The Sochi Olympics: Russia's Final Fiasco?
Everyting old is new again. And we do mean everything.
By an extremely narrow margin, the International Olympic Committee has voted to hold the 2014 Olympic games in the Russian city of Sochi. It's a brilliant decision, for many reasons.
First of all, Sochi is famous for warm, sandy beaches and palm trees, which will come in quite handy in hosting the winter olympiad. After all, if a country is going to hold an olympics, why not hold it in the most southern locality possible! Miami Florida in 2028!
Second, the games will take place right in the back yard of the Chechen terrorists, literally walking distance from their strongholds in the mountains, becoming an irresistible target for violence and bloodshed such as the world has never before seen at an olympics. Though the Kremlin won't be able to stop this violence (heaven only knows how many Beslans and Dubrovkas will occur), it will of course conveniently justify yet another massive round of crackdowns on Russia's already oppressed population.
Meanwhile, the IOC is helping Russia to cover up it's gross pattern of human rights abuses in the region, condemned by every human rights organization under the sun including, on many occasions, in official rulings of the European Court for Human Rights (the most recent example of which appears in another of today's posts, below).
At the same time, Russia will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Sochi, already a playground for Russia's rich and famous that doesn't need investment, whilst the rest of the country continues to languish in extreme poverty . . .
. . . and Russia's crude, barbaric xenophobia will have a chance to consume dozens of dark-skinned athletes and fans from around the world if they are foolish enough to step outside their heavily guarded hotel rooms.
All that is to say nothing, of course, about the possiblity that Russia simply won't be able to meet its basic obligations to build a suitable facility due to corruption and general incompetence, features of Russian life with which every Russian visitor is well acquainted, leaving Russia humiliated as having hosted (or even failed to host) the worst olympics in history. What if the price of oil drops? What if Vladimir Putin has a heart attack? The number of ways this could go horribly wrong for Russia are uncountable.
And it's to say nothing of the possibility of a shooting war breaking out between Russia and any one of a number of its neighbors, as the piece below from the Wall Street Journal on the Kodori attack on Georgia makes clear.
Neither Austria nor Korea, Russia's two rivals for the 2014 games, have been convicted of human rights violations in the ECHR, neither is fighting an ongoing war of imperialism with a breakway province, and both are far more economically advanced and progressive than Russia. Just as Russia doesn't belong by any objective measure on the G-8 but sits there anyway, it simply isn't qualified to host an olympics. The fact that Russia maintains these possibilities despite obvious reality is conclusive proof of the need for this blog.
As many will already know, this isn't the first time something totally insane like this has happened. For instance, the USSR hosted the 1980 summer olympics (America boycotted them) and Nazi Germany hosted the games in 1936. In less than ten years thereafter, Nazi Germany ceased to exist. Will we be as lucky where Putin's KGB Russia is concerned?
When Russian athletes win medals at Sochi (if they find any snow and ice), the music of the national anthem of the USSR will play to honor them. Perhaps by then Russia will even have revived the Soviet flag to fly above them. So we'll get to see Russia in its full neo-Soviet glory, just the way we saw Nazi Germany.
All this presents us with a great opportunity. Indeed, it's hard to imagine that the Putin administration actually even wanted the games to occur on Russian soil, although it's possible that it is so drunk on power that it actually does. How much better would it have been if the games were denied, so the Kremlin could have claimed proof of Western hatred of Russia. That's going to be a much harder argument to make now, when for instance Russia tries to block defensive missiles in Europe. Then on top of that, in 2014 the world's journalists will swarm over Russia, dredging up every bit of horror from the Katyn massacre to the murder of Anna Politkovskaya. Every human rights and opposition political group under the sun will have an instant international platform to criticize Russia, and institutions like La Russophobe will have a field day. Right now, most of the time, the world just gives a giant collective Y-A-W-N when it hears about Russia, but in 2014 at least for a few weeks the world will be forced to train its cameras on Russia and see it for what it is. It won't like the picture, not one little bit. Quite possibly, dictator Putin will have returned to power in 2012 with a new seven-year term, expecting to rule the country until at least 2026.
Less than 10 years after the USSR hosted the summer games, it ceased to exist. Perhaps that is a wonderful harbinger for Putin's Russia as well. So bring on the Sochi games of 2014! The opportunity to galvanize a boycott movement alone will be worth its wait in gold. La Russophobe congratulates the IOC on its brilliant decision!
17 comments:
Makes me wonder why is the author of the article so angry at Russia? Pesonal offense?
Wake up! Russia has always been the nation of the best people and now with the incredible changes happening it will impress and show the world what a wonderful place it is.
HURAY!!! VIVA!!! to Sochi Olympics!
Anchuta****
Makes me wonder why you love Russia so much. Propaganda from state-controlled media?
You don't even try to make a substantive defense of Sochi, just babble propaganda you've been fed like a sheep. That is just what Russian fools said in Soviet times. Live in your world of illusion until you face the same fate as the USSR.
My goodness, talk about sour grapes.
Quite obviously, you don't know Sochi. I do. I was there a month and a half ago and it will make a fantastic venue for the Winter Olympics in 2014.
Let's quickly run through your objections:
1. Climate. Miami doesn't have ten thousand foot mountains less than 40 kilometers from South Beach. If it did then, it too, would make an appropriate place for the Winter Olympics.
2. Chechens. Again I am surprised at your ignorance. You usually are so well versed in the particulars of a topics. Chechnya is nowhere near Sochi. Unless the Chechnian Air Force decides to attack, there isn't much threat. Chechnya is a full day's drive from Sochi. Take a look at the map. There are no direct roads from Chechnya to Sochi. One would first have to drive through Piatygorsk, Labinsk, Gorachi Glutch to EVEN reach the Black Sea road M-27. This issue is irrelevant.
3. Russia has an oppressed populace? Once again my friend, you obviously have not been to Russia recently. Did you see the joy and excitement on behalf of millions of Russians when the choice was announced? Opps, I forgot. There were 50 "hairy armpit" protesters in Moscow who are concerned about "saving the shrimp" in Sochi. Since when has Greenpeace ever supported development. For a guy who bitches night and day about Russia's socialist tendencies you ought to welcome good old fashioned capitalism.
4. Human Rights abuses. Oh my, it's so bad in Russia that 80% of Russians actually like Putin. Therefore you would argue that Russians are stupid. Wrong again. Human rights abuses are everywhere. Was New Orleans a human rights incident. You bet! Does that therefore imply that America is rotten and corrupt. Nope. As Rumsfield said, "Stuff happens. Democracy is messy."
Stop your self righteous whining. You are starting to sound like a cry baby.
5. Sochi doesn't need any more investment. Wrong. The infrastructure presently in place in Sochi is in dire need of upgrading. In particular, the roads in and out of Sochi need some serious investment. I learned today that there is a new road planned from Krasnodar through Laganoki to Sochi. Thanks goodness.
Concerning Sochi proper. Your use of the phrase "..playground for Russia's rich and famous..." belies your absolute ignorance of Sochi. While many rich and famous Russians visit Sochi (and stay at the Rodina Hotel) it is by no means on the same level as Western playgrounds for the rich and famous.
Sochi desperately needs investment to bring it up to its potential.
6. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Your "act" is getting old.
Quite obviously you are being paid to write La Russophobe. Hence, your self-righteous statement that your don't need or solicit aid from anyone. That's because some deep pockets are paying you to spew hate.
What is fun to watch is how you and your gang (Bobby Amsterdam et al) continue to try to influence public opinion about Russia. Despite your lofty blog numbers (which you obsessively promote) you are losing the war of public opinion.
Keep trying but know that the truth will prevail. Russia is a young and vibrant Democracy. It is growing very quickly and finding its voice. Yes, these 2014 Olympics are a strong indication that the world beyond your little gang understands that Russia under Putin has been an amazing success story. Perhaps you ought to leave your little nest in the UK and visit the country you hate so much.
Tough to stomach but true. Like many Web 2.0 start-ups who have dubious business models, I nominate you, La Russophobe, for the "Dealth Pool." How long will you continue to struggle to convince folks of such untruths? I give you another 9 months. I bet by 2008 April you will be a fond memory.
See ya in Sochi baby!
Your hatred of Russia is getting ridiculous. I'm from Finland so don't accuse of me being a brainwashed Russian.
Your continual judgement of the Chechen war and refusal to recognize the horrors in Iraq and Afghanistan serve a good example of your bias. You approve your own country's war crimes while blaming Russia for defending the integrity of their country.
Yes, it is true that both Russians and Chechnyans do war crimes. But at least the Russians have a right cause for this war, unlike the Americans who are only defending their oil and geopolitical interests.
As for the olympics, I'm sure that the Russians will be able to host these games well inspite of your bad wishes.
Get a life. Your hatred towards one country is ridiculous and sick.
The writer of the article is a dim-wit... The skiing in Sochi is great... snow all the time (thanks to the high mountains), even when it's warm on the coast. Which is why the place is so amazing. Whistler is almost as good, though the Pacific is too cold to swim in.
Take that, Russophobe... It's nice to see that some international bodies do not bow to Soros/Berezovsky financed propaganda idiocies.
i wonder why should i even respond such articles included in this ¿babblog?. i have not found a reason, but anyway. Olympic Winter Games in Sochi might be critized from many different points of view from ecology to economy. But that parallelism between Nazi Olympic Games of 1936 and Sochi 2014 is simply pointless.
But, no surprise, this babblog is called the russophobic for some reason "Our motto: Russia is the best country in the world... except for all the others." Funny? witty? Stupid.
By the way, America did not boycott anything: USA did it.
Two words:
Potemkin village
TIM POST:
Your shil efforts to support your business in Russia with outrageous propaganda and lies fall on deaf ears here.
Sochi can't provide the basic winter village that any winter sports athlete or tourist would naturally want. That's a fact, and not even an ape like you can deny it. People don't go to the WINTER games to sit on a beach, moron.
If you are suggesting it is harder for the Chechens to attack Sochi than the Dubrovka theater in Moscow, you are a true mental case.
Your attempt to brush aside dozens of convictions in the European Court for Human Rights is barbaric to say the least. A classic neo-Soviet man, who cares not one wit about individual human life. Only your own pocketbook matters, right Tim?
Truth hurts doesn't it, you pathetically fraudulent huckster?
BIG FAT SLOB:
How come we don't find pictures of skiing in Sochi on the Internet then, huh slob? How come only photos of beaches?
It won't be such great skiing when the Chechens blow up the mountains, the hotels and the ski lifts.
ANONYMOUS:
We wonder why you can't even think up a name for yourself. It's really very sad.
JAMES:
Two words -- you're right!
russophobe can't count even. You're right are three words.
IF you can't find pictures of skiing in Sochi... well, I guess you are simply incompetent.
BIG FAT MORON:
(a) We were talking about POSTCARDS, you idiot, like the one we published. Please link us to a POSTCARD of skiing in Sochi.
(b) If you put "sochi" into the Google images search engine, NONE of the images displayed on the first page are skiing images. There's the poscard we published, a girl in a bikini, and lots of palm trees.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=sochi&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
You are a hopelessly dishonest and moronic idiot. Do you really think that your "comments" would cause us to change our views and think more like you? If so, you are truly demented. If not, you are wasting your time.
The only kid who's wasting his time here is you, dear LaRussophobe. Go here: http://www.kraspol.ru/about.php?mode=26 That's plenty of snowy photos there. If want a postcard, make one from those photos yourself and become a happy girl. On http://sochi2014.com/ one can find a webcam showing a lot of snow.
Are satisfied now, dear lady?
The place where the winter competitions will be held is Krasnaya Polyana, not the city of Sochi itself. Do you think that IOC was so stupid to allow the games to be run in a tropical city?
STALIN:
Apparently by "great" you mean "great killer of Russians," since he killed more Russians than any other individual in world history.
Stupid enough? Well, they were stupid enough to put the games in Nazi Germany and Communist USSR. And how smart would you have said they were if they rejected Sochi?
If you could read (you obviously can't) you'd know we didn't say there is no snow in Sochi, only that Sochi isn't famous for snow or as a winter destination. If everything will happen in Krasnaya Polyana, why not call it that? Would that make too much sense for your puny Russian brain?
Meanwhile, the real stupidity is for Russia to propose hosting olympic games up in those mountains, which will be full of Chechen terrorists, spending money on a city that doesn't need it whilst the rest starve. You're approving more Russian self-destrcution, you pathological Russia hater. Why do you hate Russia that much?
No, it is you, who is stupid. Olympic games were NOT given to NAZI Germany. The bid was won by the Germany when it yet was NOT Nazi. Go study some history.
>>If everything will happen in Krasnaya Polyana, why not call it that?
It is called Krasnaya Polyana. And everybody calls it that way. Krasnaya Polyana is a ski resort situated in Sochi. Everything is called by their names. Go study some geography. Go also study some logics.
>>only that Sochi isn't famous for snow or as a winter destination.
So what? Sochi wasn't famous AT ALL in the world. So what? Should it obligatory be famous? Only famous countries can hold the Olympics?
>>which will be full of Chechen terrorists
ARE THERE TERRORISTS IN CHECHNYA??? :))) Reading your blog I had an opinion that they are not terrorists, but brave and honest people struggling with Putin's regime. :) And now you're calling them terrorists.
>>need it whilst the rest starve
Oh no help me! I'm dying here in Russia of hunger! Help!
>>Why do you hate Russia that much?
I see you studied Goebbels! Representing white as black and black as white. Good girl you are! :)
STALIN:
Let's see if we understand: Germany turned into Nazi Germany after the athletes arrived and the world was surprised? Wow, that must have been something to see!
The point was to call it THE KRASNAYA POLYANA OLYMPICS not the Sochi Olympics, you hopeless dimwit.
There are many brave patriots in Chechnya who kill Russians that deserve to be killed, Russians who are murderers and torturers, and who have been convicted as such by the ECHR and condenmed by groups like Amnesty International. There are also terrorists, as every country (including Slavic Russia) has terrorists (Stalin was the world's worst terrorist). You studied Goebbels very well, ignoring the threat and trying to change the subject. Good tiny little boy. With a tiiiinnny little brain.
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