. Najaf lies in ruins.

"I want the violence and the war to go away from the city," says Sadir, 21. "We don't wish for the presence of Americans in our country. We want them to go away."

Manajid, 22, who nearly scored his own goal with a driven header on Wednesday, hails from the city of Fallujah. He says coalition forces killed Manajid's cousin, Omar Jabbar al-Aziz, who was fighting as an insurgent, and several of his friends. In fact, Manajid says, if he were not playing soccer he would "for sure" be fighting as part of the resistance.

"I want to defend my home. If a stranger invades America and the people resist, does that mean they are terrorists?" Manajid says. "Everyone [in Fallujah] has been labeled a terrorist. These are all lies. Fallujah people are some of the best people in Iraq."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/writers/08/19/iraq/index.html

they're entitled to their opinions
but as they say in Stats: is there enough statistical evidence to infer that Iraqis in general are thinking the same way?

not according to the pic i've posted at least 3 times already, and not according to this (http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/archives/2004_08_01_iraqthemodel_archive.html#1093108264305 71688)

That's all bullocks.

There is so much Anti-American feelings in the arab world, I'm actually quite hurt that you can infur such a thing!

Wow, one medal, quite the achievement.
I can't adequately express how utterly embarrassed I am for them.

Getting back "fast and hard"to the iranian olympic team. I found this on the BBC site. And tells you what more indepth about their feelings toward their "cough cough" liberators
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3584242.stm

Considering this is their first time out one is pretty darn good think about how much money and time each of their competitors have spent to train their athletes. I am rooting for the Iraqis like I would the Jamaican bobsledding team

Yes getting the Iraqis to the Olympics made it all worth it! Yes the thousands dead and counting and hundreds of billions of dollars spent (also counting) accomplished this wonderful moment!

Well unlike Oth the Iraqi athletes and their committee are not happy that they are being perceived as whores for the political battle that is this election.

To the embarrassment of their media handlers in Athens, members of the Iraqi football team have reacted furiously to the news that their efforts are being used to aid Mr Bush's efforts to win a second term in the White House.
The team's coach, Adnan Hamd, told Sports Illustrated magazine: "My problem is not with the American people. They are with what America has done; destroyed everything. The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the stadium and there are shootings on the road?"
-----------------------------------
One of the team's midfield players, Ahmad Manajid, accused Mr Bush of "slaughtering" Iraqi men and women. "How will he meet his God having slaughtered so many? I want to defend my home. If a stranger invades America and the people resist, does that make them a terrorist?" he said.
-------------------------------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/story/0,13918,1288686,00.html


So oth for your propaganda to be successful you have to make sure you “shut” those rebellious Iraqi’s up.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040813/capt.olymos23008132026.greece_olympics_opening_cer emony_olymos230.jpg
: "My problem is not with the American people. They are with what America has done; destroyed everything. The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the stadium and there are shootings on the road?"

Do you see oth, you cannot compare and apple and orange…again you have been easily manipulated by the Cheney/Bush team.

Yes I agree with WCF wasting 1000 American lives, 13000+ Iraqi lives, destroying a society, cities, civil infrastructure, and a war that is quickly approaching $1 trillion to pay for it is well worth a potential Iraqi olympic medal in Athens.

All this sarcasm burns my eyes.

They also said that their problem wasnt with the American people but was with the U.S. goverment....Also just because someone shakes your hand doesnt mean he's your friend.....ask Rumsfield and Sadaam about that ;)