I am not a big olympics guy but, I saw this story on CNN this morning while I was watching the news and I had to post this story here.  Here is the original link but the whole story is below as well just to make it easier for everyone.  THIS IS NOT MY WORK!  JUST A STORY WORTH A READ- I'll comment more about this later.  Once I get a little more information about it.

Iraq suspended from Olympics

• Haroon Siddique and agencies
• guardian.co.uk,
• Thursday July 24 2008
• Article history

Iraq has been banned from participating in next month's Beijing Olympics because of the Iraqi government's decision to disband the country's national Olympic committee, a senior official said today.

"This morning we were informed of the final decision of the International Olympic Committee to suspend the membership of the Iraqi Olympic Committee," Hussein al-Amidi, the general secretary of the Iraqi committee, told Reuters.

Last month, the IOC provisionally suspended the Iraqi Olympic Committee "as a consequence of the ongoing political interference by the government within the sports movement in Iraq".

At the time of the suspension, the IOC said it would work to "find appropriate solutions" for the Iraqi Olympic movement, but added that "the situation created by the Iraqi government authorities makes the task very difficult".

Sport has not escaped the violence that has blighted the country since the 2003 US-led invasion.

In May 2006, the national tennis coach was murdered. Two months later, Olympic officials were kidnapped. Then a member of the Olympic football team was seized outside his home, never to be seen again; and the country's cycling coach was killed.

But the country participated at the last Olympics, less than 18 months after the invasion. And in 2007, Iraq's football team scored an unlikely victory in the Asia cup, prompting joyous scenes across the country, as thousands spilled onto the streets despite a government ban.