USA TODAY International Edition
Our view: IOC schools Trump administration on Putin
Probity and resolve are not words often associated with The International Olympic Committee. For decades, it fecklessly allowed East Germany to dope its athletes. More recently, it has been unable to stop the flow of bribes to some of its members involved in site selection.
So its decision last week to ban Russia from the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, stands out.
The evidence of widespread Russian doping at the last Winter Games was so overwhelming, even Russia’s government admitted the truth. When the government then tried to downplay the significance of its admission, the IOC did the right thing. And that is its most impressive act in 123 years.
As bad as the news is for Russia, it is worse for the Trump administration and its allies. When an organization a bit like the United Nations (except more corrupt) shows some spine when the United States of America can’t, something is terribly wrong.
Rather than standing up to a Russian government that annexes portions of neighboring countries and interferes in democratic elections, Trump instead has been going after ... the FBI.
The FBI is a respected and professional law enforcement agency that initiated an investigation into whether Trump’s team helped Russia meddle in the 2016 presidential election.
His response was to fire FBI Director James Comey and attack the special counsel, Robert Mueller, who was appointed to continue the Russia investigation. In recent weeks, Trump has taken to tweeting nasty things about the FBI, a line of attack his acolytes in Congress have taken up in hearings and in the consideration of contempt of Congress charges against the bureau.
Contrast this to the unequivocal message sent by the IOC, an organization known more for accommodating thuggish governments than staring down hopped-up autocrats.
Some critics say the IOC ban will only help Russia’s nationalist leader, Vladimir Putin, promote himself as the man to restore Soviet-era greatness, even as his crony capitalism is stifling its economy. Whatever hardships Russia faces as the result of its inability to develop industries beyond natural resources, he always blames Western aggression.
One problem with that argument is that the IOC is not a Western organization but a global one. It represents the views of Uganda and Uruguay as well as the United States.
Another is that efforts to reason with Russia, or go soft on its transgressions, simply haven’t worked. In the decades since the end of the Cold War, Germany and other nations have tried to coax Russia into responsible behavior. A thuggish Putin responded by annexing Crimea, cheating in the Olympics, undermining free expression at home, and deploying cyberattacks to influence elections abroad.
Russia is not our friend. It shouldn’t take the International Olympic Committee to teach us that lesson.