News and Views on Tibet

U.S. would earn respect if consistent in attack on tyranny

Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter

Letter to the Editor

The US policy toward Iraq is an example of hypocrisy in action. Among the reasons put forward in favour of invasion, US President George W. Bush has stressed the need to free the Iraqi people from the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein. But since the war debate started, has the White House uttered a single word about the horrendous treatment that the Tibetans have undergone and continue to live through?

While it is true that some Iraqis have suffered, they do live in a nation where citizens can purchase guns. While no one doubts that individual Iraqis have been victims of state-sponsored terror and that the Kurds and Marsh Arabs have been singled out for indiscriminate killings, the Tibetans have had their country annexed by China. Worse still, the Chinese have murdered more than one million Tibetans, destroyed more than 6,000 monasteries and slowly but surely are destroying the culture of Tibet.

Furthermore, the Chinese are displacing the Tibetans by settling millions of Han Chinese in the country – effectively turning the Tibetans into a minority in their own land.

The land has been treated just as badly as the people: pristine rivers have been polluted; vast tracts of land have been poisoned.

This is a clear case of genocide, but Bush has been silent on this matter. Considering that the Tibetans, Cambodians, East Timorese and Guatemalans have suffered grievous losses while the US remained silent and could have taken action, is it not insulting to those who perished under brutal dictatorships to have Bush moan on ad nauseam about the treatment meted out to the Iraqis?

I am no fan of Saddam, a feeling that is shared by many who oppose the war, but when a nation that has blood on its hands uses the excuse of bringing liberty to the oppressed people, one has to question its motives.

While China kills and tortures its citizens, the US has gone out of its way to extend favourable trade status to this nation.

Many opponents of this war have been using the phrase, “No blood for oil.” It seems that the US and Canada have had no problem ignoring the blood and reaping the profits of trade with China.

One could have a lot more respect for the US and even support the war if Bush stood up for principle and told the world that tyranny will no longer be considered acceptable behaviour by governments. To do this, all he has to do is call for an international economic boycott of china until it fully withdraws from Tibet and restores its independence. There would be serious economic costs, and many nations would ignore it, but it would also show that nations such as the US and Britain have some moral fibre.

Irwin Rapoport
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *