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Iraq soccer captain: ‘I want America to go out.’»

Yesterday’s win of the Asian Cup for Iraq’s national soccer team was an “inspirational triumph for a team whose players straddle bitter and violent ethnic divides.” After the game yesterday, team captain Younis Mahmoud called for the United States to withdraw its troops:

younismm.jpgI want America to go out,” he said. “Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, but out. I wish the American people didn’t invade Iraq and, hopefully, it will be over soon.

Mahmoud also said he will not return to Iraq to celebrate.

“I don’t want the Iraqi people to be angry with me,” he said. “If I go back with the team, anybody could kill me or try to hurt me.”




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42 Responses to “Iraq soccer captain: ‘I want America to go out.’”

  1. Egreggious Says:

    Keep hoping, Younis.


  2. GSD Says:

    Obviously he’s a gay, French, Islamo-fascist, surrender-monkey Defeatocrat.

    -GSD


  3. gummitch Says:

    Oh, well, he’s obviously a terrorist. He’s probably never even been to Iraq!


  4. RUCerious Says:

    Younnis better watch his ass, he’ll be conscripted to put up drywall in the Green Zone…


  5. Troll Says:

    Congrats to the team. And for the record we wish the war was over as well. But the dems are to spineless to do what they were elected to do.


  6. coda Says:

    Well, he and his fellow countrymen obviously have no say on this issue. It’s not like it’s their country or anything.


  7. skmarshall Says:

    I wish someone could tell him the American People would never have invaded his country if we hadn’t let our government get broken, and if he wants an example of why they should work to separate church and state in Islamic countries, look around Iraq and see what happens when OUR leaders “answer to a Higher Father”.


  8. Brassmask from 3DHS Says:

    Firedoglake obviously got the traslation wrong.


  9. Redneck, Redstate Says:

    Give us your dam oil first!


  10. Brassmask from 3DHS Says:

    Give us your dam oil first!

    Comment by Redneck, Redstate

    Have you ridden in a car today?


  11. upside00 Says:

    #8 Well, he and his fellow countrymen obviously have no say on this issue. It’s not like it’s their country or anything.

    Comment by coda

    When Darth wants any comments from the Iraqis, he will pull their strings! Otherwise, they are to just sit in the corner and STFU!! The ingrates!


  12. Egreggious Says:

    Does anyone know if it’s acceptable to buy produce in the USA if you are opposed to illegal immigration?


  13. Kay Says:

    I feel so sorry for the Iraqis. Their country is basically ruined because of the neoCON’s wet dream.

    I feel sorry for us Americans, too. All we seem to care about is Lindsay Lohan’s next (drunken) move, our Ipods, our SUVs etc… There doesn’t seem to be a collective spirit of anger that our Constitution and Bill of Rights (and the entire Justice System) etc are being done away with — with each passing day.

    When is The American Revolution II?


  14. Serenity Now Says:

    When are the people living in Iraq going to realize that it isn’t their country. It is our country and we are keeping it!


  15. PaulD Says:

    Oddly enough, this aspect of the story isn’t receiving attention from the American media. This includes the supposedly “liberal” CNN - see for yourself:

    VIDEO
    http://beta.redlasso.com/ Community/ ClipPlayer.aspx?i=78c638c5-973f-4b85-999c-f8dcbf399168


  16. TripMaster Monkey Says:

    Yup…he’s clearly a terrorist.

    Time to send a black ops squad over to collect Younis and ship him off to a secret prison.


  17. margaret Says:

    Maybe Larry King will ask Cheney about this?

    Nah……….


  18. Dr. Matt Says:

    He’s probably a “secular progressive”


  19. Kiki Says:

    I, for one, will be glad when the kids go back to school and stop trolling on this site. Unfortunately, the losers will still be around.


  20. paul Says:

    Mahmoud also said he will not return to Iraq to celebrate.

    “I don’t want the Iraqi people to be angry with me,” he said. “If I go back with the team, anybody could kill me or try to hurt me.”

    If his beliefs are widely accepted in Iraq, why is he worried that Iraqis will be angry with him. It would lead you to believe that his is the minority view.


  21. Vice President Bush Says:

    The “American People” didn’t invade your country. The American Corporations did.


  22. Tobey Tall Says:

    I hope one day Iraq will kick Americas ass ( at football )


  23. Tobey Tall Says:

    The Sunni Muslim Iraqi captain — who like the rest of the team wore a black arm band to remember the dozens killed by carbombers following the side’s semifinal victory over South Korea on Wednesday — said the American presence in his homeland was a “problem.”

    http://www.iht.com/ articles/ ap/ 2007/ 07/ 29/ sports/ AS-SPT-SOC-Iraq-Mahmoud.php

    was amazes me is 92% of the Sunnis want American forces OUT , But they are a minority in Iraq

    Therefore the Sunnis do not fear the bloodbath , That Republicans are using to justify staying ….strangemaybe the repulsives are lying about a civil war happening


  24. Mr President Says:

    Obviously he doesn’t want to go back because of all the progress made in Iraq.


  25. LibTeenie Says:

    Well there it is. The soccer captain has spoken so we better get going, even if the guy isnt willing to go back to his own country to try and accurately gauge the current situation.

    Next week we will bolster the captain’s opinion when we talk to the waterboy on the Iraqi Women Shuffleboard Team, who will also give us his expert opinion.

    I feel like having a march celebrating the fact that a gay sport like soccer isnt big in the United States. Hockey rules and if you know its true.


  26. Alejandro Says:

    Wait, he doesn’t want to go back to Iraq because he might be killed? I thought they were national heroes.

    Or is he insinuating that if you speak out against the US occupation, somehow you will be killed.

    What’s up?


  27. paul Says:

    He wants Americans out, but why should he care if he also wants out himself. Maybe it makes more sense to listen to the Iraqi leadership.


  28. Brassmask from 3DHS Says:

    The Dow is up 116 points right now. I told you the dip was a good buying opportunity.


  29. BARTLEBEE Says:

    The guys got a life, and a brain, and he wants to keep both of them intact.

    Like any normal person he wants to LIVE. And we want him to die, so we can feel good about his commitment to our invasion of his country.

    :|

    It boggles the mind.


  30. Mr President Says:

    The Dow is up 116 points right now. I told you the dip was a good buying opportunity.

    Comment by Brassmask from 3DHS

    The stock market is for desk bound overweight weenies.

    Can I count on you joining CRYING and going to Iraq to kick some muslim ass?

    Sorry for the repeat post, the power went off here.


  31. paul Says:

    Bartlebee. Maybe you and Younis have forgot about how great things were before we invaded:

    During the rule of the government of Dictator Saddam Hussein, the Dictators’s son, Uday Hussein, was in charge of the Iraqi Olympic Committee and, by extension, the national football team. Under Uday’s leadership, motivational lectures to the team included threats to cut off players’ legs, while missed practices resulted in prison time, and losses resulted in flogging with electric cable or baths in raw sewage. Wikipedia.


  32. Scramble Says:

    Does Younis want Saddam back in Power?


  33. Mr President Says:

    Does Younis want Saddam back in Power?

    Comment by Scramble

    No, we want the Sunnis in power.

    Oh wait Saddam was a Sunni. My Bad.


  34. Mr President Says:

    Under Uday’s leadership, motivational lectures to the team included threats to cut off players’ legs, while missed practices resulted in prison time, and losses resulted in flogging with electric cable or baths in raw sewage. Wikipedia. -Paul

    So? Who cares? They are Terrorists. Abu Ghraib did the same thing.
    They like it.


  35. BARTLEBEE Says:

    Everyone wants Saddam back in power. At least when Saddam was in power, the trains ran and there was like, Streets and standing structures and electricity and sh$t.

    Say what you want about him, but Saddam Hussien made a better dicator for the Iraqi people than US Military has made.


  36. Mr President Says:

    WASHINGTON (CNN) — About eight million Iraqis — nearly a third of the population — are without water, sanitation, food and shelter and need emergency aid, a report by two major relief agencies says.rnrnOxfam and the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Coordination Committee in Iraq have issued a briefing paper that says violence in Iraq is masking a humanitarian crisis that has worsened since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003

    See Paul. Things are going great. We are, well I haven’t been yet, I am trying to get others to join me there so we can show them Iraqis all about Democracy.

    Cmon College Republicans, join CRYING. We are gonna go kick some Muslim ass and free them from Saddam.

    Oh wait Saddam is gone. We are gonna free them from..I don’t know. But look Muslims here comes the Sliderule genius from Colleges all across America!!


  37. BARTLEBEE Says:

    Maybe if we’d figured out first how to implement a functional democracy in the United States, then we’d have known how to implement it in Iraq.


  38. Steve Real Says:

    Does the Iraqi team
    honestly think that if we leave
    it’ll stop Saudi extremists
    from car bombing Baghdad?

    i don’t think so.

    What about Iran
    from smuggling in arms
    to hit squads?

    i don’t think so.

    But the Captain has the right
    to say what ever he pleases
    brought you by the U.S. military.

    I for one
    am glad he has the right to
    say whatever he wants.

    It’s not like the old days,
    where the team was tortured and
    mudered for losing.

    My, my, my
    how times have changed

    Let’s celebrate!

    Good Luck fellas


  39. S. Colbert Says:

    Throw the whole team in Gitmo…throw away the key and force them to look at nude pictures of the Beckems.

    That will teach them to hate us for our freedom.

    I think we shoud play them there so we don’t have to play them here.


  40. margaret Says:

    “It’s not like the old days,
    where the team was tortured and
    mudered for losing.”

    Nope, now you can get tortured and “mudered” for just walking down the street! Yup, things are much better now.


  41. Steve Real Says:

    yes you’re right Margaret

    Iraqis have to be weary of
    Saudi extremists who blow up
    the majority of car bombs.

    or Iranian supplied hit squads
    and fromer Bathists.

    They have every reason to fear
    a thug life.
    And even more reason to be scared
    if we become moral cowards
    and leave to allow a power vaccum to form.

    Like Pol Pot in Cambodia.

    The the real killing fields will start.

    Remember the killing fields Margaret?
    That’s an eample of how moral cowardice kills.

    good luck


  42. Chocolat Jesus God Help Us into uranUs Says:

    >why is he worried that Iraqis will be angry with him. It would lead you to >believe that his is the minority view.

    Right.. just like Iraqis who were talking bad about the pre-war Iraqi government were expressing the minority view just because they were afraid to return after they’d said negative things about the people in charge. It doesnt take a majority to take violent retribution against you….

    If you think the Shia government is any better than Saddam you extremely naive.. their first post-war prime minister, Allawi, said that the same sort of brutality that was going on under saddam was being commited by the current government..

    Care to explain why Reagan thought Saddam was such a good guy?



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