[ALBSA-Info] LA Times on Athens Olimpics

[Agron Alibali]

Los Angeles Times 

February 6, 2001, Tuesday, Home Edition 

SECTION: Sports; Part D; Page 1; Sports Desk 

SECURITY AT ATHENS 2004: GREEK MYTHOLOGY?;  
DANGER IS THERE--COUNTRY HAS A HISTORY OF PUTTING
BLINDERS ON TO TERRORIST THREAT 

WAYNE MERRY, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES  


The Olympic Games have suffered badly from doping and
money scandals. Most fans probably hope the worst is
past. It isn't. 

The clock is ticking toward potential bloody disaster
at the Athens Games in 2004, the worst since the
massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Games in
1972. The International Olympic Committee is aware of
the danger but wants to keep it out of the public eye,
as it tried to do with drugs and corruption. 

There is a difference. Doping and kickbacks belittle
the Games and erode public confidence in the IOC, but
do not take human life. Terrorists do. 

Isn't terrorism a danger to every Olympics and doesn't
every host country take the challenge very seriously
and deal with it? Yes, until now. 

Most Americans are unaware that Greece has a serious
domestic terrorism problem and, worse, a critical
counter-terrorism problem. We should be aware, because
our country is the main target of the terrorists. So
far--repeat, so far--four U.S. officials are dead,
more than 30 wounded in attacks intended to kill, and
many more have been targeted. The U.S. taxpayer spends
more money on embassy security in Athens than anywhere
else on earth, more than in Beirut or Bogota. 

The main Greek terrorist group called 17 November is
now in its 26th year of operation, employs a wide
range of weapons and explosives and has recruited a
younger generation of killers to ensure its future. It
is considered one of the most successful violent
political groups in the world. 

The terrorists profess an extreme leftist program
similar to that of the Shining Path in Peru, but at
heart are virulent nationalists. 17 November hates
foreign influences of all kinds and has targeted
Americans, Europeans and many Greeks in scores of
attacks. 

What about Greek law enforcement? Sadly, "What about
it?" is the right question. 

In a quarter-century, no terrorist has been arrested
or even identified as a suspect. In their manifestoes,
the terrorists have ordered the police to look the
other way, and been obeyed. Witnesses known only to
the police get threatening phone calls from the
terrorists. 

Last year, both the State Department and a special
congressional commission bluntly gave Greece a failing
grade in fighting terrorism. 

And the Greek media? Much of the Athens press
sympathizes with the terrorists. 

Hard to believe? After the brutal murder last June of
Stephen Saunders, British defense attache, Scotland
Yard sent a team of top investigators to Athens. They
made progress, developing relevant wiretaps and other
technical evidence. Greek police sources then leaked
details of the British efforts to two local
newspapers, which printed everything for the benefit
of the killers. 

I worked on this issue for three years at the U.S.
Embassy in Athens and am convinced the ultimate
problem is political. It is no secret that the ruling
PASOK party had active terrorist links in the past.
Whether direct ties still exist, the government treats
17 November with benign neglect amounting to
appeasement. 

Is terrorism a serious threat to the 2004 Olympic
Games? Absolutely, both at home and abroad. Even if 17
November chooses not to attack the Games directly--bad
for the Robin Hood image--it definitely views foreign
sponsors of the Olympics as legitimate and attractive
targets. 

Seven of the 10 largest IOC sponsors are American
corporations, the "Great Satan" of the Greek extreme
left. 

Even more ominous is the threat from international
terrorist groups hungry for the global publicity
offered by the Olympics. They can easily smuggle arms
and killers through the notoriously permeable Greek
borders. 

They also know Greek police do nothing against 17
November. When Greek leaders treat home-grown
terrorist attacks as routine--and there were more than
100 politically motivated bombings last year--they
practically invite the world's terrorists to exploit
the 2004 Games. 

What needs to be done? 

First, the IOC should give the Greek government until
the end of 2001 to wipe out 17 November--not more
promises of arrests, but arrests. 

Second, the IOC must insist that other European Union
governments with serious, modern police forces be
directly involved in preparing for and protecting the
2004 Games. 

If, on Dec. 31, these conditions have not been
satisfied, the Games should be moved. Seoul and Los
Angeles have been mentioned as viable alternatives. 

Greeks understandably want the Summer Olympics held in
Athens after an absence of more than a century. Fine,
but the Games belong to the world, not just to Greece.
If politicians in Athens cannot--or will not--fulfill
their minimal obligations to fight terrorism and to
protect the world's athletes and fans, they forfeit
any legitimate claim to host the Olympics. 

The IOC will elect new top leadership this summer. It
must act promptly and decisively to protect the 2004
Games. 



* 

Wayne Merry, a former State Department and Pentagon
official, is senior associate at the American Foreign
Policy Council in Washington. 


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