2012 Olympics: Kabul. Baghdad. London. Three to avoid this summer | Simon Jenkins

The missile batteries, fighter jets and VIP lanes are what happens when a world agency blackmails a city aching for prestige

There seems to be no limit to the efforts of Lord Coe and his friends at the International Olympic Committee to bring this summer's London Games into ridicule and contempt. A week-long "military exercise" is currently under way in the capital. RAF Typhoon jets are to scream back and forth over the Thames. Starstreak surface-to-air missile batteries are being set up...