Visitors taking a ferry from Athens’s ancient port of Piraeus this August should not be surprised to see bubbles rippling the surface, oxygen tanks protruding here and there, and dark figures in wetsuits carrying guns swimming below.
Frogmen armed with M-16 rifles and grenade launchers are the most dramatic symbol yet of Athens’s desperate desire to convince a sceptical world it can ensure that al-Qaeda or similar groups do not turn the Olympic Games into another September 11, Madrid or Bali. The divers of the Greek navy are intended to protect the VIPs and corporate bosses staying on luxury yachts moored in Piraeus harbour, such as South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki.
The skies will be guarded by helicopters and spy planes and an airship, the sea by submarines and United States battleships. Around the host city about 1 600 closed-circuit cameras will monitor the movement of people and vehicles. Rigorous searches will produce long queues at venues. In all, 70 000 security personnel will be involved — four times more than were used at the 2000 Sydney Olympics — and the whole operation will cost about £675-million, five times as much as Sydney.
But with less than three months to go before the opening ceremony on August 13, serious questions persist about Greece’s ability to keep 10 500 athletes and two million spectators safe at the biggest sporting event on earth. Despite Greece insisting that the event ”will not be 100% safe but 120% safe”, Britain, the US, Australia and Israel betray a mixture of anxiety and fear.
”An Islamic terrorist attack on the Olympics is what everyone is planning against. That’s why all this money is being spent, equipment brought in and training done,” said an official from one of the nervous nations. ”If you wanted to capture the world’s attention, the Olympics, which are watched by four billion people, would be a good way to get it.”
The official reels off a list of weaknesses in Greece’s anti-terrorist strategy — the most hi-tech in sporting history — before adding pointedly: ”Their security plans are still a work in progress. They aren’t ready yet. There’s a lot of things still to be done before the security arrangement can be put fully into place, like finishing building all the venues so that cameras and scanners can finally be installed.”
The sense of dread is strongest in the US. Robert Mueller, director of the FBI, has singled out Athens as a likely al-Qaeda target. Any judgement of whether security would be adequate by August would be ”premature”, he said — hardly a vote of confidence in the Greeks.
Others speak more plainly. Mark Spitz, the swimmer who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics, last month aired the fears of many athletes when he predicted a pullout by the entire 700-strong US team over security fears.
”We know there is a high degree of probability that something could happen in Athens,” he said. ”Would it be political suicide to send a team there if you were the Bush administration?”
Tennis champion Serena Williams added to the debate in the US, where 52% of people believe a strike in Athens is likely. She admitted that she and her sister Venus might not defend their Olympic doubles title because ”I think my security and my safety and my life is a little bit more important than tennis, and so if it became a real concern to where I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable, then I wouldn’t go to Athens”.
Others share Mueller’s apprehensions. Although British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed ”every faith” in Greek preparations on May 6, the day a left-wing Greek terror group exploded three small devices outside an Athens police station, some of his most senior ministers do not agree. At least one Cabinet minister has privately expressed concern for the safety of the United Kingdom’s 350 athletes. The 24-hour armed guards Greece promised for athletes from ”high-risk” countries such as Britain and Israel, have not ended such disquiet.
Australia has asked to bring its own armed officers — the US and Israel want the same — and they will have two jets on standby during the Games to remove their athletes if there is any incident. The May 6 bombs prompted South Korea’s gymnasts to rethink plans to hold their pre-Olympic training in Athens. They now hope to use Ukraine or Romania instead.
However, Craig Reedie, a British member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is more relaxed.
”No Olympic organising committee has ever taken security as seriously as Athens. Perhaps that’s inevitable because we live in a very dangerous world. You can’t be anything but impressed by the effort that has gone into security. The British Olympic Association’s view is that everything that could be done is being done. We’re comfortable with the arrangements that have been put in place, and there’s no apprehension, anxiety or fear among our athletes.”
Greece demonstrated lethargy in its approach to building the Olympic facilities, wasting the first three years of construction time and earning worldwide criticism as a result. But it has been much more purposeful on security. Officials believe concern overseas is a combination of paranoia, arrogance, exaggeration — and a naive, impossible dream of foolproof security.
Fanni Palli-Petralia, the minister in charge of the Olympics, last week tempted fate by declaring: ”I strongly believe, with our security operation, Athens will be the safest place in the world this August.”
Colonel Lefteris Ikonomou, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Order, points out that, even before September 11, Athens agreed to the creation of a seven-nation Olympic Advisory Group (OAG) of experts in security — a bold move for a proud, small nation. The OAG includes representatives from the US, Australia, Spain, France, Germany and Israel, as well as Britain. David Veness, a Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner and veteran of counterterrorist operations, is chairperson.
In a drab building resembling a 1960s polytechnic, Ikonomou exudes confidence.
”We can guarantee absolute security, not only in the Olympic venues but in the city as well. We have spent lots of money, the first time such huge sums have been spent in Olympic Games history. And we will also have the greatest number of personnel in the history of the Games. Greece has done everything it can to prevent any attack, including a biological attack.”
He highlights the unprecedented involvement of organisations such as Nato, the European Union and Interpol, and the array of sophisticated technology to be deployed.
”All of the 202 participating nations will have intense security. If there was a threat to any delegation, we have foreseen it and made plans to deal with it,” he adds. George Voulgarakis, Greece’s Public Order Minister, gave similar assurances in Washington last week, as will Greece’s Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, when he meets US President George Bush at the White House on Thursday.
Privately, diplomats from the ad hoc coalition of the concerned — mostly members of the ”coalition of the willing” in Iraq — accuse the Greeks of being ”unwisely bullish” about Greece’s capabilities and of ”underestimating the threat”.
The Americans believe that Greece has not paid enough attention to the possibility of snipers in the hills around Athens and of a ”dirty bomb” being exploded.
Greece faces difficulties delivering on Ikonomou’s promised ”absolute security”: it has one of the longest borders in Europe, anti-Americanism is widespread and it is next door to Turkey, where the British embassy was bombed in November. A javelin’s throw from the US embassy, someone has spray-painted on a wall ”USA killers”, with the ”S” of ”USA” turned into a swastika, and ”terrorist” above Bush’s head.
Meanwhile, US athletes are being told not to wear their tracksuits around the city, or to mock opponents, argue with officials or celebrate excessively, lest such behaviour rebounds.
US psychologists will be on hand to counsel athletes who find the experience traumatic or who are verbally abused.
”Our athletes will be making a political statement with every action they take during the summer Games. This is the reality of what will be a very tense atmosphere,” said William Martin of the US Olympic Committee. ”It’s of critical importance, especially now, to make sure the right attitude is reflected, and that’s what we’re trying to instil. We are not going to be the most popular gal at the ball.” — Guardian Unlimited Â