Much of the lead-up to the Summer Olympics in Athens has focused on the supposed inability of Greece to get its act together. Typical were the comments of British anti-terrorist consultants training journalists for the Games, who warned the sportswriters to prepare for the worst, because “Greek and security don’t really go in the same sentence.”
Ever since Munich in 1972, when 11 Israelis died at the hands of Palestinian terrorists, the Olympics have occasioned enough military preparations to fight a small war. In the wake of Sept. 11, concerns about terrorism at the Olympics have only grown. Greece is spending a record $1.5 billion on security for the summer Games, and it still can’t get any respect.
How far the world has traveled in 32 years.
In the Munich Games, Germany saw an opportunity to bury its Nazi past. Any suggestion of a police state was strictly forbidden. Spending on security was a pittance. Athletes who sneaked out of their compound for a night on the town merely hopped back over the wall when the time came to sneak back in.
That’s how the Palestinians who targeted the Israeli team got inside, supposedly assisted by Americans who mistook them for fellow athletes. The terrorists shot two hostages at the start of a prolonged standoff, and the rest of the hostages and five of the eight terrorists died later amid a firefight with German police.
No question, the Olympics in Greece present an inviting target for terrorists seeking a world stage. Yet there is also the risk that an event dedicated to bringing the world together through sportsmanship can lose its meaning if martial law prevails over them.
The much-maligned Greeks just may get the balance right. Months ago, the Congressional Research Service concluded that the Greeks were indeed taking their security obligations seriously. They plan to deploy 50,000 soldiers and police. Overcoming sovereignty concerns, they have worked closely with the U.S. and other high-risk nations.
The Greeks will allow 400 armed U.S. soldiers to watch over the Games, under the auspices of NATO. This extraordinary concession should go a long way to relieve anxieties about Greek preparedness.
So far, though, it appears that the troops will protect only diplomats and VIPs. Apparently there is still a question as to whether U.S. soldiers will guard the American athletes while they’re in Greece. If that’s the U.S. demand, Greece should recognize that those athletes represent too highly symbolic a target to take any risks with their safety.
The U.S., in turn, would be wise to recognize that it doesn’t want its security forces to provoke an unnecessary incident. It should school its troops in Greek language and customs. In Athens, boisterous street demonstrations occur routinely. Motor scooter drivers steer onto the sidewalks to evade traffic.
The threat of terrorism has, unfortunately, already made an impact on these Games, from the extraordinary cost for security to the apparent reluctance of many tourists to attend the Games in person. But the Games will go on, and Greece, the U.S. and other nations will have the chance to show that such an event can be staged safely, without turning the sporting fields into something that resembles a battlefield.
