4 1 Today January 20 1980 U S President Jimmy Carter gave an ultimatum He demanded that our Soviet military leave Afghanistan by February 20 If we don’t the U S team will boycott the Summer Olympics here in Moscow I understand the final decision to boycott will come from the United States Olympic Committee USOC It is the organization Vladimir Pilkov Soviet Swimmer
5 that makes decisions for the United States about participation in the Olympics But I cannot imagine the USOC would go against the will of the president And our government does not give in to threats So it seems certain the Americans will stay home I follow politics quite closely On December 24 1979 Soviet troops marched into Afghanistan Our leaders told us that it was to help the new Communist government there But I don’t fully believe that Our government runs the media So we usually don’t get the full story I believe we invaded the country to match the U S presence in nearby Pakistan Our country also wants to get valuable oil in the Persian Gulf The invasion of Afghanistan has increased the tension between my country and the United States The two countries have been battling to secure political and economic influence in the world since the end of World War II in 1945 My country has tried to convert other countries to Communism The Americans
6 seem to be deeply against Communism They try to prevent it from spreading The Americans want to make capitalism the top economic system This period has been called a cold war between the two countries President Carter asked U S athletes to support the Olympic boycott
I might not always agree with the decisions my government makes But I don’t agree with this decision by the Americans This is especially true when I think about 1936 That was the year Nazi Germany hosted the Summer Olympics German dictator Adolf Hitler and his Nazi government were some of the most brutal leaders in history The Americans knew the Nazis were mistreating the Jews of Germany There were many people in the United States who wanted their country to boycott the Olympics But the athletes participated Nazi Germans eventually killed 6 million Jews during World War II That is obviously much worse than what my country has done U S athletes went to Nazi Germany But they will not come to Moscow because we are in Afghanistan It is outrageous Some people in my country believe being chosen to host the Olympics is in recognition of our good foreign policy But the International Olympic 7
