Beijing a bad choice, but Olympics must go on

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Tibet.Darfur.Muslim terrorists.Apparently, China's version of the Olympic spirit loses something in translation.Because unless something changes drastically -- and we're still four months from the Opening Ceremonies -- this summer's Beijing Olympics won't be the feel-good, global celebration they're supposed to be.Nor will they be the spectacular, worldwide debut the Chinese government wants them to be.They'll be a platform for protest.And that's a shame.That's not what the Olympics should be about.These Olympics shouldn't be about Chinese repression in Tibet. Or China's reluctance to use its influence in Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur. Or Muslim terrorists, bent on creating a breakaway state in the western Xinjiang province, threatening foreign visitors to the Beijing Games with kidnappings and suicide bombings.They should be about athletic competition and international goodwill, about fair play and sportsmanship. They should be about a noble, old school concept known as the Olympic ideal.Nowadays, that's probably naive thinking. Surely, though, the folks running the show -- the International Olympic Committee -- should've been wise enough and savvy enough to see all this coming, the obvious moral and political problems that would accompany any Olympics held in China.At the very least, concerns about China's deplorable record of human rights abuses should've given the committee great pause.Unfortunately, they didn't.In July 2001, the IOC voted to award the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing. And it was, without question, one of the most wrongheaded decisions in Olympic history.Not just because of Tibet. Or Darfur. Or the Muslim terrorists.But because of other, less-emotional issues that could affect the people who matter most at the Olympics.The athletes.When they get to Beijing, they'll be forced to endure the worst air pollution on the planet. There also are concerns about food safety. And, finally, these Olympics will be held during the region's wet season -- normally, there's a 35 percent chance of rain throughout August -- though the Chinese government plans to shoot cloud-seeding rockets into the atmosphere to prevent storms from developing.Put all this together, the protests and pollution and plans to play with Mother Nature, and you can't help but wonder: What, exactly, was the IOC thinking? Beijing was a terrible choice.But there's nothing anyone can do about it now. The Olympics are in China. The Games must go on.And they should.It was 28 years ago Saturday that the U.S. Olympic Committee, pressured by then-President Jimmy Carter, voted to not participate in the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow. Carter orchestrated the U.S.-led, 65-nation boycott in response to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.To this day, Carter stubbornly stands by his dimwitted decision.To this day, many of the U.S. athletes who were denied their shot at Olympic glory remain bitter. And justifiably so: The boycott accomplished nothing.Not only did the Soviets stay in Afghanistan for another nine years, but they also launched a retaliatory boycott of the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.So let's not hear of any more silly talk of boycotting Beijing.It wouldn't be fair to all the wonderful athletes who've earned the right to march into the Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremonies and deserve the chance to compete in these Games.What's happening in Tibet and Darfur is tragic in so many ways. China should be held accountable.But not at the Olympics.It's not the athletes' fault that the IOC made the wrong decision.(Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. Contact him at ray.mcnulty@scripps.com or on the Web at www.tcpalm.com.)