Now we see how stupid 1980 Olympic boycott really was

Big · 06-18-2008, 09:51 PM

Soviets were trying to deny Bin Laden and Al Qaeda a safe heaven and America boycotted Olympic games because of it. It was one thing to fear Soviet influence but to boycott over Soviet's attempt to defeat Bin Laden?

ISU2008 · 06-18-2008, 09:55 PM

God how I wish I had the advantage of 28 years of foresight!

In related news, the Treaty of Versailles may have been a bit harsh on Germany.

LkwdSteve · 06-19-2008, 05:23 AM

Using the olympics as a political weapon was stupid, period.

RYou · 06-19-2008, 06:58 AM

The boycott was the dumbest thing Carter allowed and there were quite a few in his bag of foibles.

The eastern block boycott of '84 was the 2nd dumbest political move.

ODH · 06-19-2008, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by Big

Soviets were trying to deny Bin Laden and Al Qaeda a safe heaven and America boycotted Olympic games because of it. It was one thing to fear Soviet influence but to boycott over Soviet's attempt to defeat Bin Laden?

The Boycott was dumb, but the Soviet invasion wasn't for the noble purpose of denying Bin Laden a safe haven. Bin Laden did get to Afghanistan until after the Soviets invaded.

Big · 06-19-2008, 12:53 PM

Well, Taliban-minded, extremists, insurgents, terrorists, freedom fighters, those are the people the Soviets were fighting.

Tight-Waist · 06-19-2008, 01:52 PM

Hey Big,

Have you seen Charlie Wilson's War?

Its great! Its a movie (and book) about this anti-communist fella who is also a Congressman (and a Democrat to boot if you can believe that!). And he meets up with this really rich Capitalist babe and they along with this really shady CIA guy hatch this plot using taxpayer dollars to kick the Soviet's hineys in Afghanistan in part by using these ittybitty shoulder launched missles to shoot down your big bad Hind helicopters.

This plot exceeds beyond their wildest imagainations and not only do your commies go running back to Russia with their tails between their legs, their so-called invincible army is exposed as a paper tiger. And eventually (and this is the really cool part) your whole commie soviet system collapses upon itself!

Big · 06-19-2008, 02:02 PM

And then those shoulder weapons give the users so much pride and confidence that they decide to blow up and wage a war on America. An excellent ending to a movie that would be!

Tight-Waist · 06-19-2008, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by Big

And then those shoulder weapons give the users so much pride and confidence that they decide to blow up and a wage war on America. An excellent ending to a movie that would be!

Only if you were in it.

ban basketball · 06-20-2008, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by Big

Well, Taliban-minded, extremists, insurgents, terrorists, freedom fighters, those are the people the Soviets were fighting.

And the U.S. was supporting and funding.

Now we see how stupid 1980 Olympic boycott really was

Politics & Religion