May 25, 2006
EVER HAVE TROUBLE SHAKING THE FEELING....
Iran leader's love of soccer worries World Cup host: A visit by Ahmadinejad would trouble Germany (Colin Nickerson, May 23, 2006, Boston Globe)
German security forces are ready to deal with hooligans, right-wing protesters, and even suicide bombers.But the possibility of Iran's president making a surprise appearance at next month's World Cup soccer championship is giving the country's leadership a collective case of angst.
The prospect of such a visit started to emerge last month after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- the world's best-known Holocaust-denier, despiser of Israel, and alleged wannabe wielder of nuclear arms -- expressed his passionate love for soccer. Iran's national team is one of 32 that have qualified for the championship, and it will play its first game at Nuremberg.
Suddenly, it seems possible that Ahmadinejad and his entourage might show up to cheer Iranian players in a city where Adolf Hitler set the stage for the Holocaust with massive Nazi rallies and passage of the Nuremberg laws, which stripped citizenship from German Jews.
...that the world is arranged for your personal amusement? Posted by Orrin Judd at May 25, 2006 2:35 PM
Perhaps the Krauts will hose him down with Bud.
Posted by: ratbert at May 25, 2006 3:09 PMFigurative syzygy: Hitler/Iran/soccer
Posted by: Rick T. at May 25, 2006 3:23 PMI don't find this stuff amusing anymore.
Posted by: joe shropshire at May 25, 2006 3:52 PMWell, maybe if he does go to Germany, a covert CIA team can get Ahmadinejad drunk on Budweiser at a World Cup game.
Posted by: John at May 25, 2006 10:08 PMSheesh ... People, people. Get serious. Alcohol is forbidden to Moslems.
Posted by: erp at May 26, 2006 9:22 AMSo's gambling - but it seems there may be a casino in Jericho.
I remember reading a story about Afghanistan after 2001 and this guy was trying to restart a brewery. It was converted into a drug plant, IIRC after the talivermin, but some talivermin used to knock on the door and buy some for "medicinal purposes."
WSJ article, IIRC.
Posted by: Sandy P at May 26, 2006 9:54 AM