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2004-08-23 Iraq-Jordan
Iraqi Olympic Soccer Team Gives George the Boot
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Posted by Murat 2004-08-23 8:06:53 AM|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Food for thought: maybe the soccer team for an independent Kurdistan would rebuke us less harshly.
Posted by Super Hose  2004-08-23 9:16:57 AM||   2004-08-23 9:16:57 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 At least criticising Bush won't result in someone igniting the blow torch on their return.
Posted by Howard UK 2004-08-23 9:46:48 AM||   2004-08-23 9:46:48 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Amazing that we've never heard them speak out before. Guess they were to busy really trying to win to stay out of the wood chippers of Uday! Note how they're now labelled "resistance fighters." Yeah, and America has "destroyed everything" in Iraq. Guess that's why there are more schools, more power, more water, etc., etc. than before the war! Guess we should blame all that good on Halliburton.
Posted by BA  2004-08-23 9:48:46 AM||   2004-08-23 9:48:46 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Murat liked it better when the Iraqi soccer team had an iron maiden as part of its training regimen.
Posted by Robert Crawford  2004-08-23 9:51:49 AM|| [http://www.kloognome.com]  2004-08-23 9:51:49 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Any articles on the Armenian soccer team's thoughts on anything, douchebag?
Posted by tu3031 2004-08-23 10:01:04 AM||   2004-08-23 10:01:04 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 I shall highlight a small part of the text FYI: "To be clear, Iraq’s team is not pining for former Olympic head Uday Hussein, notorious for torturing athletes that under performed. Yet they don’t feel their choice has to be between Uday’s way and the bloodbath that has been visited upon their country."
Posted by Murat 2004-08-23 10:01:16 AM||   2004-08-23 10:01:16 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 We didn't visit a bloodbath upon Iraq--quite the contrary!
We did everything possible to keep casualties on both sides to a minimum.
That's why they haven't had to dig mass graves for OIF either after the March up to Baghdad or in the ensuing months after.
Even "Shock and Awe" was mainly for the psychological effect, using pinpoint "smart bombs" on Saddam's palaces and government buildings that were empty and/or staffed by a few Baathist staff.
Get a grip, Murat!
Posted by GreatestJeneration  2004-08-23 10:05:56 AM|| [http://www.greatestjeneration.com]  2004-08-23 10:05:56 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 I think that what Bush said in his ads is perfectly true, and he has every right to say it.

OTOH, I would understand that Iraqi athletes arent comfortable being politicized - they want to represent ALL Iraqis.

I wouldnt assume that common dreams quotes represent EVERYONE on the team (not particularly unbiased news source there) , but its not surprising that some are unhappy with the US intervention. That would be in line with the mixed state of opinion in Iraq.
Posted by Liberalhawk 2004-08-23 10:10:52 AM||   2004-08-23 10:10:52 AM|| Front Page Top

#9 "No additional comments needed!"

Wishful thinking on Murat's part, but as usual, Murat fails to mention the bloodbath Sadaam and his sons and administration visited on Iraq all those years.

If the soccer team doesn't miss Uday Hussein, I wonder who they have to thank for that. Important to remember that the present soccer team is made up of Sadaam supporters/subserviants. This will change OVER TIME (in about 10 years).

Personally, these guys make me wretch--dickless wonders of the Islamic world. Totally unappreciative of the freedom they now have--freedom that they did nothing to earn, nor would they have even tried. Selfish, elitist bastards, the lot of them. They care nothing for the people of Iraq--just their cushy lifestyles.


Posted by ex-lib 2004-08-23 10:13:14 AM||   2004-08-23 10:13:14 AM|| Front Page Top

#10 This one I like too, it represents exactly the same question I have on my lips: "Without WMDs, Al-Qaeda connections, and with an Iraqi populace that overwhelmingly views the U.S. as occupiers and not liberators, what possible justification does Bush - and Kerry - have for supporting this invasion that has cost hundreds of billions of dollars and countless lives?"
Posted by Murat 2004-08-23 10:20:43 AM||   2004-08-23 10:20:43 AM|| Front Page Top

#11 Murat: Yet they don’t feel their choice has to be between Uday’s way and the bloodbath that has been visited upon their country.

Of course - they did not like working for Uday, but they did not want to lose their regular Baath Party jobs either.
Posted by Zhang Fei  2004-08-23 10:36:01 AM|| [http://www.polipundit.com]  2004-08-23 10:36:01 AM|| Front Page Top

#12 ex-lib: Personally, these guys make me wretch--dickless wonders of the Islamic world. Totally unappreciative of the freedom they now have--freedom that they did nothing to earn, nor would they have even tried. Selfish, elitist bastards, the lot of them. They care nothing for the people of Iraq--just their cushy lifestyles.

Baath Party members and jihadists cannot be expected to be grateful - for them, America is the Great Satan.
Posted by Zhang Fei  2004-08-23 10:37:00 AM|| [http://www.polipundit.com]  2004-08-23 10:37:00 AM|| Front Page Top

#13 Murat--So at least a handful of them aren't happy with what the US has done. Bully for them--they have a right to their opinions, but what they and people like you choose to ignore is that now they can express those opinions without being imprisoned, tortured, and/or executed.

Another thing they and you like to ignore is that the US is responding to the violence initiated by your Islamic brothers who can't stand the idea of a free Iraq and will do anything, including using women and children as human shields, to keep all of Islam in the 12th century.

I want to thank you, Murat, for reminding us what attitudes and ignorance remain out there. Obviously there is still a lot more work we have to do.
Posted by Dar  2004-08-23 10:41:00 AM||   2004-08-23 10:41:00 AM|| Front Page Top

#14 Zhang Fei,

The one thing the ordinary American fails to see is how many Iraqi's the Americans kill how bigger the insurgence will grow. It doesn't matter whether you call these Iraqi's Baathist, Sadrists or Saddamists. The overwhelming proportion of the Iraqi people see the American army as occupator not liberator as you guys would like to. So trying to build up a so called Iraqi army to fight the Iraqi's is likely to end up like Vietnam, burning villages having blood on your hands didn't work then and won't work now.
Posted by Murat 2004-08-23 10:46:38 AM||   2004-08-23 10:46:38 AM|| Front Page Top

#15 Dar, but what they and people like you choose to ignore is that now they can express those opinions without being imprisoned, tortured, and/or executed.

??? Of course Dar, Abu Graib was fake.
Posted by Murat 2004-08-23 10:49:20 AM||   2004-08-23 10:49:20 AM|| Front Page Top

#16 News flash: heavy smoke is rising from the Najaf shrine.

Congrats guys, you've done it, this is like bombing the Vatican and asking the Katholics to love you, how stupid one can be bwahahaahaaa
Posted by Murat 2004-08-23 10:55:39 AM||   2004-08-23 10:55:39 AM|| Front Page Top

#17 No, it isn't like bombing the Vatican.
Najaf isn't "holy" to me in the sense I understand that word and the mosque isn't full of fine art like Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling frescoes and his statue of the Pieta and Raphael's "School of Athens" fresco.
Posted by GreatestJeneration  2004-08-23 11:01:15 AM|| [http://www.greatestjeneration.com]  2004-08-23 11:01:15 AM|| Front Page Top

#18 Murat -- No, Abu Ghraib was not fake. That was a handful of idiot guards who are now being tried and punished for their actions. What they did was WRONG.

What you choose to ignore is that the abuse they inflicted on the prisoners was nothing but child's play compared to what Saddam's guards inflicted on prisoners there before the, shall we say, "change of management". And Saddam's guards would have been praised and promoted for abusing the prisoners.

Also the prisoners now in Abu Ghraib are there because they are suspected Ba'athists or terrorists--not because they dared criticize the government. This soccer player can continue to kick his little round ball bravely and criticize the US bravely. Your hero will still be free.

And, finally, if a bunch of Catholic terrorists were terrorizing and killing innocent people and holed up in the Vatican, I doubt most decent Catholics would mind all that much if the Vatican suffered some damage while the thugs were rooted out and killed. They would rightly be more concerned about the safety of the innocent civilians and preserving a decent society than keeping some lifeless, soul-less, inanimate object intact. That's what we call "priorities"--the irreplaceable life of an innocent is worth more than a pile of bricks.

It's interesting, Murat, that you're more upset about the US damaging the shrine to root out these thugs than you are about Sadr's militia defiling the shrine by fighting from within it.

Is that your world view, Murat? That wanton killing and destruction is okay if it's done by Muslims, and non-Muslims are supposed to do nothing about it? Gee, reality must really suck for you.
Posted by Dar  2004-08-23 11:24:17 AM||   2004-08-23 11:24:17 AM|| Front Page Top

#19 Go, Dar!
Also, don't let Murat forget that Saddam himself blasted a big hole in this mosque in 1991 when he waged his domestic war to put down the Shi'ite uprising.
Posted by GreatestJeneration  2004-08-23 11:32:11 AM|| [http://www.greatestjeneration.com]  2004-08-23 11:32:11 AM|| Front Page Top

#20 Don't worry Murat, if we see that it's a lost cause, we will leave, we will protect ourselves, and we will sit back and watch as Muslims tear one another apart. Hey, just think, Al-Jazeera's ratings would go through the roof!
Posted by TS(vice girl) 2004-08-23 11:50:25 AM||   2004-08-23 11:50:25 AM|| Front Page Top

#21 Interesting isn't it that the only people interviewed in this story are from Najaf and Falujallah? The coach himself was the same person who led the team while Iraq was still under Saddam Hussein.
Posted by Valentine 2004-08-23 12:07:23 PM||   2004-08-23 12:07:23 PM|| Front Page Top

#22 "Heavy smoke is rising from the Najaf shrine" you automatically assume the US forces have bombed the shrine. It could be like in Fallujah when there was an explosion in the shrine there that actually came from the criminals stashing weapons there. Al Sistani also chastized them for deliberatley dammaging the shrine in Fallujah and blaming it on the US. Lets wait till we hear all the particulars before we start pointing fingers.
Posted by Deacon Blues 2004-08-23 12:14:52 PM||   2004-08-23 12:14:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#23 Now how did the Iraqi soccer team learn of this US presidential campaign ad anyway? Last I checked, neither Iraq nor Athens is a swing state, so the chances of them seeing it while channel surfing in the Olympic Village is nil. So that means the reporter probably asked an extremely slanted question to provoke an extremely slanted answer. My guess is that the athletes weren't even shown the ad, just told about it. Feh.
Posted by Seafarious  2004-08-23 12:20:44 PM||   2004-08-23 12:20:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#24 Iraq the Model says that the complainers are only a couple of guys. And besides, if I had a nickel for every time a US football player said something stupid on TV, I wouldn't have to post on this board.
Posted by Matt 2004-08-23 12:53:50 PM||   2004-08-23 12:53:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#25 I wouldn't have to post on this board.
What? Are you getting a commission with each post? How do I get in on this racket?!
;-)
Posted by Dar  2004-08-23 1:07:19 PM||   2004-08-23 1:07:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#26 Here's a different blog saying the same thing. One of the players is from fajullah (still standing, unfortunately), and the other from Najaf. The Coach is a Uday holdover who took a pay cut when his sugardaddy got ventilated.

Of course, this is just this guy's opinion, and I'm sure murat holds his opinion with as much contempt as I hold of Murat's opinion.
Posted by Ptah  2004-08-23 1:18:57 PM|| [http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org]  2004-08-23 1:18:57 PM|| Front Page Top

#27 Dar,

It's interesting, Murat, that you're more upset about the US damaging the shrine to root out these thugs than you are about Sadr's militia defiling the shrine by fighting from within it.

Is that your world view, Murat? That wanton killing and destruction is okay if it's done by Muslims, and non-Muslims are supposed to do nothing about it? Gee, reality must really suck for you.

Twice you got wrong Dar, 1) I wouldn’t give a damn about the shrine since I am not a Shia. But 2) yeah I regard it stupid when non-muslim Americans demolish it, for the very reason that America demolishes her own image as the country of Freedom, that image she tried to build up since WW2 is shattered into pieces (actually I find that very amusing) because of a moron that is your president at the present.
Posted by Murat 2004-08-23 1:20:29 PM||   2004-08-23 1:20:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#28 Murat: But 2) yeah I regard it stupid when non-muslim Americans demolish it, for the very reason that America demolishes her own image as the country of Freedom, that image she tried to build up since WW2 is shattered into pieces (actually I find that very amusing) because of a moron that is your president at the present.

Yeah, that moron that actually made it (with pretty good grades) through Yale w/ a MBA? You mean that moron? And you just proved Dar's point in that you believe that America's image is more important than her security! In your world, I guess there are some things that just aren't worth the cost in $ and lives, but we here believe in freedom and will die defending it. As the all important saying goes, "I may not agree with what you're saying, but I will fight and die to defend your right to say it!"
Posted by BA  2004-08-23 1:30:02 PM||   2004-08-23 1:30:02 PM|| Front Page Top

#29 America is the land of Freedom but if you come over here and demolish our buildings--the World Trade Center was holy to us-- and kill thousands of our cilivians then we're going to come after you and if you happen to be holed up in a military siege in your "holy" shrine which you're using as an arsenal and a center of disseminating hate, then that's where we'll take the battle.
And President Bush is a political genius and what's more, he has vision and real wisdom which is far more valuable than university degrees and IQ numbers!
Posted by GreatestJeneration  2004-08-23 1:35:30 PM|| [http://www.greatestjeneration.com]  2004-08-23 1:35:30 PM|| Front Page Top

#30  "I may not agree with what you're saying, but I will fight and die to defend your right to say it!"

OK I say it, F@ck you, you'll die for me pffft save your own ass buthead.
Posted by Murat 2004-08-23 1:41:59 PM||   2004-08-23 1:41:59 PM|| Front Page Top

#31 Murat--

Kurdistan will be beating the hell out of the Turkish team in the next Olympics.
Posted by BMN 2004-08-23 1:54:09 PM||   2004-08-23 1:54:09 PM|| Front Page Top

#32 Ingrate thy name is Muslim.

Muslim culture is not worth spit. Most certainly Muslims are not worth the spilling of even a drop of American military blood. We don't fight to save Muslim culture. We fight to save Western Civilization. We fight in Iraq in the hope we can prevent a fight on American soil.
Posted by Mark  2004-08-23 2:40:11 PM||   2004-08-23 2:40:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#33 MuRAT: "I may not agree with what you're saying, but I will fight and die to defend your right to say it!" OK I say it, F@ck you, you'll die for me pffft save your own ass buthead.

Oh, and yeah, Bush is the moron, eh? Real mature! But, hey, if you don't want us to save you, just say so! I'll gladly watch as you guys tear each other apart in civil war. If everyone in Iraq feels the way MuRAT does (even though I know they don't), i say let's bring the boys home and let 'em kill each other. Funny all the irony (much like the story breaking today about another "honor killing" when "gentle" is spouting that that never happens in the ROP) that there's a story (linked at Pg. 1 I think) that quotes guys on the ground saying how much the Fallujah civilians are WANTING us to take the shrine and in fact, guys on patrol are now seeing citizens out on rugs watching the AC-130s reign at night! MuRAT, guess that proves wrong your point that the Iraqis want us out. Long live Kurdistan!
Posted by BA  2004-08-23 2:44:31 PM||   2004-08-23 2:44:31 PM|| Front Page Top

#34 Murat--Do you offer anything other than pointing out that not everybody loves the US? Do you have any solutions? Do you care about anything other than seeing the US look bad?

Were you happy to see Saddam Hussein in power? Were you happy to see him imprison, torture, and kill so many Iraqis? Are you happy to see the Iraqis continue to suffer? Do you like anything other than pointing out the world is not perfect and it's always our fault?

Everything I see from you is against something--are you FOR anything?
Posted by Dar  2004-08-23 3:19:44 PM||   2004-08-23 3:19:44 PM|| Front Page Top

#35 OK I say it, F@ck you, you'll die for me pffft save your own ass buthead.

Ever the intellectual and diplomat, eh, MuRAT?
Posted by Robert Crawford  2004-08-23 3:22:34 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com]  2004-08-23 3:22:34 PM|| Front Page Top

#36 A soccer team usually has about 22 players (11 on the field). So 2 players plus the coach spoke out.

I'm not impressed. I have listened to many German soccer players:

"I wanna play for Madrid or Milan, the important thing is that it's Italy"
Posted by True German Ally 2004-08-23 3:31:01 PM||   2004-08-23 3:31:01 PM|| Front Page Top

#37 I wouldn't fight or die for you, douchebag. I wouldn't even piss in your mouth if you were dying of thirst. That make you feel better?
Posted by tu3031 2004-08-23 9:21:30 PM||   2004-08-23 9:21:30 PM|| Front Page Top

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