by Ron Thaniel
April 29, 2002

As the nation and world rebound from the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th, Salt Lake City Mayor Ross "Rocky" C. Anderson and Athens Greece Mayor Dimitris L. Avramopoulos vowed not to allow the atmosphere of terrorism impact future global events including the Olympics scheduled in Athens Greece in 2004.

Noting that terrorism is an international problem he strongly urged international communities to define the origin of the problem. Poverty and poor living conditions breed this activity and he urged mayors internationally to address these social ills.

Before congratulating Salt Lake City Mayor Anderson for his "excellent organization of the games", Avramopoulos noted, "the most serious threat the world is facing is international terrorism". The Mayor said that international terrorism struck not only at economy but also political structures."

Avramopoulos noted, "while terrorism is global in cause, the impact of their consequences is most acutely felt at the local level. It is not therefore surprising that more and more people are looking towards the city as a vehicle of hope, peace, and democracy."

Describing Athens as, the historical capital of Europe and cradle of democracy and Olympism, Mayor Avramopoulos noted "Athens is the symbol of freedom and the conscience of the civilized world."

Both mayors stressed that the very meaning of the Olympics is at odds to terrorism. Anderson said that the "Olympics stand for inclusiveness and goodwill."

Anderson further noted that greatest challenge to the Olympics was providing security.

Providing insight into the extensive security measures, Anderson noted that during the games there was in place a 45-mile radius airspace restriction zone around Salt Lake City. All small aircraft needed special clearance to land there, and they first had to travel to one of four nearby gateway airports and undergo security sweeps.

Security measures on the ground were just as tight. The Winter Olympic Games were the biggest international sporting event held since the September 11th terrorist attacks and had the largest security presence ever for an Olympic games.

There were more than 5,600 military personnel, both active duty and Army National Guard, to protect the Games. By contrast, there are 2,000 athletes and about 3,000 U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.

Underscoring the military aspects of the effort, there were thousands of FBI, Secret Service, Utah State Police and EMS monitoring all aspects of this international sporting even. Six weeks prior to the games, Salt Lake City's airport was at 100 percent screening for explosives—the only airport in the nation to reach the 100 percent screening requirement as required by the new aviation screening law.

Anderson noted that the 2002 games were following the horrific acts of terrorism beginning with September 11 and followed by the Anthrax terrorist acts.

In closing, Anderson stressed, "we must commitment to hold these sort of events. We will never be intimidated."