Should U.S. get involved in China's repression of Tibet?

[PaKettle]

Here's the article from NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88251828

[One Half Full]

The US has ignored the plight of Tibet since the 40's. The Dali Lama as a young boy asked FDR for help. It is sad to say,I wish we had become involved, but I guess we owe the chinese too much money now.

[BKOnce]

Sure, rage another war on US tax payers'$$$ then,

Go ahead, make my day! (Clint Eastwood)

[PaKettle]

Sure, rage another war on US tax payers'$$$ then,

Go ahead, make my day! (Clint Eastwood)

Note that I said it should be a U.N. led effort. If the thing in Iraq was a U.N. led effort instead of the U.S. going off as a rogue force, it would not cost us nearly as much and the U.N. would never have agreed to it (did not agree to it!) in the first place, so we wouldn't even be there.

I am 100% against our involvement (and spending trillions of $) in Iraq.

[Bandit]

Terror, Racism, Torture, Hate....all very real human qualities & attributes.

The US or UN is not going to change that government any more than it is going to change Iraq or any other country in those terms. I feel the USA needs to stay at home & fix its own problems. For a communist China to kill tens of thousands while sparing 2, and not think twice is their idea of common courtesy.

Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan...there are problems for sure...

IMO & very strange- China is a bigger threat (in all ways) than any of these arab countries or the USA, which is why you wont see anyone trying to do much.

I do find it interesting to say the least at how something as big & political as the Olympics in the oddest way, has more to offer Tibet than China....It is great how those things work for the good, for the small & less fortunate to give them voice

[kkk1]

I am opposed to Olympic Boycotts for any reason. First, they violate the spirit of what the Olympics are all about. Heck, there was even a Olympics in Nazi Germany, for crying out loud. Second, they don't do any practical good. It would not change China's policy one whit . Third, it seriously hurts the athletes. To be an Olympian is to be the best of the best of the best and many athletes get only one shot at Olympic glory. In an elite athlete's career, four years is a lifetime.

I really and sincerely despise people who support Olympic Boycotts. Their position represents the triumph of self-indulgent feeling over rational common sense.

[kkk1]

IMO & very strange- China is a bigger threat (in all ways) than any of these arab countries or the USA, which is why you wont see anyone trying to do much.

Not strange at all. Bush, Sr was the CIA rep to China for many years. The Bush family has been pro-China since the 70s.

China is bad news for many reasons, and it's good to see India finally getting some US support. While it's by no means perfect, it's far better than China.

[Cali]

I think we should have gotten involved years ago, now I think it will take more than US helping Tibet.

[Bandit]

Not strange at all. Bush, Sr was the CIA rep to China for many years. The Bush family has been pro-China since the 70s.

China is bad news for many reasons, and it's good to see India finally getting some US support. While it's by no means perfect, it's far better than China.

Good points. More pro china than pro usa? Maybe? There is just not enough oil in the USA but we need china to make things cheaper & use poison in our food & keep squashing places like Tibet....but what gain is there in Tibet? I feel it is all about globalization with China & others do not want them expanding on their own economics, leaving the history of it all to the side for a moment. (?)

Those bushes are one paranoid family tree for sure with uncle cheney need sever pruning as in killing the roots.....
I wish there was more law there for terms as vice president & these other offices. that would help stop a lot of the rif raf we keep seeing in the white house & congress.

I don't know the answer but you know when things are not right & for me that is hard to turn face & pretend like all is just fine. I am burning out trying to remember & keep up with it all so will just leave it at that.

[HHM]

Let's be fair, it is not just republicans that are friendly to China.

[SUB]

Let's be fair, it is not just republicans that are friendly to China.

No kidding. It was under Carter China received MFT status. Under Clinton, we really gave away the farm.

[Bandit]

Bush China, Carter China & the Clinton China Coming up next the Obama China...I mean they do want to rule the world above & beyond the USA.

The US is only friendly with China for money. There is no such thing as friends in any of this & it does not matter which party though some individuals have been in the long term are far worse than others. The only friend we have ever been able to turn to in serious times is Great Britain. China & USA being friends/ly like that is never going to happen.
Though they do work well together in recent years for globalizing & crushing the common folk along the way, like Tibet.

[Bandit]

I liked Taiiwans response... Will China do the same thing to us?

[kkk1]

Let's be fair, it is not just republicans that are friendly to China.

Agreed. I did not mean to imply otherwise. I only meant it as an example of why I did not find it shocking that official US policy favored China.

I'd actually argue that in many ways China needs us more than we need them. The Chinese expansion has been fueled by American consumption. That economic expansion has allowed China to distract some of it's citizens from other long-standing problems. If the Chinese economy were to go in the dumps, Tibet would not be the only unhappy campers.

[JRScott]

While I am sympathetic to the plight of the Tibetan Monks the situation is much more complex than you might realize.

China owns a significant portion of the US debt, (Saudia Arabia being another major creditor). While we could interfere they could also unload all their notes which would cause rampant deflation of the dollar and rampant inflation here at home. We are already on the verge of a Great Depression and this would certainly send us over the precipice.

Diplomatic solutions are probably the only thing we can do. We cannot afford a war with China, who's military is far more modern than anyone we've fought in the last 30 years. A war would mean a draft, because we simply could not field enough soldiers without one. It would also mean ever increasing war spending. Right now our nation's finances are stretched to the max. Our politicians have weakened us by increasing the national debt to such levels. We don't have the freedom to act that we truly need.

I do hope the State Department will make some sort of diplomatic overture but I don't see anything beyond that happening.