Soap Box

Attracting the Olympic games is a major accomplishment and the nations of the world compete furiously for the honor, with the attendant prestige and financial perks and a chance to show off their country and it's culture to the rest of the world.

The Summer Olympics can pretty much be held in any place with suitable sports facilities and the capacity to house, feed and entertain the thousands of spectators who will attend the events, but the Winter Olympics require much more logistically. Snow, ice and sustained temperatures low enough to keep it all from melting, limiting the choices to the colder climes.

It would seem to me that the prime concern of the Olympic Committee, above logistics and politics would be the safety of the athletes, especially taking into consideration what happened in Munich in 1972 and Atlanta in 1996.

Of course I realize that no event of this magnitude can be made 100% safe, but it seems that playing the odds wouldn't be wise and personally I don't feel that choosing Russia and Brazil to host Olympiads is playing the odds very well.

The neighborhood around Russia is basically Islamic nations, many of them under the heavy thumb of the Soviet Union until it's breakup in 1991 and they still harbor memories of the bad old days when they were looked on by the Russian people as second class citizens and cruel dictators in Moscow ruled with an iron hand and military responses to anything that didn't meet with their approval.

Chechnya alone would pose a big enough threat to make Russia a doubtful choice, the other Muslim countries notwithstanding and together, at least from my observation, this is too big an opportunity to pass up, to embarrass their old enemy Russia while the whole planet is watching and striking a blow for Islam, whatever that madness that entails.

Already we're hearing about Chechen threats and Black Widow suicide bombers, one of which has already slipped through Putin's net and could well be within striking distance of some crucial target.

Putin's reticence in allowing adequate security forces to be brought in by the other countries weakens the defenses and further increases the personal danger to the athletes.

I hope and pray that there are no incidents, but, all things considered, it seems a dicey situation.

Brazil, on the other hand, is like a domestic powder keg, rife with corruption and violence. The unsafe streets, the criminal population, a society where bribery is an age old tradition all add to the problems that must be faced if the Olympic Games are to be held there in 2016.

I think our good neighbor to the north, Canada, showed the world how well and how safely an Olympics can be run, in fact Canada is probably the perfect choice for a Winter Olympics, they have no natural enemies that I know of, no sect or race holding age old vendettas against them and the ideal weather and infrastructure for any winter time event.

Are there other nations as ideal as Canada for holding the Winter Games?

I truly don't know the answer to that question, but I would think that some of the Scandinavian countries would fit the bill and Japan hosted a great Olympics some years ago.

Atlanta's 1996 Summer Olympics was marred by three pipe bombs set off by Eric Robert Rudolph, a deranged anti-abortionist who was protesting the government approving abortion on demand.

It killed 2 people and injured 111 more, forever destroying America's perfect Olympic safety record.

Is there any place that is absolute 100% safe? No, there isn't.

Are some places much safer than others? Absolutely!

Of course we've learned a lot in the days since Munich and Atlanta, but placing innocent young athletes and their fans in places where the danger level is extremely high should be unacceptable to the nations sending them, the Olympic Committee and to the world.

What do you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem.

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels​