""Why is the torch even passing through here? I guess I don't care enough to find out.""

This sentiment captures whats commonly called 'American Apathy' !!

Too bad there isn't as much interest in protesting the sorry human rights record of the U.S. government.

Watch out for Agents Provocateurs!

I'm sure that the Chinese know it isn't just a Canadian phenomenon - or French or English.

While I don't approve of any country's occupation of another, Americans are hardly in a position to protest China's presence in Tibet.

How about Freeing Palestine, Iraq, Puerto Rico, or the many Satrapies be back?

This is so sad to see. The Olympic Games. The competition of the greatest athletes known in the world. People have spent their entire lives dreaming of the chance to participate in the games. The atletes deserve the deepest respect and admiration.
First the contracts and advertising got involved which tarnished the great image that it stood for. Now politics has reached it's grimy, grubby hands into the games. China has a screwed up methodology for dealing with public affairs and has failed miserably at sponsoring the event. So they send the torch to a nation involved in war crimes and gross human rights violations. (That was smart) The US has a morally and ethically corrupt government. Sending the torch to the US because of human rights violations is like eating chicken instead of meat.
The Olympic Games is a fantastic event that truly brings nations together in athletic competition. It deserves much better.

"Holy Torch" my-ass...
This is SO comical...as if the modern Olympics were all-about 'Peace, and International Co-operations'...
Please.
[If it were, China and the US would have 'no place in it', period -- nor would most-other of its Participants]
It's all about Fanning-Nationalism (of the worst-sort -- and for now-Capitalistic Propaganda purposes, and Profits). Any REAL celebration of Nationalistic-Diversity and Human-Cooperation is what it SHOULD be about, I suppose (but, 'competitive Sports' does NOT lend itself to those-Goals, anyhoo -- they just encourage Militaristic-conquest/behaviors).
Screw the Olympics -- and its Torch.
I don't even know anyone who ever watches-them (much-less actually GOES to one...!).
[yawn] Who 'cares'?

The IOC was stupid to ignore China's myriad problems and award the Games to Beijing in the first place, but intellect has never been the IOC's stock-in-trade. Now that China's occupation of Tibet has become world news and the Olympics a convenient target, the IOC is facing the consequences of their ill-advised decision. But, as always, they'll steadfastly support their poor choices.

Once again, as in 1980 and 1984, the athletes will be the ones who suffer from bad decisions and bad politics, while none of the protested situations will change an iota.

The occupation of Tibet is not the occupation of one country by another unless you accept the europeans deciding that Tibet should no longer be part of China, which is what happened. At one point the colonialists thought they owned China. Tibet is part of China according to the United Nations. The same is true for Taiwan. For the invasion of Iraq and 1 million killed, however, there is absolutely no excuse.

The latinos came out en masse to protest immigration laws and defend their turf. The chinese are coming out en masse to support Beijing. Is anybody interested in supporting the rule of law in the US or is this too much to ask? I can imagine americans going out en masse against abortion, in favor of the rights of gays, and against seal hunting. But I cannot imagine Americans ever being motivated to defend justice and the law in this country. This is totally pathetic. What the hell is wrong with us?

There is plenty of stupidity to go around regarding this. The IOC was greedy and went for Beijing despite the problems political and environmental. The Chinese badly miscalculated and ignored the IOC's advice to keep the Olympic Flame relay in their country. Now they have this entirely preventable situation on their hands and have probably suffered close to the most for it (Tibetans will probably get the worst in Chinese reprisals) because of the East Asian cultural concept of the "loss of face." Though the Tibetans are generally the losers in this, they have won one thing quite resoundingly: the Public Relations battle.

Me also too: Who cares about the Olympics?

The world does. The people of the world actually have a feeling for one another, its just that the US does not. For Americans the olympics are just about winning, for the world it is an opportunity to participate in a collective world endeavour. I imagine you don't give a damn about the world cup either. Well, the people of the world care about the world cup, it is you they don't care for.

BTW: I should explain that the world cup refers to soccer, and unlike the "world" series involves the whole world.

Fooled again! The heat is off for demonstrations against American empire and its human rights abuses.

The CIA trained the Tibetan freedom fighters at a training camp at Leadville, Colorado, in the 1950's.

Bush met with the Dalai Lama several months ago at the White House (no photos).

There was a heart-warming Pelosi/Dalai Lama propaganda stunt recently at Darmshala, India. Pelosi said "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world."

The OUT OF IRAQ signs have been replaced by FREE TIBET!

Good job American Empire/CIA/George/Nancy/Barbara!

but Barbara, how did they get to you? You have been so solid...

Ai, yi yi. Much to be angry about here. China clamping down on Tibet? Angry! Protesters in places like the UK and the US getting all self righteous and calling the kettle black? Angry!

Protestors ASSAULTING innocent torch-bearers in the name of non-violence? Very Angry!!

The stinkin' Blue Pill Media running this up the flag pole for everyone to salute, out of all the protests over the last decade? Angry! Where was the Blue Pill Media when people were protesting the ongoing human rights violations commitied by english-speaking nations? People accusing the Chinese rulers of keeping their people in the dark with misinformation and disinformation? Angry!

That people in Tibet are suffering? Angry! That most of the protesters are easily dismissed as being from countries with less-than-perfect human rights records? Angry! That pro-Chinese counter-protesters have been disappeared by the Blue Pill Media? Angry!

That kids who've devoted their lives to the pursuit of excellence and can't even vote get this stuffed down their throats? Angry!

Times like this, I can see the appeal of the Republikan/Konservative black-or-white yay-team mindset. Must be kinda blissful.

These events can be seen as metaphorical for geopolitics. It wouldn't be the first time either.

We see warmongering hypocrites, we see totalitarian brutality, we see our shared humanity, which the olympic games supposedly celebrates, being commodified while greedy psychospiritual throwbacks run the corporations and the governments, which have essentially become synonymous.

The imminent collapse of the US economy is an interesting part of the backdrop for this bit of theater called the olympics, with wars raging and ecosystems crashing...it's going to be an interesting summer!

The feats of Olympic athletes are impressive. However, the Olympic games comprise a modern-day pinnacle of competition fueled ego gratification. They are similar to the original Olympic games in name only. Today, they are about money as much as athletic prowess. In fact, given the quantities of cash involved in venue selection and preparation, media rights, sponsorships, and financial rewards for the winners, it might easily be said that the games have become motivated by greed as much as by anything else. I feel little sympathy for the egocentric, competition fueled athletes who find their own gratification so much more important than human rights. Nor do I see how anyone in their right mind can equate the disappointment of said athletes with being shot at by Chinese military or police simply for demanding their little bit of freedom.

This shows the arrogance and stupidity of America. The country that invades and destroys Iraq and tortures people without qualms now is on its moral crusade lecturing another country on how it treats people. The United States has no moral authority to tell anyone how to treat people.

"No force will disrupt the torch relay," said Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing organizing committee.

It seems to me the last thing the protesters want is for China's international airing of dirty laundry to be disrupted. No sir. Keep that torch going. Maybe even run it back through London again. Don't let em break your spirit, guys.

When it comes to embarrassing a huge, brittle country with a nasty human rights record, no force is necessary.

"countess", pray do not equate the arrogance and stupidity of the current US administration with the wishes and sentiments of the estimated 70% of the country who disagrees with their activities. For myself, I damned well do have the moral authority to tell others, including yourself and our own pathetic administration, how to treat people.

countess - I would agree with you that Americans have no moral authority to lecture anybody about human rights. That would be true if the real nations of the world were still boundaried territories each containing a single, homogeneous tribe. But nations are increasingly non-localized today. Exxon and General Electric are nations. al Qaeda is a nation. Human rights protesters are a nation. The people scolding China in San Francisco are not speaking for America, they are speaking for the nation of common decency. They are the same people who scold their "own" country for Guantanamo. There is no hypocrisy or arrogance in that. That we find common cause with others on a global scale is an interesting and even hopeful phenomenon.

Catch and vox -
I think you are reading too deep into the comment. Countess says "The United States has no moral authority to tell anyone how to treat people."
This is due to the fact that our 'elected' president speaks for this nation. He does not speak for you or I but for the 'American Collective'. His actions and his words are the global perceived voice of America. Sad but true.
America, as seen through the eyes of the rest of the word, is a selfish, immature, belligerant, mentally challenged, aggressive bully. If you or I stepped off a plane in another country and said we were American, the average native would see us like that. Our greeting is likely to be met with contempt.
It makes no difference that we are rational, benevolent people that are embarassed and appalled at the current adminstration. We have to work to regain our honor before we'll have any credibility. So right now, I agree with Countess. We have no moral authority, credibility, plausibility, or right to tell others how to treat people because we are Americans.

I was in San Francisco recently and saw no protests of any kind-even though we were bombing Iraq into dust....

Only quiet in the streets. Now this circus.

If I were the PRC I'd hem and haw then the day before the Olympics were to begin, hang out a sign saying 'event canceled.'

Then I would turn around and decimate these CIA trained and funded filth.

And I'd send a hit team after their head creep.

This is such an important subject, after reading it, I think I'll go puke.

" Then I would turn around and decimate these CIA trained and funded filth.

And I'd send a hit team after their head creep."

don't feed the troll/provacateur/whoever. there were protests in SF recently.

Dalai is a sad joke and so are his supporters. When Dalai and his monks were in charge in Tibet, there was no human rights, no democracy, no freedom of anything, least of all speech and religion, and the ordinary people were slaves. Dalai was a god. What kind of Buddhism is that? The Buddha himself who declared that he was not a god would turn in his grave. Tibetans were not universally peaceful and are not now as can be seen from the riots. The lamas killed each other for power, the red hats and the black hats vie for material possession, and if a serf escaped, the ruling lamas and aristocrats would condemn his neighbors. Of course the monks want the old life back, why do you think they are the ones protesting? Did anybody ask the ordinary Tibetans, most of whom have become wealthy and independent of the lama ruling class? When the PLA entered Tibet in 1950, Dalai went to Beijing to sign an agreement with the Communist government which decided to keep the peace in Tibet and allowed Dalai and his lama ruling class to maintain their status and privileges. It is now exposed by CIA operatives that Dalai's brother immediately co-operated with CIA to subvert the agreement and started an insurrection. Dalai said later that he did not know his brothers were CIA agents. Since then, his name should be changed to The Lie. Dalai and his brothers actually believed that the US would provide unlimited support, which is another big lie because the US would not dare upset Jiang Kai Shek in Taiwan. Dalai left Tibet in 1959 with the promise of unlimited support from the US and thinking he would be back in a couple of years. He betayed his treaty with the Chinese government, betrayed his country of which he claimed to be a part, and he caused the unnecessary deaths of many of his countrymen as well as many Chinese soldiers and communist cadres. In America, he would have been tried and hung. When he later found out the US would only pay him a fix salary to speak badly of China, while his beloved US-trained native insurgents were slaughtered by the PLA, he realized that he was duped and started developing his peaceful holiness. I'm sure Dalai can be generously giving his people freedom and peace when he has in fact lost everything right to give those things. So China went and developed Tibet. Is that bad? Are roads bad? Are hospitals bad? Are schools bad? Are wages for the common people bad? Is wealth for the liberated serfs bad? Is communicating and trading with other people bad? Is tolerating other religions bad? Is getting huge subsidies from the rest of China bad (even while the rest of China was starving)? Is the realization that Dalai is not a god bad? Has anyone asked an ordinary Tibetan? So people complain about the government, who doesn't? Many oridnary Han Chinese would love to be a Tibetan and get all this preferential treatments. Yes there has been suffering in Tibet due to the Cultural Revolution and other government mishaps, but so did the rest of China as well as many prominent communists who contributed life and limb for the estabishment of the new state. Which country has not suffered turmoil in its teething stages? Why not look at what the Chinese and Tibetans have achieved today? To date I have not heard one single reasonable discussion of the facts on the ground from any media anywhere, including the inept Chinese state media. One side yells shame on China, the other yells back shame on Dalai, and no one gets any wiser. The West always has moral superiority in matters relating to China, and if the feelings of the Chinese people are hurt, it's just the devious communists stirring up nationalism again. All lies and how ready we are to believe them. We all like to say how Bush and the main stream media have lied the American people into war, but they would never lie about an important issue like China and Tibet now, would they? I get a desparate feeling that humanity is drowning in a sea of ignorance, and that is no good, because ignorance is the true root of all evils.

There are many ways to participate in a "collective world endeavour". Competition is one, collaboration and cooperation another. Athletics as exists now is merely a ritualized affirmation of behavior that values hierarchical structuring and self-aggrandizement, namely behavior found in social, political, religious and economic settings on a personal as well as societal level throughout the world today.

TheLorax - Your point is well taken. Bush has dirtied us all, and it will take some doing to get our moral viability back. Still, my brother just got back from three weeks visiting his girlfriend in Paris where he has been making new friends and practicing his terrible French, and whereas foreigners are probably braced for an encounter with our famous arrogance and stupidity when we are first introduced, they are also willing to judge people one on one, as most of us are. That is where our best hope lies, and our only route out of this mess. We need to get out more, so that people like Bush no longer speak for us. The Germans I meet are nothing like their stereotypes, nor are the Mexicans or anybody else. There is a community of intelligence occurring across borders, and a solidarity with people of similar conscience. Europeans hate what Bush has made of America, but they don't hate individual Americans.

As far as our entitlement to speak out against human rights abuses, I think that we are obligated to do that, even if we have no credibility. As bad as things are getting here in this country, our human rights abuses are kindergarten stuff compared to what goes on in China. The hacks that run that country need to know that they are living in an information age, and that they can't just put lipstick on that pig and expect the world to be fooled. I support the protests because they send a message to their leadership that the world doesn't buy their amateur PR. I also support the Olympic Games to the extent that they provide a venue for individual Chinese and the rest of us to get together. But as a spectacle designed to impress us with their glorious political system it is a waste of their time and ours.

Wouldn't it be nice if this sort of enthusiasm was seen promoting the cause of Palestine; a conflict directly related to US policy and to it's citizens who are paying the bills?

Okeeeee, I've narrowed my anger down a bit. All day the Blue Pill Media is saying, oh big protest here! There's a big protest here! Gotta see this big protest here! People are coming out to protest! Look at the protest! What a protest! So the protest grows and more people come! Check out this protest!

Yup, this is some sight different than when people were protesting the policies of white anglo guys. People arranged the protests, Blue Pill Media says nothing. People come to the protests, Blue Pill Media says nothing. The protest comes, the protest goes, Blue Pill Media says nothing. Most people have no idea there was a protest. They might have gone, had they knew, had the thing been so hyped by the Blue Pill Media. Today, everyone knows, more people are going, and the whole thing is big and colourful and sponsored by the usual industries like some kind of reality show.

I'm still angry about the plight of the Tibetans, and the assault of these poor kids. But the BPM's what I wanna rant about.

Where the hell is the ring of truth, in the five ?
Namaste

The Lorax: This is not a criticism. I have seen your posts and see where you stand and have respect for your positions. But your post got me thinking. You said: The greatest athletes in the world.... they have spent their entire lives dreaming of participating...the athletes deserve the greatest respect and admiration..

I find this choice of words peculiar but common. The competition tries to establish who is the best at a given event, not the greatest. The atheletes are mostly teenagers or in their early twenties so what does it mean that they have spent their whole lives dreaming? They have barely lived at all. Finally, the deepest admiration and rerspect for what? Running faster? It is just a game. There is no need for deep respect and admiration for these athletes. It's just sports. Fun. This reminds me of the glorification of sports figures in the US, mostly millionaires with bad behavior who then "disappoint" the children who hold them as role models. Well, athletes are hardly good role models. Of course, militaristic societies (e.g. Hitler) give so much importance to beating the others that sports becomes terribly important. Let's not get carried away. You aren't great because nobody was faster than you that day, you are simply the best on that day. Not one single white man has run the 100 meters under 10 seconds. Does that mean black athletes are great? No, it means that they are faster for biological reasons. That is hardly greatness, it is even shameful, since it comes from eugenics practiced on slaves, and a reminder of the cruelty of slavery. The US takes credit for this. When these athletes protested racism in Mexico they were condemned and punished. To me, those fists in a black glove held above the head is greatness. This I do admire and greatly respect. Do you remember?

It's called intolerance and racism. That's what you get in the U.S.

During the last Winter Olympics, the Olympic torch was a target because of other issues, including the sponsorship of the Olympics by The Coca-Cola Co., a company committing labor, human rights and environmental abuses throughout the world (see www.killercoke.org).

I attended the Coca-Cola annual shareholders meeting in 2004 and every year since. B. Wardlaw, a very large shareholder of Coke stock, presented a proposal for the third consecutive year for Coke to use its influence to try to end human rights abuses in China. The resolution was opposed by Coke's CEO and its Board of Directors for three consecutive years and voted down each year. Next week, B. and the Campaign will again go to the shareholders meeting to try to pressure Coke to end labor and human rights abuses in their bottling plants in Colombia.

Here is an excerpt from B. Wardlaw's remarks at the 2004 shareholders meeting:

"As far as my proposal on China business principles...I introduced this proposal because I, along with many other socially conscious shareholders, are concerned about Coke, its reputation and its share price. As I've said here the last two years, we seem to be heading toward a possible public relations calamity in China...The Olympics are coming to China in 2008 in Beijing. This is a moment where Coca-Cola is going to be highlighted because of our close involvement with the Olympics...I think what is happening, is that we are still not, as a company, paying enough attention to what could happen in China. Every human rights abuse possible has been committed in China..."

Vox Clamantis: This is a criticism. Our human rights violations are kindergarten stuff compared to the Chinese? I strongly object and hold you in contempt. You should apologize and stop perpetuating the image of the stupid american.

eine stime: I agree with you 100%. It is, nonetheless, a collective world endeavor. How one feels about it is another matter. Your point is very well taken.

To bash China for its admittedly abysmal human rights record while ignoring Israel's ethnic cleansing program in Palestine is hypocrisy of the rankest order.
Almost every Zionist/Israeli leader, from Herzl to Olmert, has openly advocated "transfer" of the Palestinians, which is simply an Israeli euphemism for ethnic cleansing. One has not heard Chinese leaders calling for the transfer of Tibetans beyond the Himalayas.
Israel wants a purely Jewish nation undefiled by inferior Arabs. Where else in the past century did we hear such talk.
ISRAEL, ISRAEL, UEBER ALLES!!

All sorts of intense opinions here !

I wonder how many people posting have spent real time around the Tibetans ?

For an American to support Tibetan freedom and cultural preservation has little to do with the brutal history of America or our present day crimes around the world.

But a useful approach to global issues is to do something every day in some way to make the world an improved place.

A person's position on Tibetan freedom is a matter of conscience and ethics. Every individual has the right to take a stand on what issues are close to one's heart and mind.

After spending nearly a year living with and working with Tibetans in India and Nepal (after traveling around the world) I found them to be the kindest and most civilized people on earth. I thank them for that experience.

What I would like to call the "Tibetan reality" is directly related to the ancient Buddhist culture which was preserved in greater depth in Tibet than anywhere else on earth, that is, prior to the Chinese invasion and occupation.

They have much to offer the rest of the world and need our support.

One way to take a stand is to BOYCOTT THE BEIJING OLYMPICS, ALL CHINESE PRODUCTS AND THE PRODUCTS OF OLYMPIC SPONSORS !

KEEP YOUR KARMA CLEAN !

As someone who has been involved in the Tibet issue for many, many years it is very heartening to see that this issue is still very much alive. As an undergraduate in Asian Studies I wrote a thesis on the historical relations between Tibet and China. I read the sources for both the pro-independence side and the PRC side claiming that Tibet has always been a part of China. I weighed the evidence and came to the only conclusion a reasonable person can come to: Tibet was a free land, a buddhist theocracy for centuries. China, as a stronger country, was able to force Tibet to be a "tributary" but only at the times when dynasties happened to be strong. The rest of the time Tibet was left to its own devices. Tibet was NEVER, NEVER an integral part of China. Tibet deserves independence or real autonomy, and it doesn't matter if there was a feudal system there up until 1950. It should be up the Tibetans to decide what happens to their own country. China's current approach is doomed to fail totally because the Dalai Lama enjoys the good will of millions of people all over the planet. When they slander him they show themselves to be corrupt and unworthy of respect.

It's a shame to me that the Olympic torch is the target of protests, instead of our Capitol in DC.

Perhaps KEM, that's the answer to my question above (about where is the ring of truth, with the 5 rings)

The limelight of attention upon the torch, might bring the light of real truth into people's perception.

The torch would likely not stay lit in DC, with so much darkness there. Don't you think?

Namaste

What does the Olympic torch in the USA mean? It means: The torch of the fossil flame shall burn forever! May the beast capital dominate people forever! Law of the jungle! Might makes right! Beacon of death!

The Olympics should not be exploited for commerce, politics or anything else. The atheletes should renounce "laissez-faire", "neoliberal" capitalism, and walk out of the games at the last minute, and join in participation in an alter-Olympics, a non-commercial version.

Looks like SF authorities played hide and seek with the flame, "look, here it is, follow us......ha ha now it's over here... catch us if you can.....bye bye, that was fun.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone... glass houses come to mind

Thank you Bakunin. I have been stressed and dismayed at the attempt to denigrate the Dalai Lama who has called for non-violence in this situation, who has offered to talk to the Chinese authorities. I am not a sophisticated person and can only go by what my heart and conscience tell me. But I did read about China's invasion of Tibet after the 1949 revolution and the 10 point agreement reached between Tibet and China and my interpretation was that Tibet was to be autonomous. Why would someone assume that just because I follow my conscience about the situation between Tibet and China that I do not also follow my conscience about the Iraq war,what went on at Abu Graib, what goes on at Guantanamo, my governments childish refusal to talk to Cuba, my governments childish attitude toward Chavez of Venezuela, my government's ignoring the fact that the majority of the perpetrators of 9-11 were from Saudi Arabia and yet my government is friendly with the Saudi elite? There have I covered enough territory yet in order in this one instance to say that I protest the Chinese Government's treatment of the people of Tibet?

Jaded Prole said:
"While I don't approve of any country's occupation of another, Americans are hardly in a position to protest China's presence in Tibet."

What a dumb thing to say. Americans have protested their own government's occupation in Iraq as well as its treatment of its own citizens. To say that the citizens of a corrupt government don't have the right to protest another government's treatment of human beings is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And by the way, I went to the protests and there were lots of Tibetans, and all of them appreciated the support of the American people.

One more thing - Olympic Torch relay - started by Hitler, 1936 Berlin Olympics. Scary coincidence here.

Yes China would like to pretend that a Tibetan is a chinese. China's leaders would pretend that they are saintly and kind and no one should have the need to ever question anything they decide.

Previously we have heard 'appeasement' bandied about by the right but folks hear it is for real. China is big, aggressive and powerful, appeasement seems the order of the day.

One commenter completely ignored Tibetans' right to be themselves and NOT be homogenized by the neo-capitalist cultural revolution which is steam rolling over the Tibet. Tibetans have the right to be whatever they would like to be. Historically, Tibetan culture has a world identity.

China says Tibet belongs to China and never mentions that the Tibetan culture, language and history belongs to the Tibetans.

The world has the right to speak up. speak out about China's use of power to achieve their aims. The games are an international venue which carries an implied statement of participatory acceptance of political realities. To say nothing concerning concerning China's treatment of Tibet can also be used by the Chinese later to claim - "See there was no real objection to what China does, therefore that is accepted by the world.

However the world is telling China the opposite. The rest of the world is saying to China that Tibet's culture is part of the world's culture. There are many who wish to be appeasers towards aggression but as China sees, people around the world cannot be controlled by China's authoritarian government.

WHy should the rich culture, history and identity of Tibet be swallowed up and homogenized by the Capitalist Cultural Revolution ... and obey orders?

China won't like it if they can't do what they want ...you don't want to make them mad? Eh appeasers?

Oh and by the way... best get used to it if China has it's way on Tibet. Best get used to appeasing a world power who is getting used to getting it's way.

Tibetan culture is a world heritage.

It is amazing that otherwise critical thinking "progressives" (on issues like Iraq, war on terror, US global hegemony, etc.) would so easily give in to Western propaganda and deliberate media distortions on this issue. (Why hasn't CD publish an article detailing the deliberate Western media falsifications concerning the recent riots in Lhasa?). I realize that the demonization of China by the West began the moment the PRC was born and is so ingrained into the American psyche that it is as natural as the air you breathe. It is just so sad to see progressives uncritically caving into Western propaganda and indoctrination.

http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2/548693230?page=NewsArticle&id=8845&news_iv_ctrl=1261

"Many U.S. progressives and liberals are supporting the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan opposition to the People's Republic of China. So are George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh, the CIA, and every pro-imperialist government and media outlet. The vast majority of the peoples of China, including many in Tibet, oppose the U.S.-supported separatist movement.

How could progressive people be on the same side as Bush, the CIA and the ultra-right? How do we explain the paradox of progressive people supporting a movement that is financed and supported by the proponents of the U.S. empire, as well as by all the other old European colonial powers that divided, humiliated and looted China for a full century prior to the 1949 revolution?

This riddle is solved by appreciating the impact of the effective CIA propaganda supporting the Dalai Lama and the old Tibetan ruling class, which lost its power, privileges, serfs and slaves because of the Chinese Revolution. This propaganda is echoed in the Western media constantly and has affected liberal public opinion.

The National Endowment for Democracy funds the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan opposition. It also funds or funded the pro-U.S. opposition to Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, the fascist opposition to former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the opposition to the Cuban Revolution. The NED also funded Ronald Reagan's contra war against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

From 1995 to 2005, the NED gave $2,047,479 to opposition Tibetan publications, radio stations, organizations and other institutes.

The Dalai Lama has a long history of working closely with the U.S. government. In fact, he and his supporters have been on the CIA payroll since the 1950s.

The International Campaign for Tibet, the Tibet Fund, the Tibet Voice Project, the Tibet Information Network, the Tibetan Literary Society, the Tibetan Review Trust Society and the Voice of Tibet all advance the progressive-sounding call for a "Free Tibet." They are all funded by the NED, which is itself funded by the U.S. State Department and the CIA.

According to historian Allen Weinstein, "A lot of what [the NED does] today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." Weinstein helped draft the legislation that created the NED. (1)

Many progressives in the United States believe that Tibet is severely oppressed by the government of the People's Republic of China. They have been convinced that the Dalai Lama is a man of peace who has been ruthlessly suppressed by China, and that he has the allegiance of nearly all Tibetans. Most of these individuals sincerely believe in the right of self-determination and believe that the People's Republic of China has violated this right.

Among this sector of liberal and progressive opinion, the reflex to any struggle between China and what they perceive to be the Tibetan people as a whole is to express profound solidarity with those they consider to be the oppressed. But this view obscures the essential social and class dynamic in Tibet. Influenced by a false conception, people who should know better lose their critical faculties.

Knowing that George W. Bush is an imperialist criminal, one must pause and ponder the question: Why did Bush award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama in a highly publicized White House ceremony in 2007? Bush would never conduct such a ceremony for a genuinely progressive person. Bush views the Dalai Lama in much the same way he viewed Ahmed Chalabi before the invasion of Iraq—as a useful tool for the U.S. empire.

Demonization campaign a prelude to imperialist intervention

The demonization of China is in full swing now. Demonization is the imperialists' preferred tool to delegitimize their targets and prepare the ground for a destabilization campaign and possible military intervention...."

Out of all the mist of USA proganda bullshit, we read a well informed response by a man who is factual. Here is a man who knows !

I will take a different route from all the bullshit that pass for critical thinking. to lessen the lengthy discussion, I will only tabulate my opinion. :
(1)The USA is such a sucker for all the economic migrants that drift into the USA. These Tibetans are mere economic migrants and to justify their illegal entry into the USA pose as political refugees; they are no more genuine refugees than I am a Tibetan. There is an AMERICAN PASSPORT that is s sure WINNER and that is that when you get to the USA say to the immigration officer "i want freedom. i want democracy " and you will be let into the USA. Tibet was a feudal state and the Dalai is the biggest slave owner of all Tibet. It was the Dalai who invited the China to liberate Tibet from serfdom. More than haif of Tibet were serfs who lived in torture and punished by lopping off their hands for very simple misdeeds. Tibetans who live in the USA enjoy a lifestyle that they were ever dreamed off. These Tibetans are no more democrats than I am a American style liberal democrat.

(2) The USA just can't stand it anymore ! The USA just witnessed a third world China in a matter of a mere 20 years over take the USA economically and in geo-politics in Africa-Asia and Latin America. This is so shameful for the Americans so it is just out of jealous RAGE THAT THE USA SPEND BILLIONS TO DEMONIZE CHINA. You in the USA are no more genuine HUMANIST than I am an American. The USA now feels that China has out done the USA in putting the best ever Olympic games so you go out of your way to create CHILDISH disruptions, like little needle pricks. Yes this Olympics is to showcase China and what we can do, but then WHY NOT ?

Both the sentiments of the BOGUS ECONOMIC MIGRANTS AND THE JEALOUS SOLE SUPERPOWER OF THE WORLD just can't take it anymore. You will fail because China is more magnanimous than the both of you put together. SHAME ON THE USA FOR PLAYING CHILDISH GAMES. We will not allow you jealous shits spoil our coming out party !