the other side of the story of: troops in palace pool on 4th of July

[donsu]

http://iraqsport.com/articles/06/24_5.shtml

US troops take over Iraqi swimmers' pool

Iraqi swimmers hoping to make a splash at the world championships in Barcelona next month are having to train in the murky Tigris River because the US Army have taken over the only Olympic-sized pool in Baghdad for their troops, team trainer Faisal Sayed Jaffar said Thursday. Infantry Sergeant Billy Thierry, who is in charge of the al-Qadissiya pool, said his orders were that the Iraqi Olympic team were entitled to use the place only from6 : 00to8 : 00am. "This is totally unfair because most of the 12 members of the Iraqi team are university students. In any case, we need two three-hour training sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon," Jaffar said. Jaffar appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and world swimming's governing body FINA to intervene if they are to get their training schedule back on track in time for the championships. He said that when a wave of looting swept the country following the US-led ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime on April9 , team members rushed to the pool complex to salvage what they could. "After three weeks of cleaning and repairing the place, we were kicked out by US officials, who told us not to return," Jaffar said. "All attempts by Iraqi officials to recover the pool were in vain.

-snip-

"US soldiers are using the only suitable pool we have in Iraq for their own entertainment. We have become strangers in our own country," said Omar Faisal, a member of the team.
-snip-
---------------------------

making friends the american way.

[ewagner]

1. (sigh)

...winning the hearts and minds.............

[htuttle]

2. How much you want to bet it's not even 'troops' using it

I'd wager the pool is reserved for Proconsul Bwemewr and his 'fwiends'.

[damnraddem]

3. That's one way for the US to up its medal count at the next Olympics.

Maybe it really should invade France and Germany -- it could reserve their ski slopes for U.S. troops, so help its medal count at the next Winter Olympics.