That august group of sports elitists known as the International Olympic Committee has saw fit to Ban Iraq from the upcoming Games in Beijing, due to “government interference.” But alas, the ugliness that the IOC saw was only skin-deep…
You see, the Iraqi National Olympic Committee was, until 2003, run by Saddam’s son Odai, who had a known history of torturing athletes who didn’t make his cut. According to Iraq’s government, they disbanded the committee when some of its members simply could not be found, very likely due to being kidnapped and/or murdered. This is totallly different than, say, Afghanistan being prohibited eight years ago due to interference from the Taliban.
So as a result of ultimately purging Saddam’s influence from its Olympic Committee, their athletes now can’t go. What a bunch of bulls**t from the IOC.