OPINION

Biting the bullet…

Opinion polls cited in recent foreign news reports show 80 percent of Greek respondents are convinced that a terrorist attack on Athens during the August Olympics is «inevitable.» But can the authors of these reports and commentaries eliminate the eventuality of a terrorist attack in the capital cities of their own countries? Unfortunately the paranoia of international terrorism has become a part of our everyday lives and we have seen that, however many security measures are implemented, they are unable to stop one determined, fundamentalist terrorist who did not necessarily reach the edge due to any particular ideology but because the established policies of «others» convinced him that he had nothing to lose. No one likes the idea of the Olympics being conducted under the permanent threat of a terrorist attack – least of all the organizers of the Games. And if the fateful strike on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 had taken place before the procedure to award the 2004 Games had begun, we probably would not have even submitted our candidacy. But now, what can we do? We are in the position of having to host the Games. The point is this: Could any other country organizing such a major event in such an unstable international climate offer a 100 percent guarantee that it would be safe?

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