South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham knows one way the United States can express their displeasure with Russia for not turning over fugitive Edward Snowden over to authorities; boycotting the 2014 Olympic Games in Moscow.
Graham said Russia giving thought to granting asylum to Snowden is a "slap in the face to the United States. "I would just send the Russians the most unequivocal signal I could send them."
Snowden, a former employee of the National Security Agency (NSA) is on the run from the American government after leaking classified information about the NSA's surveillance program that culls information from citizens' search histories in major websites such as Google, Yahoo!, Facebook etc.
The United States Olympic Committee scoffed at the notion of abstaining from the 2014 Olympics, saying in a statement Olympic boycotts do not work." They also said that keeping American athletes from showcasing their skills on the global stage provided by the Olympics is not in the "country's best interest."
The USOC's full statement reads:
"If there are any lessons to be learned from the American boycott of 1980, it is that Olympic boycotts do not work. Our boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games did not contribute to a successful resolution of the underlying conflict. It did, however, deprive hundreds of American athletes, all whom had completely dedicated themselves to representing our nation at the Olympic Games, of the opportunity of a lifetime. It also deprived millions of Americans of the opportunity to take pride in the achievements of our athletes, and in their dedication and commitment, at a time when we needed it most."
The International Olympic Committee also sidestepped Graham's call for a boycott, saying his scenario is a "a purely hypothetical situation."
Arizona senator John McCain said that America's 1980 boycott of the Olympics in Moscow was "not very good." Furthermore, the United States did not boycott the Olympics in 1936 in Berlin, despite voicing opposition to the Nazi party in power.
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