Through the Olympic looking glass. (The Last Word).(Salt Lake Olympics post-mortem)(Brief Article)

One of the perplexing spectacles that greeted Alice after passing through the looking glass was the "caucus-race," in which competitors "began running when they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to know when the race was over." At length, the Dodo -- who presided over the event -- suddenly called out "The race is over!" "But who has won?" inquired the panting participants. "Everybody has won, and all must have prizes!" the Dodo gleefully replied.

There was more than a hint of the "caucus-race in the Olympic compromise that awarded gold medals to both the Russian and Canadian pairs figure skating teams.

The Russians had been awarded the gold, despite technical errors in their performance, as a result of corrupt judging. Seeking to soothe outraged partisans of the Canadian pair, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) opted for the Dodo's solution, thereby adulterating the value of the award.

Prior to the IOC's decision to take pairs figure skating off the gold standard, Canadian commentator Rex Murphy excoriated the conniving judges who had ruined the event, darkly musing: "We should turn them all over to Donald Rumsfeld." This gibe subtly acknowledged the garrison state conditions in which the Salt Lake City Olympics were held.

Shortly before the Winter Games opened, Rumsfeld tellingly observed: "It's interesting to note that the largest theater [of military operations] for the United States is not Afghanistan today. It is in fact Salt Lake City and the environs. We have more people in the area around Salt Lake City for the Olympics than we do in Afghanistan." More than 15,000 soldiers patrolled the Olympics, and F-16 fighter planes were deployed in Utah's skies. "Black Hawk helicopters could be heard circling above the city," reported The Times of London on February 7th. "The F-16s will chase away or shoot down any non-commercial aircraft that stray within a 45-mile radius of the city.... Snipers on snowmobiles will patrol the slopes above some events."

The hills of Utah were alive with snipers and observation teams equipped with night-vision and thermal imagery gear, according to U.S. News & World Report. According to Utah Governor Michael Leavitt, the Winter Games took place in "the safest place on earth." Attracting a global audience of billions, the Olympics was a very lucrative advertising platform for various corporate sponsors. It was also a two-week infomercial for the "benign" American garrison state being created in the name of "Homeland Security."

The United Nations also cut itself in for a share of Olympic glory. ...