19 Dec 2005
The Restless Children of the Dalai Lama

Tibetan FlagNonviolence only works when the target is a moral entity - if Germany had been the colonial power in India, Mahatma Gandhi would've been at the end of a rope before Hitler got settled into the Chancellors office. Can you imagine the scene if the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto had gathered and sang "We Shall Overcome" to the stormtroopers?

Non-violent protest depends on public opinion - where public opinion is controlled or denied, non-violence is useless. In fact, the path the Tibetan leadership has chosen thus far to oppose Chinese occupation of their country, along with the lackluster response of the Western powers at it's beginning has virtually guaranteed the emergence of a "Jewish-Palestinian" problem in central Asia a hundred years hence. Mark my words, circumstances have conspired to make the Himalayan plateau the "Middle East" of the 22nd century.

A new generation of Tibetan militants no longer sees nonviolence as the only path to independence from China. What will they do to free Tibet?

(link) [NYT > Home Page]

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