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Of course we all know Dr. Rice is a sports fan, but we question the effectiveness of spending taxpayer money on these kinds of "free trip to America" programs. From AP via the South Bend Tribune, with thanks to Eschwapp.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Three Indiana universities are helping Kyrgyzstan fight radical Islam with sports.Ten coaches from the central Asian nation have attended classes on leadership, sportsmanship and tolerance at Purdue and Indiana universities and at Notre Dame as part of a State Department-funded program called the Indiana Sports Project for Osh Regional Tolerance, or ISPORT.
"Sports never discriminates between nationalities or religious beliefs," basketball coach Sergei Chupakhin said through a translator. The group spent Thursday and Friday on the Purdue campus in West Lafayette.
Osh lies in the southwest of the predominantly Muslim nation, which has endured several episodes of violence since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Its former regime was ousted in March, and Kyrgyzstan struggles with multiethnic disputes, as well as economic, employment and environmental problems.
"The country's youth, who now make up about 50 percent of the population, are especially vulnerable to ethnic prejudice, conflict and violence, as well as recruitment for radical militant groups," said Donald W. Mitchell, a Purdue philosophy professor and director of the Indiana Center for Cultural Exchange, a co-sponsor of the ISPORT project.
When the coaches return to Kyrgyzstan, they will work with another ISPORT co-sponsor, Mercy Corps, to train more coaches to build youth sports leagues with local sports academies, public schools, orphanages and Muslim schools. Mercy Corps is funded by U.S. Agency for International Development...
Posted by Rebecca at August 7, 2005 9:39 AM
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Hmm I'm irritated that we would send more tax dollars to another defunct nation for "please like us programs". I hope this doesn't go on indefinitely. There are so many better uses for the money here at home.
Posted by: Laurel![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 7, 2005 10:06 AM
A better idea would be to push for more Christian missionary activity. There's been a small, quiet, but nonetheless real emergence of Evangelical Christianity among the former USSR Turkic peoples since 1991. If Kyrgyzia went Christian, it would be a great place for skiing--they have little save mountains there.
at August 7, 2005 10:12 AM
I wonder how the soccer players from Uday's former team feel about sports and terror not mixing?
Posted by: Infidel One at August 8, 2005 2:33 AM
"Sports never discriminates between nationalities or religious beliefs," basketball coach Sergei Chupakhin said through a translator.
That's a laugh, haha. "Sports" never discriminates, People do. Remember the Iranian Judo fighter's refusal to compete with an Israeli opponent at the 2004 Olympics?
Misguided people. Sports overcoming religiously obligated Jihad. Sounds more like a Leno skit.
Posted by: Jsingleton at August 8, 2005 8:41 AM
Oh and read that whole Wiki article... esp the last sentence of para 2:
Tehran's mayor Mahmood Ahmadi Nejad said that though Miresmaeili "did not get a gold medal, he earned eternal honor by his refusal".
Ahmadi Nejad, now Iranian Premier!
at August 8, 2005 8:45 AM
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