flickering pictures

You likely know that just before the Beijing Olympics, Russia invaded the neighbouring Republic of Georgia. The move earned widespread international condemnation, and the resulting war of words with the West has been making headlines for weeks.

You may not know that last July the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2014 Winter Games to Sochi, Russia — at least I didn’t. Among other applicant cities, Sochi happens to have beaten out Borjomi, Georgia, a tiny resort town of 15,000 people right next to South Ossetia, where the bulk of the fighting has taken place. Sochi is about a half-hour drive from Georgia.

As a result of the invasion, two Pennsylvania members of Congress — Democrat Allyson Schwartz and Republican Bill Shuster — have announced a resolution that would urge the IOC to strip Russia of the 2014 Olympics.

From their press release:

(1) the failure of the Government of the Russian Federation to respect the sovereignty and territorial borders of its neighbors has rendered the country an unacceptable host for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games;

(2) it is practically and financially untenable to hold the 2014 Winter Olympic Games less than 20 miles from a zone of conflict, particularly when the prospective host country has played a significant role in the escalation of that conflict;

(3) the International Olympic Committee would not have selected Sochi as the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games if its members had anticipated that the Russian Federation would invade the Republic of Georgia; and

(4) the International Olympic Committee should move immediately to designate a new host city for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Schwartz and Shuster are calling on other governments to lobby the IOC as well.

This all strikes me as pretty big news — certainly worth more coverage than the three blog paragraphs that CNN gave it. (Incidentally, CNN’s top stories today include a new manta ray for Atlanta’s aquarium and a bunch of despicable jerks blasting John Edwards’s wife for not publicizing her husband’s affair.)

There are precedents for belligerent nations being stripped of the Games. The 1916 Summer Games were set for Berlin, but stripped away due to World War I. Ditto for the 1940 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and Winter Olympics in Germany, as well as the 1944 Winter Games in Italy — thanks to World War II. (Funny how the Axis powers were awarded all the Olympics during both World Wars — maybe they were suffering from the same pre-Olympic arrogance that’s afflicting Russia today. Is there a political scientist in the house?)

Normally, I’d say this is all just a bunch of diplomatic chin-wagging that won’t amount to anything, but this time might be different. From Yahoo News:

US lawmakers have the ability to add punch to their prodding if they so desire by passing legislation that threatens the sponsorship money that flows primarily from US firms to the IOC.

Such moves were threatened when there was controversy over the corruption scandal involving the bid process for the 2002 Winter Olympics that went to Salt Lake City in the United States.

Interestingly, the Georgian government has accused Russia of firebombing Borjomi’s mineral springs after a fragile ceasefire came into effect, causing at least a dozen forest fires and specifically targeting the city’s renowned bottled water industry. Two years earlier, Russia had banned Borjomi mineral water and dumped ten tons of the stuff into its sewers, saying it wasn’t safe. International observers, though, said it had little to do with safety and more to do with Russia’s irritation at Georgia’s NATO aspirations.

In related news: the U.S. Advises Allies Not To Border Russia.

• plug this post
  
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati