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Initially, the committee had reportedly called for the ad to be withdrawn, but its spokesman retreated from that on Sunday night.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
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS