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Moogs
2004-07-03, 09:17
Don't know about you guys, but I saw this one coming. I know people who travel in that part of the world during their summers and I've expressed a concern to all of them to stay away from Greece during the games.

It's never been a particularly safe place for out-of-towners to begin with (relative to other European travel destinations), but now, since our beloved administration has made the world so much "safer" a place by instilling hatred of American policy (and sometimes Americans themselves)... it's a no-brainer. Just stay away.

Hopefully nothing terrible happens but I won't be the least bit surprised if it does.

Intelligence officials who have long feared terrorism at next month's Olympic Games say delays in completing the security apparatus and athletic facilities have left too little time to fully test systems meant to detect or respond to an attack.

Although officials say they have no evidence of a planned attack by terrorist groups, they have constructed a web of protective measures that includes Awacs surveillance planes, NATO sea patrols, radiation detectors and thousands of soldiers and police officers.

But a sophisticated security command center, meant to integrate information from thousands of surveillance cameras as well as sonar in the ports and helicopters overhead, will not be operating completely until mid-July. This will not allow enough time to debug the system and fully train technicians, according to officials from Greece and other countries involved in security planning.

Greek officials have said the American-led consortium building the system has provided defective software and failed to complete work on the command center by the May 28 deadline. The system's developer, Science Applications International Corporation, based in San Diego, declined requests for an interview and did not respond to questions sent by e-mail.


...hmm. I wonder if they're related to United Defense or some other member of the Bush consortium.

pscates2.0
2004-07-03, 09:27
How about just big, sprawling bureaucracies whose right hand doesn't know the left hand even exists, much less what's it's doing.

:rolleyes:

Which was my whole reaction to the new Homeland Security department, honestly: "wait, we HAVE an FBI and CIA. They don't seem to communicate or get their shit together, so let's FIX that by creating ANOTHER Federal-level bureacracy of busybodies, paper-pushers, middle-managers, etc. who'll not cooperate with the existing two entities either. Perfect...I feel better already!"

:lol:

If I ran things, my only directive would be "if you learn something, then by God you better make everyone else aware. If I find out you idiots were jockeying for credit and withholding important information from other agencies and treating this like some sort of junior high bake-off contest, I'm firing everyone involved...then shooting you myself. That is all."

:p

How long have they known the Olympics were coming? How could they NOT have their act together a bit more? It isn't like they just get up one day in May and randomly toss a coin to decide if there's going to be an Olympic event that year...isn't this a pretty dialed-in, set thing?

:confused:

Moogs
2004-07-03, 19:08
Scates for President. How long you figure it will take to get you on the ballot in Tennessee for a start?

;)

Organist
2004-07-03, 20:13
How long have they known the Olympics were coming? How could they NOT have their act together a bit more? It isn't like they just get up one day in May and randomly toss a coin to decide if there's going to be an Olympic event that year...isn't this a pretty dialed-in, set thing?


yeah seriously! It seems ridiculous they don't have enough time to complete all their tests. You'd think they would have been thinking about this for a very very long time by now. :rolleyes:

There's nothing in the world that could get me to set foot anywhere near the olympic games, or any other huge event for that matter! :no:

Moogs
2004-07-03, 21:36
The thing I guess I was getting at originally was less that someone picked the wrong security company (obviously they did, whether affiliated with United Defense or not), and more that our government's ignoramous policies over the last couple years has made anti-Americanism everyone's new favorite sport overseas.

Like I said, Greece has never been a particularly safe place for westerners, but things being what they are, even if there was no security company issues, I still wouldn't touch this year's summer olympics with a 10 foot poll, so to speak.

Would be iffy under the leadership of any other administration, but with this group it's not even a question. Americans who go there are putting themselves in harm's way... not even really debateable IMO. Sad.

crazychester
2004-07-03, 21:51
Security isn't the only thing they left until the last minute. It may not have been widely reported elsewhere, but because we did such a splendid job with the last Olympics, there have been regular reports here about Greece being way behind schedule and even predictions at one stage that the Games themselves might have to be cancelled due to them not being ready.

Apparently, the security situation is made even worse by the fact that, unlike Sydney, the venues are spread out all over Athens meaning the athletes will have to be bussed around a lot which in turn creates more opportunity for terrorist strikes.

curiousuburb
2004-07-04, 10:14
In coming to grips with some aspects of the long standing Greek antipathy towards US policy it is important to look back since the 1950's and see periods of US pressure on Greece during the cold war.

There's also that tiny residual resentment over that CIA-backed coup which ousted a legitimately elected Greek Socialist government in 67 and left a US-supported military junta in place of democracy for years.

Ironic, is how my Greek friends describe the situation...

But not today... most of them are watching the Euro 2004 Football Final today where their lads are underdogs against the Portugese.

A win for the Greeks would probably increase Olympic spirit in Greece, and concurrently improve construction progress, participation, and security.

pscates2.0
2004-07-04, 13:42
Apparently, the security situation is made even worse by the fact that, unlike Sydney, the venues are spread out all over Athens meaning the athletes will have to be bussed around a lot which in turn creates more opportunity for terrorist strikes.

:eek:

Ooh, I don't like that at ALL. I wasn't aware of that. I can imagine some a-holes trying to take advantage of that.

:(

Moogs
2004-07-04, 14:53
Bank on it. I hate to be a doom-sayer but there's just no way to maintain real security for athletes or spectators driving around that city. Too many alleys, low rooftops and other hideouts that are impossible to cordon off as people drive by. One guy with one RPG could do awful damage, and easily escape notice beforehand.