IT really annoys me that our government would even consider putting American athletes in danger during the Winter Olympics, which open Saturday. Attack on Iraq would put
U.S. athletes in dangerDespite appeals from participating Olympic nations, Washington is blowing off a U.N. truce resolution that asks all nations to refrain from military actions during the Nagano Games.
The truce -- signed by the U.S. and 177 other countries last November -- is based on a tradition dating back to the ancient games in Greece.
Pretty sensible tradition.
If the U.S. attacks Iraq (which is sending no athletes) during the Games, the risk of a terrorist attempt on the Americans at the Olympic Village would tremendously heighten and the resources of Japanese security would be stretched beyond what is reasonable.
This is Japan we're talking about, folks.
A country whose subways are not even safe from terrorism.
Just yesterday, three homemade rockets were fired into a cargo plane area at Tokyo's international airport while foreign athletes, officials and Olympic spectators were walking through the airport.
And let's not forget that even the U.S., with its much more sophisticated anti-terrorism mechanisms, could not prevent the fatal pipe bomb explosion at Atlanta.
THERE are no foolproof guarantees against terrorism. Not here, and certainly not in Japan.
Yet, right now, our finest minds in Washington are contemplating the creation of what would be the perfect scenario for an American tragedy in Nagano.
And listen to the cavalier gobbledygook emanating from Pennsylvania Avenue.
"Not to my knowledge is any of the decision-making or thinking that the president and his senior policy leaders are undertaking affected by sporting events," said White House spokesman Mike McCurry.
Blah, blah, blah, blah.
I like that phrase, "sporting events." He's saying that the Olympics -- the world's most visible and most vulnerable competition -- will have no more bearing on U.S. actions in this matter than a game in the NBA, NHL, PGA or ABL.
Amazing how the memory of the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes in Munich can be so conveniently shelved when the administration is in a hurry to pick a headline-grabbing fight.
Dick Schultz, the executive director of the U.S. Olympic committee, said he'd consider asking Japan to let U.S. military forces move in to protect American athletes if President Clinton should order an attack on Iraq between Saturday and the end of the Games on Feb. 22.
But you can bet this would be a sensitive point with the Japanese, who believe their security forces can handle the job.
While both sides debated that issue, our people would be exposed.
AND what if U.S. and Japanese military forces do combine to secure the Olympic stage? There would be so many guns and uniforms in Nagano that no one would feel comfortable.
The entire atmosphere of the Winter Olympics -- which is supposed to be fueled by the spirit of international goodwill -- would be ruined.
Look, I'm no foreign policy expert, but I don't see the urgency to clobber Saddam during the Olympics.
Come on. Is our national security at any immediate risk if we wait?
No. But our athletes' lives certainly would be.
Saddam will still be in Baghdad on Feb. 23, calling us the "Great Satan" and sticking out his glass jaw at U.N. arms inspectors.
Oh, and, Monica Lewinsky will also still be around.