Iraq Banned From Beijing Olympics

Just two weeks before the start of the Olympics, Iraq was told yesterday that it’s not welcome in Beijing because of a political feud in Baghdad that angered the games’ guardians. The International Olympic Committee told Iraqi sports officials in a letter that it would uphold its ban imposed in June after the government in Baghdad replaced its national Olympic panel with members not recognized by the IOC. The IOC had called the move unacceptable government interference. In Iraq, it also smacked of the lingering sectarian bitterness between the new Shiite power brokers and the Sunnis who were once favored under Saddam Hussein — whose son, Odai, ran the nation’s Olympic committee as a personal fiefdom and was accused of torturing athletes who came up short.