04/19/24
March 05, 2002
Baghdad 2012: Whether you love or hate the Olympics, this article does not have a very positive ring to it.
So, does Hussein think he even has a chance at getting these games? Gimme a break! And, how about that son of his, lashing out at the soccer team after a loss. Having their feet whipped?? Self control, people!
posted by bcb2k2 at 08:21 AM on March 06, 2002
Why not? If Beijing can land the games...
posted by salmacis at 09:09 AM on March 06, 2002
Hypothetically, let's say the longshot happens and Baghdad gets 2012. Will anyone even show up?
posted by rosey8810 at 09:53 AM on March 06, 2002
I hope they get it.
posted by StarFucker at 10:03 AM on March 06, 2002
Probable mascot: Frothy the Angry Arab. I'd buy that T-shirt.
posted by Samsonov14 at 06:35 PM on March 06, 2002
Taken from a chronology of important events in Iraq, here . August 1999 A former Iraqi international soccer player stated that he and his teammates had been tortured on Uday Hussein's orders for not winning matches. Sharar Haydar Mohamad Al-Hadithi, said that he was subjected to beatings on the soles of his feet, dragged shirtless through a gravel pit, then made to jump into sewage to cause infection. He also was subjected to sleep deprivation and beatings during periods of detention in Al-Radwaniya prison. His claims of brutality were supported by Uday Hussein's former private secretary and press spokesman Abbas Janabi who described watching members of the national soccer team being forced to kick a concrete ball on the grounds of Al-Radwaniya prison after they failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. There were reports that three soccer players who lost a game in the Asian Cup quarter finals in October 2000 were whipped and detained for three days. Were I Iraqi, I think I'd encourage my son to play something other than soccer.
posted by pastepotpete at 07:34 PM on March 06, 2002
Probably the funniest thing I've read all day. New event: 40-yard dash thru the no-fly zone!