Iraqi Soccer Players Slam 'Criminal' Bush

Iraqi Soccer Players Slam 'Criminal' Bush

Members of the Iraqi Olympic soccer team branded US President George Bush a �criminal� and called for American troops to pull out of the war-torn country.

Speaking after winning their group stage at the Games in Greece, one player said he would take up arms against US troops in his country.

And the team attacked Mr Bush for running re-election campaign adverts featuring the Iraqi team.

Manajid, from Fallujah, said he would be fighting US troops right now if he were not at the Olympics.

�I want to defend my home. If a stranger invades America and the people resist, does that mean they are terrorists?

�Everyone (in Fallujah) has been labelled a terrorist. These are all lies. Fallujah people are some of the best people in Iraq.�

I remember reading comments on this board from people who would claim that these players are such a positive representation of this war. Holding them up as poster boys of the "liberation".

So I ask you, are these Iraqis are now "terrorists" for speaking their mind? They feel so strongly about the occupation of their country that they make statements that involve a will to fight the American forces there. Does this all go some way as to help you understand the perspective that has been stated time and time again on these boards? That even you yourselves would choose to take up arms against any occupation of your country, and so would they.

They don't want US forces there. It is that simple.

It is easy to just say "Bomb'em, and everything will be fine!" but you have to remember that these are people, most of whom have no ties to terrorism. I would do the same thing in their position.

They don't want US forces there. It is that simple.

The arrogant ingrates interviewed don't want us there. So what?

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

They don't want US forces there. It is that simple.

The arrogant ingrates interviewed don't want us there. So what?

So they keep blowing up pipelines and sniping 19-year-old American boys and girls.

'Shock and Awe' my ass we're losing this war.

here's what pisses me off. had it not been for bush, this guy wouldn't even BE at the olympics. furthermore, he doesn't need to worry about being tortured if he loses now. he's actaully calling the guy that made his trip to the olympics a criminal!!! talk about unappreciative.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

They don't want US forces there. It is that simple.

The arrogant ingrates interviewed don't want us there. So what?

So that makes Bush's Olympic backdrop ad campaign about How I spent my summer liberating Iraqis for soccer camp look pretty retarded.

What kind of a person puts images of people that want to "defend against US troops" in their ad campaign about how he's winning hearts and minds and beating terrorists?

Answer: This kind...

You'll take your liberation and LIKE IT, as this is very important for my re-election campaign you ingrates.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

They don't want US forces there. It is that simple.

The arrogant ingrates interviewed don't want us there. So what?

So it's further proof that the war was wrong.
Every excuse that was used to justify this war has been taken away.
They found no WMD, the mass graves they spoke about had less than 10 thousand bodies instead of the hundreds of thousands we were told they had.
They said it was about liberating Iraqis from Saddam and making Iraq a better place because of it. Well, now Iraq is in chaos and even the people who were the most oppressed under Saddam don't like the occupation and say they would be willing to fight against it.

What reasons can anyone make as to why the war should continue?
It's not bringing peace to the region. In spite of hundreds of iraqis being killled every week, there is still no end in sight to the car bombs and mortar attacks. That's probably because it's not just a small pocket of resistance that we've been told about. It's most likely a fair percentage of the population who want this occupation to end and are willing to fight for it.

Originally posted by AceOfBase
the mass graves they spoke about had less than 10 thousand bodies instead of the hundreds of thousands we were told they had.

Are you insane, or have they given Saddam internet access?

oh come on Ace, you really think every iraqi wants us gone? or even most? as for the chaos...i think you're overstating it. a lot of soldiers are reporting most of their days in iraq are boring due to the small amount of problems; that it is more common for a patrol to go on without incident then not. and you've got to understand total stability won't happen for maybe 10 years. did you know after WW2 we had to occupy japan for 7 years. and now we have a very positive relationship with them. you have to be willing to give iraq a chance. and 2 years is not a chance.

Originally posted by astroblade
here's what pisses me off. had it not been for bush, this guy wouldn't even BE at the olympics. furthermore, he doesn't need to worry about being tortured if he loses now. he's actaully calling the guy that made his trip to the olympics a criminal!!! talk about unappreciative.

Guess what, Iraq competed in many Olympic games prior to this so how can you say they would not be at the Olympics in 2004 if it weren't for Bush?

That's what's wrong with that ad.
People watch it and think that this is the first Olympics the Iraqis will be attending. It's deceptive.

Originally posted by AceOfBase
Guess what, Iraq competed in many Olympic games prior to this so how can you say they would not be at the Olympics in 2004 if it weren't for Bush?

That's what's wrong with that ad.
People watch it and think that this is the first Olympics the Iraqis will be attending. It's deceptive.

No one thinks that. Why would anyone think that when everyone has heard the former athletes tell of the torture they endured at the hands of Saddam's government? That's absurd.

Ace, iraq hasn't competed in any games in the past 12 years. i know full well iraqi's use to compete, but that was over a decade ago. there was no indication that saddam was going to let athletes attend the Athens games, or any future games for that matter, either. not to mention in the past the athletes commonly were tortured by saddam's sons if they came home without a medal.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

Originally posted by AceOfBase
the mass graves they spoke about had less than 10 thousand bodies instead of the hundreds of thousands we were told they had.

Are you insane, or have they given Saddam internet access?

I'm not saying that less than 10,000 isn't bad, I'm just saying it was far less than we were told about.

It's also far less than were killed during this war.

Way back in April 2003, Tommy Franks said that 30,000 Iraqis had died so far in this war. Defenselink.mil
What do you think the total is up to now?
There's been close to a thousand just in August.

That person interviewed was absolutely right. If the Chinese were occupying America you would do exactly the same thing these people are doing. If you didn't then you certainly couldn't call yourself an American. Whether your leader was a criminal or not you don't want someone invading your country. Lets face it we have had some really bad presidents in the past. Would you have been happy of the Soviets had invaded and occupied the cities? Hell no. You'd be fighting back with everything you had. Every American that owned a gun would be taking shots at the occupying forces. Why do people have such a hard time grasping that. Is it because you cannot face the fact that people don't want us in their country? That they would rather be miserable than occupied? I would deal with Hillary Clinton as president before I'd ever allow the Chinese to occupy my city. I would certainly be killed but I'd damn sure take some of them with me. It is called patriotism. Yet when someone else does it we call it terrorism. These people have an absolute right and a duty to defend themselves and their cities from occupying forces. Like it or not thats the harsh reality of the situation. If we don't like it then we should pull out. Why do we keep hanging out in Fallujah unless it is the intention to keep trouble stirred up so we can be justified in staying longer.

Well either the soccer team is a bunch of terrorists or they are soccer players honestly stating what they think of their national situation. You decide.

Originally posted by astroblade
Ace, iraq hasn't competed in any games in the past 12 years. i know full well iraqi's use to compete, but that was over a decade ago. there was no indication that saddam was going to let athletes attend the Athens games, or any future games for that matter, either. not to mention in the past the athletes commonly were tortured by saddam's sons if they came home without a medal.

They competed in Sydney in 2000, although it was very few athletes.
link

They also competed in Atlanta in 1996.
link

Grady- You are in the minority- way below the minority. THEIR country was invaded. Without any good cause or reason.
Iraqis are human beings, just like us.

You try stepping out of this country and have other nations stone you profile you, and detain you because your evil president is a terrorist war-monger. See how YOU like it.

If we were invaded we would feel EXACTLY the same way. And, by the way, there is no progress there.
Those people still dont even have any electricity. How come?

About being grateful, why should they be? Because we stole their oil?
Because we killed thousands of their people? Including women and children? Because we abused their prisoners ?

Maybe when you jump on the threads like you do only to laugh and profess how wonderful this administration is you should give detailed account of why you feel that "Iraqis" are less than you.

Iraqis are a lower form of life because........
fill in the blanks.

Originally posted by astroblade
oh come on Ace, you really think every iraqi wants us gone? or even most? as for the chaos...i think you're overstating it. a lot of soldiers are reporting most of their days in iraq are boring due to the small amount of problems; that it is more common for a patrol to go on without incident then not. and you've got to understand total stability won't happen for maybe 10 years. did you know after WW2 we had to occupy japan for 7 years. and now we have a very positive relationship with them. you have to be willing to give iraq a chance. and 2 years is not a chance.

I for one, think Iraqis want us gone. yes. yes.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

Originally posted by AceOfBase
the mass graves they spoke about had less than 10 thousand bodies instead of the hundreds of thousands we were told they had.

Are you insane, or have they given Saddam internet access?

Well put yourself in their shoes.

One day your country undergoes 'regime change,' which is great and you hope things will look brighter.

Then the power never goes on consistently for months, people are getting shot in the streets and you have to form into family bands for self-protection of your property and lives.

Then soon after, your in the wrong part of town when some insurgents blow up something and the soldiers grab you and brings you to prison.

There you are forced to make lie in a pile of naked guys by American troops. Meanwhile the prison is a nightmare and inmates are being killed both by torture and incoming mortar rounds from insurgents. Maybe your friend or relative dies and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

By the time you get out you are so insane that the only thing you can think of is getting revenge. You go back home and the power is still off and you find out your home was robbed because you and the other males were stuffed in prison for no reason and couldn't protect anything.

I guarantee your next act would be shoot the guys who 'liberated' your country.

And Astroblade, being in Iraq is not boring due to lack of problems - pipelines are hit on a daily basis. It's boring because you can't leave the firebases unless you're going out for combat.

interesting Ace..."The soccer stadium was the scene of torture under Uday Hussein," David Phillips, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and an expert on Iraq, said in an interview with Bloomberg News Service.

"The fact that Iraqis can now field a soccer team that displays the full mosaic of their population marks another step in the struggle of Iraq to become a normal country again."

both of those are from your first link in your post. apparently a country of millions did send 4 athletes to the games, my mistake. would you mind explaining why they are only now displaying a full mosaic of their population. as for the second link it only gives a blurp of information saying the man who carried the flag in atlanta defected to america in '96 and now lives here.