I know this is old news but I've been meaning to blog about it for a while now. You know the story, the Iraqi Soccer team does surprisingly well in the Olympics but then speaks out against Bush and political ads celebrating the team.

Ok, so celebrating Iraqi Soccer is kind of lame. I mean, what sport is more boring to watch than soccer? Baseball?? Nobody WATCHES baseball, the game just happens to be on while they're drinking.

Anyway, the Iraqi team advances out of their pool and then says stuff like this

Ahmed Manajid, who played as a midfielder on Wednesday, had an even stronger response when asked about Bush's TV advertisement. "How will he meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women?" Manajid told me. "He has committed so many crimes."

Or this

"My problems are not with the American people," says Iraqi soccer coach Adnan Hamad. "They are with what America has done in Iraq: destroy everything. The American army has killed so many people in Iraq. What is freedom when I go to the [national] stadium and there are shootings on the road?"

Or even this

"Bush is a cunt" Says wussy soccer player Salah Anda, "If he were running down the field and bumped me slightly I would fall down and hold my leg in false agony just so that he would get a yellow card, which is much less of a punishment than his infidel ass deserves."

These comments have been embraced by opponents of the war as proof that even Iraqi athletes would prefer to be tortured mercilessly than to face the prospect of free elections by January. They must have heard John Kerry speak. (If they've heard him speak and are STILL rooting for him to win like some of us then I can understand their position.)

I haven't yet heard anyone bring up the point that probably the only good opinion for a highly visible sports figure from a country with a significant population of religious fanatics who wouldn’t have a problem with killing him and his whole family is to agree with the fanatics. Heck, I don’t go around town telling people that I think the Bible is mostly bunk and I’m just looking for a job, and am fairly safe from being murdered…