OCA You Might Be Interested

[Annie]

I'll try to be nice in 'tone', I was surfing and found this on the Olympics, I was afraid this might start. Hopefully Greece will get serious and stop the trend:

http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2004/0610/p06s01-wogi.html

...."I'm a dad with three children. Now that I'm a father, I look at the world differently," Mr. Muller says. "You try to think of the 'what-ifs' - what if you win a gold medal? But what if something happens and you can't come home to your family?" Within days, he announced he would not be competing in Athens this August, becoming the first US athlete to officially pull out of the Games for safety reasons.

Greek officials say such fears are unwarranted. Over a billion dollars has been pumped into security; There will be seven security guards monitoring the games for every athlete competing in them.

Still, athletes across the globe have questioned whether they - and their families - will be safe during this year's Olympics - the first summer games to be held since 9/11, in a country situated at the sometimes volatile crossroads between Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East.

Just this week Greece drew sharp criticism after a European Union Council report revealed that the country has hardly implemented any of the antiterrorism legislation put in place by the EU after 9/11."Effectively, Greece is the bad boy of the EU on this," says an EU spokesman.....

 

[OCA]

Well I can tell ya that the security for the Olympics in Athens are unprecedented but the fact is you cannot make anything airtight, its impossible. This is the birthplace of the Olympics, some of the events will be taking place in thousands year old venues, the marathon is being run on the original route that the friggin race got its name from, from Marathona to Athens, the most demanding marathon route in the world. If the world is looking to the Greeks for a guarantee of safety that will be impossible. I guess its up to each individual to make the decision but to miss out on this opportunity of a lifetime and in this place, the birthplace of democracy is a shame.

Greece has already gotten serious long ago. The rest of the EU is jealous.

 

[Annie]

Hope they can get that across, as you said, I think the world needs 'the break.'