CNN just broke this story on their website:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The International Olympic Committee has banned Iraq from competing in the upcoming Summer Olympics games because of what it says is political interference by the government in sports.
An Iraqi Olympic Committee official said the IOC sent letters in Arabic and English confirming the ban.
http://www.cnn.com/...
It's unclear at this time what the "political interference" was. Most, if not all, of the seven athletes planning to represent Iraq in Beijing were training in countries outside of Iraq.
This, following on this morning's news that provincial elections (one of the "benchmarks" for the surge) originally scheduled for October have been pushed to next year, doesn't speak well of the political situation in Iraq, 5+ years after the fall of the Saddam Hussein.
UPDATE: Here is an exerpt from the 6/4/08 IOC's Provisional suspension:
The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided
today to provisionally suspend the Iraqi National Olympic Committee (NOC)
as a consequence of the on-going political interference by the government
within the sports movement in Iraq. This culminated two weeks ago in the
Iraqi Council of Ministers dismissing the NOC and its member federations
and appointing an interim committee chaired by the Minister of Sport: a
clear breach of the NOC's autonomy.
http://www.marathonguide.com/...
As many commenters have pointed out, this is very sad for the athletes and the Iraqi people.