Posted on 05/30/2004 6:00:12 PM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker
LONDON (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama said on Monday he had been shocked by U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, according to Britain's Guardian newspaper.
"America generally we consider a champion of liberty, justice -- these things -- so then for something such as this to happen, we regard as shocking," said the exiled leader of Tibet's Buddhists.
The aging monk is on a week-long visit to Britain, drawing large crowds to his lectures, but he will not meet Prime Minister Tony Blair.
He said Tibetans had much experience of abuse at the hands of their Chinese occupiers: "A lot of torture, a lot of abuse, sexual abuse."
Chinese troops imposed Communist rule on Tibet in 1950 and the Dalai Lama fled nine years later after a failed uprising. China claims Tibet as part of its territory and accuses the Buddhist monk of separatist activities.
Photographs and videotapes of the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison have battered President Bush's election-year approval ratings, alienated public sentiment in the Arab world and even sparking protests from allies in the U.S.-led coalition.
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05/30/2004 20:20
No. Not even close.
Looks like every holier than thou, pious SOB on planet earth wants to get a lick in.
Hey World! The 280 or so million citizens that make up these United States of America are human beings, just like the rest of you. We have a lot of rules and regulations that most of us adhere to, and a conscience that we listen to, that keeps us from doing in secret, nothing that we would not do in public.
We have a number of weak citizens, a number of evil citizens and our share of people who cannot be trusted or depended upon to do the right thing all the time.
A few of those people that can't be trusted, seem to have wound up together at that prison and have brought shame upon themselves and embarrassed the rest of us. They will be tried and dealt a sentence befitting their actions-that's how we do it here.
We will not allow those who despise America and root for victory by the terrorists, to define American's as a whole by the actions of a few bad apples. The war on terror will be carried on until victory is achieved and terrorists are de-fanged and netralized. Our cause is just, our honor is intact and our course is unalterable.
You are either with us or you are with the terrorists.
In a rare photo, the late Louis Armstrong is seen playing a unique rendition of the famous show tune Hello Dalai. |
This nurse, as were some other American nurses, were recruited to Tibet to teach nursing. She was very up and above board and not a liar. She was a Christian and she was held to very strict rules and regulations. She even had to dress in their style clothing (which she had brought to the luncheon to show us)! She had photos of the homes with the objects (some looked like wind chimes) used to ward off evil or to help women conceive. There is a great deal of witchcraft in Buddhisim to this day. I assure you I have the right country and this was in 1986. I remember it very well as I am not incapacitated and I am not incapacitated now!
That ought to wrap it up. The U.S. sucks the big one I'm going to join a cargo cult in Bali. Sheesh, let's all pile on. Meanwhile hundreds are put to death everyday in the counties high on the UN top-ten favorites list and nobody says a word.
Save your breath.
Buddhism is not Satanic you dolt! The present Dalai Lama is a great man of peace but not when it comes to commenting on US foreign policy. But then neither is the Pope (or whoever is speaking in his name out of the Vatican)
The problem I have with your nurses story is that Tibet has been ruled by China for years, and the Buddhist monks there have been suppressed and even imprisoned for most of their lifetimes.
Any misbehavior of the type she describes would be quickly reported to and punished by the authorities. The Chinese communists would make a big point of publicizing it too, to weaken and discredit the Buddhists. I have seen quite a few "documentaries" produced by the communists alleging just thie kind of thing you describe, BEFORE the modernizing Chinese came.
As for superstitions in Tibet "to this very day", I have no doubt it's true, and I can say the very same thing about the United States of America, where more people that beleive in astrology than in any other system of belief, including Christianity.
You can have a problem with it; while I don't appreciate being called a liar Mr. Valentine - the story is true and I stand by it.
I never meant to call you a liar, and I didn't. I'm sure you know a nurse and she told you stories about her adventures. How you characterize these stories can be mistaken without being a lie. Lying is intentional and often malicious, and I make no such accusation against you.
I do believe that you weren't there nor do you claim to have been. I know for a fact that stories passed from one to another nearly always are transformed in small ways that can add up. Also, memories can evolve over time.
Bhutan or Nepal become Tibet, for example. Maybe she told you about working among Tibetan refugees. Can you swear that this isn't the case?
You also make no mention whatever of when this all took place. That bears very much on the weight the story carries. If this all took place back in the 1930's for example it would mean little as an illustration of life in Tibet today.
And, are you saying that this woman was working as a foreigner in communist China in one of their most sensitive areas where foreigners were not even allowed to travel at all until very recently?
You will have to excuse me for expressing skepticism about the details of your post without immediately taking umbrage and accusing me of calling you a liar.
Signed
Dorje Chotrin
(aka John Valentine)
I stated that the nurse gave her presentation in 1986; she had been there for one year (as was her contract).
http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/~wtv/tibet/history10.html
This person was there in 1988! Here is his excerpt from the Purdue website. As far as I can observe during my trip to Tibet in 1988, there are very few Han in Tibet. In fact, in Tibet (proper), there are only 2 millions people with some 70,000 non-Tibetan (including soldiers). There are at least 10 different subraces in the Greater Tibet (a term not commonly used, including Qinghai, parts of Szechuan and Yunnan, corresponding to Tibet Dynasty). Most of the subraces have been there for tens of centuries and probably were the natives of the land before the Tibetans immigrating to there. Out of a total population of some 13 millions, 3.8 millions (some western writters like to use a figure of 6 millions) are Tibetans , 2 % are Han (somewhere around 200,000 people including soldiers), the rest are Moslems, Mongolians, Turks, Tu, Baiyi, Yi etc. Some propagandists counted them as `Chinese migrations', and concluded wrongly that there were more `Chinese' than Tibetans in the land of Tibet. It was unreasonable to re-build Tibet Dynasty in today's world, just as to re-build a Serb dominating Yugoslavia. This was an irrationality of `Tibet Independent Movement' as proposed which includes Qinghai, parts of Szechuan and Yunnan.
So some people with the right Karma were going and coming from Tibet!
Like this corndog has any credibility whatsoever. This is the same Dolly Llama who was selling high church positions to the likes of Steven Seagal and other Hollywood celebrities who decided to join the religion 5 minutes before.
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