USOC asks Bush campaign to pull television ad

Bassim Abbas (left) and Iraq will play for the bronze medal on Friday -- it would be the country's first medal in 44 years. Nick Laham/Getty Images SI.com's Grant Wahl The Iraqi soccer team is angry with President Bush for using the Iraqi Olympic team in his re-election campaign ads. • FULL STORY •Wahl: No misinterpretation of Iraqi players' anger

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The U.S. Olympic Committee has asked President Bush's re-election campaign to pull a television ad that mentions the Olympics.

The USOC is awaiting a response from the re-election campaign, committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said Thursday.

The ad shows a swimmer and the flags of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"In 1972, there were 40 democracies in the world. Today, 120," an announcer says. "Freedom is spreading throughout the world like a sunrise. And this Olympics there will be two more free nations. And two fewer terrorist regimes."

Some of the players on the Iraqi Olympic soccer team have complained about the ad appearing as part of a political campaign.

Campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said last week there were no plans to pull the ad.

"We are on firm legal ground to mention the Olympics and make a factual point in a political advertisement," Stanzel said.

The International Olympic Committee and the USOC have the authority to regulate the use of anything involving the Olympics.

An act of Congress, last revised in 1999, grants the USOC exclusive rights to such terms as "Olympic," derivatives such as "Olympiad" and the five interlocking rings. It also specifically says the organization "shall be nonpolitical and may not promote the candidacy of an individual seeking public office."