I'm not sure how this is going to play out, but it seems to me to be a damn shame.
The IOC suspended Iraq's national Olympic committee in June after Baghdad dismissed elected officials and installed its own people who are not recognized by the IOC.
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The IOC says the Iraqi government did not accept an invitation to come to its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, to try to end the dispute.
Granted they were sending all of 4 people, but there is symbolism in sending people to the Olympics. It sends a message of stability (though sometimes its the stability of a dictatorship) and stability is something Iraq has been sorely lacking in. And I'm sure the athletes are very disapointed, I can't imagine what it would be like to not be able to go to the olympics because of government interference.
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