The Billiken's Bluff

George W. Bush is using the Iraqi Olympic Soccer Team in his latest re-election campaign advertisements. In those TV spots, the flags of Iraq and Afghanistan appear as a narrator says,

At this Olympics there will be two more free nations -- and two fewer terrorist regimes.



While Iraqi Olympians are happy that Uday Hussein, who was responsible for the torture of Iraqi athletes, is no longer overseaing Iraqi athletics, the Iraqi Olympic Soccer players are not enthused by Bush's new political advertisement. Iraqi midfielder Salih Sadir said, "Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign. He can find another way to advertise himself."

Ahmed Manajid, felt a bit more strongly about the topic. "How will he meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women? He has committed so many crimes." Manajid,22, is from Fallujah. He says coalition forces killed his cousin, Omar Jabbar al-Aziz, who was fighting as an insurgent, and several of his friends. In fact, Manajid says, if he were not playing soccer he would "for sure" be fighting as part of the resistance.

[Via Sports Illustrated]

So I guess what Manjid is trying to say is that he is not going to be appearing in any campaign ads for President Bush. What I'm wondering is if Iraq wins the gold medal in soccer, will President Bush invite them to the White House for a meet and greet?