The Turkish authorities appear to have scored a major victory with the arrest of 24 terrorists who they believe were planning to bomb next month’s NATO summit in Istanbul. According to Turkish police, the detained men intended after the attack to flee to Iraq to fight against the Americans. It is clear from these revelations that no international event can now be considered immune from terrorism. But guarding NATO leaders at their two-day summit will be a cakewalk compared with other challenges facing police and security forces around the world. Protecting the 10,500 athletes, 3,000 team officials, 25,000 press and hundreds of thousands of spectators during the 19 days of the Athens Olympics is going to be a horrendously difficult task. The Greek authorities, stung by reports that some governments including the American and British one were planning to send their own guards, reportedly plan to provide round-the-clock personal cover to every team member and official from high-risk countries — and that includes all states that have provides contingents to the coalition forces in Iraq.
They have rejected the idea of outside security as being a recipe for misunderstanding and disaster. They may be right. But when viewed against the vast protection effort needed, the 40,000 troops and police the Athens government has earmarked to guard the Olympics seem inadequate. If one adds to this the dubious quality of law and order officers who failed lamentably for 29 years to catch the People’s Revolutionary Struggle (ELA) terrorists despite two murders, 80 assassination attempts and 76 bomb attacks, confidence in the security cover cannot be high.
No one has yet dared to suggest that the Olympics be canceled. Given the immense investment that has gone into this event, that would be virtually unthinkable. Besides the massive financial loss, there would be a far more serious sacrifice: The world, at one of its greatest shared celebrations, would be seen to have caved in to the powers of bigotry and destruction. Al-Qaeda and its cadet organizations represent no one but a few thousand deluded terrorists who imagine that they can bomb and murder the world into being a better place. These people cannot be allowed to hold the entire world to ransom. The extra $200 million that planned personal security for athletes is reportedly costing the Greek government, over and above the already immense sums being expended on security, is worth the investment.
Yet as President Bush sits down, hopefully safely, next month in Istanbul with his fellow NATO leaders, maybe he will wonder if since his invasion of Iraq and his abandonment of the road map for Palestine he really has dealt his promised crushing blows to international terror or whether everything that he has done has made things worse.
