Tue, Aug 24, 2004 page1

• Iraq's new soccer heroes enraged by Bush praise

  • THE GUARDIAN
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  US President George W. Bush stood accused of appropriating the Olympic movement for political means on Sunday amid reports he was planning to visit Athens later this week to watch some sporting events, including a potential gold-medal winning bid by the Iraqi soccer team.

  According to unconfirmed reports in the US, the White House is examining the logistical and security implications of Bush traveling to the Greek capital in time for Saturday's soccer final.

  Iraq, whose progress to the semifinals has been one of the Athens Games' most captivating stories, will meet Paraguay today for a possible place in the finals.

  The Greek foreign ministry confirmed on Sunday night that US Secretary of State Colin Powell will be in Athens for the closing ceremony.

  But it is the potential presidential visit to the games that will fuel a dispute between the election campaign of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and the US Olympic Committee over an advertisement which links Iraqi and Afghan participation in the Games with the US administration's "war on terror."

  The ad, which has been broadcast in the US for one week, begins with footage from the 1972 Games in Munich, during which 13 Israeli athletes were killed by terrorists, and continues with a narrator saying, "Freedom is spreading through the world like a sunrise. And this Olympics there will be two more free nations and two less terrorist regimes."

  As the flags of Afghanistan and Iraq flutter in the breeze, it concludes: "With strength, resolve and courage, democracy will triumph over terror and hope will defeat hatred."

  Under US copyright law, only the US Olympic Committee has the right to use the Olympic insignia, images and trademarks for marketing purposes.

  Initially, the committee had reportedly called for the ad to be withdrawn, but its spokesman retreated from that on Sunday night.

  "We have contacted the president's election campaign team and asked them to forward us a copy of the advert. Once we have reviewed it and determined the type and extent of the use of the Olympic name, we will decide how to progress," spokesman Darryl Seibel said.

  The committee might want to avoid a confrontation with Bush, but it appears that the objects of his affections have no such qualms.

  To the embarrassment of their media handlers in Athens, members of the Iraqi soccer team have reacted furiously to the news that their efforts are being used to aid Bush's efforts to win a second term.

  Team 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 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.

  Mark Clark, spokesman for the Iraqi Olympic squad, accused journalists of taking advantage of the players.

  "They are not very sophisticated politically. Whoever posed these questions knew the answers would be negative. It is possible something was lost in translation. The players are entitled to their opinions but we are disappointed," he said.

  Also see stories:

  Chile, China make tennis history with first medals

  Taiwan's pitcher takes blame for Olympic failure

  Russian shot-put champion loses gold medal after testing positive for drugs
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