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(BBC) Stupid The IOC welcomes the brave athletes from war-torn Iraq... no, just kidding, they banned them from the Olympics because their national Olympic committee chair was appointed, not elected   (news.bbc.co.uk) divider line 49
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Stinky McButt 2008-07-24 11:11:10 AM  
USA! USA!

 
MasterThief [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 11:19:27 AM  

 
Coronach 2008-07-24 11:33:45 AM  
That sucks. A couple of weeks ago I heard their judo champ interviewed on NPR, real cinderella story. I understand that the IOC has rules that it has to stand behind, but one would think that they could bend them. Iraq has only 6 potential olympians, it would do nothing but good for the people of Iraq to allow them to compete.

Also, if the IOC was really concerned with standing by it's own rules, it never would have giving Beijing the games in the first place.

 
Diogenes [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 11:37:09 AM  
Coronach: That sucks. A couple of weeks ago I heard their judo champ interviewed on NPR, real cinderella story. I understand that the IOC has rules that it has to stand behind, but one would think that they could bend them. Iraq has only 6 potential olympians, it would do nothing but good for the people of Iraq to allow them to compete.

Also, if the IOC was really concerned with standing by it's own rules, it never would have giving Beijing the games in the first place.


THIS. They barely have a functioning goverment and the IOC is going be a stickler on this?

 
lexnaturalis 2008-07-24 11:50:45 AM  
Coronach: Also, if the IOC was really concerned with standing by it's own rules, it never would have giving Beijing the games in the first place.

China is richer than Iraq, so they can bend the rules for China.

 
Snarfangel [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 11:51:57 AM  
Diogenes: THIS. They barely have a functioning goverment and the IOC is going be a stickler on this?

They want the Beijing Olympics to be completely free from political influence.

/stop laughing.

 
Tr0mBoNe [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 11:55:19 AM  
That's it! I'm not going to watch any of this years Olympics!

/kidding, I wasn't going to watch them before this.

 
what_now [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 12:03:07 PM  
HAHAHA!! It would be nice if the US would or could say anything to China, but you don't upset the bank that holds your mortgage.

/silly protesters, even if NBC would allow us to noshow at the Beijing Olympics, we can't afford to piss of the country that paid for all those shiny $600 surplus checks!!

 
patrick767 [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 12:27:36 PM  
That sucks. What were the Iraqis supposed to do?

The committee which the government dismissed was elected in 2004, in line with the Olympic movement's regulations.

Its chairman, Ahmad al-Samarra'i, and several other members were abducted by gunmen while attending a meeting in central Baghdad in July 2006.


Even though the deadline has passed, they should let the Iraqi athletes compete under the Olympic flag.

 
Linger [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 12:33:22 PM  
what_now: we can't afford to piss of the country that paid for all those shiny $600 surplus checks!!

Source?

 
waiting4godot 2008-07-24 02:41:57 PM  
Excellent... another threat to the US domination of the medal count eliminated.

/who's next?

 
Big Beef Burrito 2008-07-24 02:44:11 PM  
Not even their curling team?

Heartless bastards!

 
Shvetz 2008-07-24 02:44:40 PM  
The Iraqi government said it took the decision to appoint a new committee because the previous one was corrupt and had not been functioning properly.

Ahmad al-Samarra'i, chairman of the committee dismissed by the government, and several other members had previously been abducted by gunmen while attending a meeting in central Baghdad in July 2006.

They have not been seen since.


Why should the IOC cut them any slack? Like other countries don't have problems?

 
3_Butt_Cheeks 2008-07-24 02:46:16 PM  
Classy move IOC.

 
DubyaHater 2008-07-24 02:47:45 PM  
Wait wait wait.....what are these "Olympics" you speak of? I thought they disappeared in 1996

 
cartersdad 2008-07-24 02:47:56 PM  
All they have to do is offer the IOC some hookers and blow. They would be let right back in...hell they might even be offered the 2016 olympics.

 
Jonny Chimpo 2008-07-24 02:49:13 PM  
DubyaHater: Wait wait wait.....what are these "Olympics" you speak of? I thought they disappeared in 1996

No they came back as the Winter Olympics in 2002 in Mormonville... I mean Salt Lake City.

 
ivan 2008-07-24 02:49:20 PM  
If the Olympics were just a bunch of naked men running in a big field, like it was meant to be, we wouldn't need the IOC.

 
Mcamp 2008-07-24 02:51:40 PM  
That sucks. A couple of weeks ago I heard their judo champ interviewed on NPR, real Cinderella story. I understand that the IOC has rules that it has to stand behind, but one would think that they could bend them. Iraq has only 6 potential Olympians, it would do nothing but good for the people of Iraq to allow them to compete.

Also, if the IOC was really concerned with standing by it's own rules, it never would have giving Beijing the games in the first place.

This wins the thread - hands down.

/fark China
//did the IOC notice when Saddam's son was head of the Iraq Olympic Committee?
///he was elected by his dad

 
Jackpot777 [recently expired TotalFark] 2008-07-24 02:52:31 PM  
Coronach: That sucks. A couple of weeks ago I heard their judo champ interviewed on NPR, real cinderella story.

i158.photobucket.com

/too obvious?

 
weiserfireman [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 02:55:28 PM  
I don't recall seeing Olympic committee member on my ballot last time I voted.

How does the US select its members and how is it different from the way Iraq did it?

Is this an example of an international organization bullying small countries that can't defend themselves?

 
Jackpot777 [recently expired TotalFark] 2008-07-24 02:57:47 PM  
Linger: what_now: we can't afford to piss of the country that paid for all those shiny $600 surplus checks!!

Source?


www.optimist123.com

$354 billion.

divided by 300 million people (not all of whom actually got $600, but there are slightly more than 300 million. Tom-ay-toe, tom-ahh-toe).

=$1,180 for every man, woman and child in the country.

The Chinese have paid for more than the amount of those $600 checks.

 
RemyDuron 2008-07-24 02:58:34 PM  
Wow, that's it, definitely not watching the Olympics now. Not that I was planning to watch them this year anyway. Or that i have ever watched them before, but, this year, my disinterest is trendy and politically savvy.

 
Gosling [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 03:01:07 PM  
Coronach: That sucks. A couple of weeks ago I heard their judo champ interviewed on NPR, real cinderella story. I understand that the IOC has rules that it has to stand behind, but one would think that they could bend them. Iraq has only 6 potential olympians, it would do nothing but good for the people of Iraq to allow them to compete.

Also, if the IOC was really concerned with standing by it's own rules, it never would have giving Beijing the games in the first place.


It's the kind of thing you pretty much had to do once. China's been that high in the medal count for that long, sooner or later you basically have to let them host one.

After that one, though, the hell with them.

 
mrexcess [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 03:02:12 PM  
The entire Iraqi Olympic Committee was abducted months ago at gunpoint, and hasn't been heard from since?

Wow. I had no idea how much better things had gotten in Iraq! Probably because that stupid liberal news media won't report on it.

 
bartink 2008-07-24 03:04:26 PM  
Linger: what_now: we can't afford to piss of the country that paid for all those shiny $600 surplus checks!!

Source?


China has most of our debt. We didn't really pay for all those "refund checks". You can look those up yourself.

 
Linger [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 03:07:09 PM  
Jackpot777: The Chinese have paid for more than the amount of those $600 checks.

They wouldn't have the money to invest in US Business if (correct my if i'm wrong - i'm sure someone will - this is fark) we were not already sending alot of our money over there investing in their manufacturing businesses.
And if I'm reading that pie chart right - it's actually the Japanese we need to thank for our tax money back.

 
WALMART.saves 2008-07-24 03:11:25 PM  
Sounds like they didn't separate their concerns.

/obscure, even on Fark

 
ritalinchild 54 2008-07-24 03:13:30 PM  
patrick767: That sucks. What were the Iraqis supposed to do?

Even though the deadline has passed, they should let the Iraqi athletes compete under the Olympic flag.


I agree. There should be a way and the Olympic flag would be the correct way or maybe the UN flag?

 
Only_A_Lad 2008-07-24 03:19:37 PM  
Let me get this straight. A democratic nation, one which has emerged from thirty-plus years of fascist rule and is just beginning to piece itself together after years of insurgent violence and ethnic conflict, is being denied the right to send its few athletes to the Olympic Games (an event supposedly a celebration of international brotherhood and friendly competition) because the government dissolved the previous Olympic Committee out of corruption concerns.

Meanwhile, the games are being hosted in China, a nation ruled by dictatorial forces for the last three-thousand years and one which continues to commit horrendous acts of political violence in both Tibet and China proper, all whilst aiding genocide in Sudan to profit from that country's oil. Despite the fact that the Chinese government is in no sense democratic, it has been allowed to send athletes for many years. When protesters and others bring this up, the IOC responds with either relativist bullshiat or crap about the games not being political.

And, to add further bullshiat to the equation, Hussein's government was allowed to send athletes to the Olympics, as well.

fark you, IOC. fark you.

 
I Said [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 03:20:28 PM  
ritalinchild 54: patrick767: That sucks. What were the Iraqis supposed to do?

Even though the deadline has passed, they should let the Iraqi athletes compete under the Olympic flag.

I agree. There should be a way and the Olympic flag would be the correct way or maybe the UN flag?


We could let them use a U.S. flag with 51 stars?

 
scumbucket 2008-07-24 03:20:54 PM  
It says in TFA Their elected committee head was kidnapped in 2006 and hasn't been seen since.

And one of Saddam's sons was the head before that, and tortured under-performing athletes in the Iraq Olympic Committee building.

I must be in the motherfarking twilight zone. The IOC is saying that because a bunch of appointed bureaucrats are on committee instead of a bunch of elected bureaucrats, the athletes can't compete because the IOC isn't political? I suppose it was kind of foolish for the Iraqi govt to try to end corruption in it's Olympic Committee. If you know anything about the IOC and Olympic Committees, they are the shining definition of corrupt clusterfark bullshiattery that makes Russia look like boy-scouts, or Putin-jugend, as they're known in Russia.

And for that Judoka to manage to make it to the Olympic level in IRAQ, shows some serious dedication. The Iraqi TKD squad-- Their entire youth squad, 15 teenagers, were kidnapped and murdered by AQI for being practitioners of haram ass-whooping methods. Fark the IOC.

 
TribeFan695 2008-07-24 03:25:41 PM  
I guess McCain won't be able to recycle that Bush ad from 2004

 
Ted Kennedy's Brain Tumor 2008-07-24 03:32:28 PM  
Really, IOC? Really? When the games themselves are being held in Beijing?

 
what_now [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 03:51:22 PM  
Linger: what_now: we can't afford to piss of the country that paid for all those shiny $600 surplus checks!!

Source?


I completely missed this, but it looks like it's been taken care of nicely in my absence.

 
ha-ha-guy 2008-07-24 04:01:51 PM  
i'm hoping for a Fatwa against China. Let them have fun being the Great Satan for awhile.

 
mesohorny 2008-07-24 04:03:23 PM  
bartink:
China has most of our debt. We didn't really pay for all those "refund checks". You can look those up yourself.


I remember reading a newspaper article that every American now owes $30,000 to China, Japan, and the rest of the world. Of course this is climbing every day. Its probably over 40k by now.

 
Atomic Jonb 2008-07-24 04:08:21 PM  
Jackpot777: Linger: what_now: we can't afford to piss of the country that paid for all those shiny $600 surplus checks!!

Source?



$354 billion.

divided by 300 million people (not all of whom actually got $600, but there are slightly more than 300 million. Tom-ay-toe, tom-ahh-toe).

=$1,180 for every man, woman and child in the country.

The Chinese have paid for more than the amount of those $600 checks.


Uh, using that logic, and your pie chart, England actually overpaid those rebate checks. Or the US citizens have more than paid for it. Or the US government more than paid for it. Or Japan more than paid for it. Or a combination of OPEC and "All Others" more than paid for it. Or any number of those countries on the list that you didn't single out worked in combination to more than pay for it.

 
whyarefartslumpy 2008-07-24 04:13:06 PM  
Mcamp: That sucks. A couple of weeks ago I heard their judo champ interviewed on NPR, real Cinderella story. I understand that the IOC has rules that it has to stand behind, but one would think that they could bend them. Iraq has only 6 potential Olympians, it would do nothing but good for the people of Iraq to allow them to compete.

Also, if the IOC was really concerned with standing by it's own rules, it never would have giving Beijing the games in the first place.

This wins the thread - hands down.

/fark China
//did the IOC notice when Saddam's son was head of the Iraq Olympic Committee?
///he was elected by his dad


All I read was something about Saddam's son's head. Could you repeat when I quit laughing?

Also, I agree with the above comment. It was head and shoulders above everything else.

 
xria 2008-07-24 04:28:57 PM  
Linger

what_now: we can't afford to piss of the country that paid for all those shiny $600 surplus checks!!

Source?


The US Treasury seems to think China has lent the US an extra $100b over the last year. So that is 2/3rds of the cost.

 
DinsdalePiranha 2008-07-24 05:32:01 PM  
The new guy's worse then Uday Hussein, huh?

Was Uday elected or appointed?

 
Tr0mBoNe [TotalFark] 2008-07-24 05:34:54 PM  
xria: Linger

what_now: we can't afford to piss of the country that paid for all those shiny $600 surplus checks!!

Source?

The US Treasury seems to think China has lent the US an extra $100b over the last year. So that is 2/3rds of the cost.


I'm glad Canada doesn't own too much of your debt. Your debt to China and Japan equals our GDP.

 
5_second_rule 2008-07-24 06:30:50 PM  
all the olympics are now is political and commercialsm. fark the ioc for even letting china host the games.

 
TribeFan695 2008-07-24 06:50:04 PM  
5_second_rule: all the olympics are now is political and commercialsm. fark the ioc for even letting china host the games.

The main reason I'm interested in watching this year is because I'm curious about how many events are going to be fixed.

 
wooden_badger 2008-07-24 07:03:56 PM  
The Iraqis will be better off. They won't be keeling over from the pollution.

 
Bildo [TotalFark] 2008-07-25 12:59:37 AM  
So N Korea's team Olympic committee is elected? China? Iran? Saudi Arabia? Venezuela? Cuba? Canada? Russia? Lybia? Syria? Zimbabwe? Vietnam?

The IOC has a bone to pick with someone and they're taking it out on the athletes. fark the IOC.

/Canada?

 
mister happy 2008-07-25 01:02:39 AM  
ivan: If the Olympics were just a bunch of naked men running in a big field, like it was meant to be, we wouldn't need the IOC.

If that happened, we'd need the EYENOSEE.

 
Gosling [TotalFark] 2008-07-25 02:44:58 AM  
Bildo: So N Korea's team Olympic committee is elected? China? Iran? Saudi Arabia? Venezuela? Cuba? Canada? Russia? Lybia? Syria? Zimbabwe? Vietnam?

The IOC has a bone to pick with someone and they're taking it out on the athletes. fark the IOC.

/Canada?


FIFA does this too. The general rule is, keep your dirty government mitts off how your athletic organization does business or you will pay the price. (Dunno how effective the IOC is, but when FIFA starts getting on a country for letting their legislature anywhere near the soccer organization, the government in question falls in line alarmingly fast.)

 
Control_this [TotalFark] 2008-07-25 01:55:48 PM  
Only_A_Lad: Let me get this straight. A democratic nation, ...

You lost me there. They don't even have a constitution (except for the one where US gave Shiites the power). Sunnis never ratified the constitution. They're not democratic. Not any more than Saddam's fake democracy.

 
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