Month: March 2008

Avaaz for Tibet

Avaaz, the international equivalent of MoveOn.org, sent out an action alert to their list of over 2 million or so supporters about a week ago, asking them to sign a petition to Chinese Communist Party Chairman Hu Jintao regarding Tibet. The petition reads:

Petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao:

As citizens around the world, we call on you to show restraint and respect for human rights in your response to the protests in Tibet, and to address the concerns of all Tibetans by opening meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Only dialogue and reform will bring lasting stability. China’s brightest future, and its most positive relationship with the world, lies in harmonious development, dialogue and respect.

When I signed the petition last night, there were about 837,000 signatories. This morning, that number has climbed to 905,513. They will probably cross 1,000,000 signatories some time today or tomorrow.

I’ve done a lot of work with internet petitions and advocacy campaigns – for Tibet, for FISA, for Iraq, and many other issues. This is a truly astonishing  outpouring of support for Tibet and Tibetan freedom.

Sign the Avaaz petition to stand with Tibet and be sure to pass it along to your family and friends.

Cheney vs. The Troops

Dick Cheney, on why the 4,000 Americans who died fighting in Iraq don’t give him pause:

Noting the burden placed on military families, the vice president said the biggest burden is carried by President George W. Bush, who made the decision to commit US troops to war, and reminded the public that U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered for duty….

“A lot of men and women sign up because sometimes they will see developments. For example, 9/11 stimulated a lot of folks to volunteer for the military because they wanted to be involved in defending the country.”

You don’t say. I’ll let one veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan provide something of a rebuttal from that.  I just finished reading Brandon Friedman’s The War I Always Wanted. I wouldn’t say that this is a political book, but much more a detailed, honest, no-frills telling of one soldier’s experience going to war twice since 9/11/01. It’s a tale of combat reminiscent of Colby Buzzell’s My War or Anthony Swofford’s Jarhead — stories that show the grind our troops go through in war, as well as how the failings our political and military leadership trivialize the lives of the members of our military. I may do a longer write up on this fantastic book another time, but for now will share this passage, which Friedman writes in response to having two men in his unit killed in an RPG attack in Tal Afar.

    Lying on my cot that night, I hated. It was a new thing for me. It had been building each day that no weapons of mass destruction were found–and now it was coming to a head. I had never hated before–not like this. I had never hated the enemy, nor had I ever feared the enemy. I was always emotionally neutral when it came to that. I had feared dying, but never the enemy. Now still, I did not hate whoever had been behind the RPG. You go to a war–these things happen. I knew that. But you go to an unnecessary war and it happens–well that’s completely different.

I had always wanted to fight. But I never wanted any part of something like this. I was a professional soldier. I wanted to believe in my work. Instead, I was watching as politicians with no military experience hijacked the Army. I was a public servant, not a lackey. Lying on my cot, I came to the point that many people reach in a situation where they stop what they’re doing and say, “Wait a second. This is bullshit. This isn’t right.” Two guys in our battalion were dead, two families ruined. And try as I might, I couldn’t figure out what the purpose of that was.

Things that had been welling up inside me all summer suddenly exploded in my head like a dozen Roman candles. I hated the president for his ignorance. I hated Donald Rumsfeld for his appalling arrogance and his lack of judgment. I hated their agenda. I hate Colin Powell for abandoning the Army–for not taking care of his soldiers–when he could have done something to stop these people. I hated them because they didn’t listen to the people who told them this was a bad plan. I hated them because now, it meant that my guys could be next. It meant that I could be next. And I didn’t want to die like this–not in a confusing mishmash of ideologies, purposes, and bullets.

I felt like we had been taken advantage of. We were professionals sent on a wild goose chase using a half-baked plan for politician reasons. Lying there restlessly, I was reminded of a Schwarzenegger line in one of his movies-when, after being used and lied to, his muscle-bound character had expressed perfectly what was no on my mind: My men are not expendable. And I don’t do this kind of work.

I longed for the clarity of purpose we’d had in Afghanistan. [pg. 186-188]

I don’t know about you, but I’m more inclined to take the word of one of the men who bravely served our country through two wars over the word of one of the architects of the second war, the greatest foreign policy disaster in American history. Of course, Cheney has never worn the uniform. So not only is he unimaginably offensive, even for him, he has no standing to diminish the burdens born by men and women in the armed forces.

You can read Friedman’s response to Cheney’s remarks today at VetVoice, where he is a front page writer.

Dramatic Protests of Torch Lighting Ceremony in Olympia, Greece

Student’s for a Free Tibet’s Deputy Director, Tenzin Dorjee, was arrested by plain clothes Greek security agents. Note how one consistently tries to hide his face from the cameras. Both plain clothes agents peel off as soon as uniformed police can take Tenzin into detention.

Prior to this, Dorjee confronted International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge and asked the IOC to hold China accountable for what they have done to Tibetans.

When Dorjee first arrived in Greece this week, he was detained, questioned, and searched by Greek security at the Athens airport.

Tenzin Dorjee is a great friend of mine (and I know him as better  as Tendor) and he is one of the true leaders of the Tibetan independence movement.  Tendor was the first Tibetan to return to Tibet to protest for Tibetan independence when he unfurled a banner calling for Tibetan independence on Mount Everest last year, while the Chinese were conducting a practice climb of the olympic torch up Mount Everest. Tendor and a team of other activists were detained for a number of days by the Chinese government before being expelled from Tibet. As you can see from the videos above, Tendor exemplifies the effectiveness of a resolute activist committed to achieving freedom through non-violent protest and direct action against the forces when keep him in exile and Tibetans under military rule. He has done many, many things that I deeply respect him for, but watching these videos and reading about his actions in Olympia leave no doubt in my mind: Tendor is a hero in the Tibetan independence movement and a true role model for any freedom-loving person around the world who seeks to achieve justice for all oppressed peoples through non-violent means.

This is original footage of other protests by Tibetans in Olympia, courtesy of Tibet Will Be Free:

McCain: “I am a illiterate” [sic]

http://d.yimg.com/static.video.yahoo.com/yep/YV_YEP.swf?ver=2.0.45

Shorter John McCain: Oh, they have the internet on computers now?

You know you’re out of touch when Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, and Mike Huckabee all come across as more in touch with the 21st century than you do.

I also don’t know how someone who does not use computers at all can be considered competent to respond to the volume of information coming into the White House from high-tech sources and surveillance mechanisms. I mean, can you imagine the befuddled, out of touch look McCain would get if Mark Klein tried to explain how the NSA’s tap into the AT&T backbone of the internet works? Having a passing understanding of how things work isn’t exactly a remarkable request for someone who’s trying to convince the country that, at 72+ years old, he’s fit to be President.

Tibet Solidarity News & Analysis

Famed Tibetan blogger Woeser reports a brutal shooting of peaceful Tibetan protesters in Shetar (translation via TWBF):

In addition, some netizens appeal to everybody: extremely urgent, please save Serthar in Tibet! According to the latest news, in order to protect the Tibetan national flag, people in Kego Township of Serthar County in Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan province, were brutally suppressed by over 5,000 military police between 4:00pm and 5:00pm on March 20!

Up to now, the number of the killed and wounded is over 20. The incident was caused by the fact that the military police shamelessly made the following announcement to the Tibetan people: the Central government directly issued an order to execute anybody who demonstrates. Then when they were about to take off the Tibetan national flag, they were stopped by the Tibetans peacefully, but the military police immediately fired at Tibetans. Please save Tibet!

11:00am tomorrow people in Nido Township of Serthar County will face much more serious massacre, please save Nido Township of Serthar County! Please spread the message to governments of other countries and human right organizations! Please generate your compassionate heart, and save the Tibetan people.

Woeser’s blog has many more pictures of Chinese military patrolling in Tibet, despite China’s claims that their military has not been used to put down demonstrations. New evidence based on reporting done by UPI confirms that the People’s Liberation Army has been used in Lhasa.

The Washington Post has a great article on how China and Chinese hackers are doing coordinated electronic attacks on Tibetan independence groups organizing outside of Tibet. I can say with certainty that while I worked at Students for a Free Tibet, we regularly received virus attacks over email from China. From what I hear, these have increased markedly over the last year and are at a high point now. Apparently the attacks being made on pro-Tibetan independence groups are almost identical to attacks made on American defense contractors by China recently.

“The fact that we’re being attacked with the same resources thrown at multi-billion defense contractors is flattering,” said Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet. “It shows that we really are an effective thorn in the side of a repressive regime.”

Indeed. The best part is that China’s cyber attacks on Tibetan independence groups has done literally nothing to impact their effectiveness nor the massive outpouring of support for Tibetans’ struggle for freedom.

Lhasa Rising at Tibet Will be Free has a terrifying post on China’s “Golden Shield” surveillance technology that is deployed in Tibet. I

Golden Shield is “a database-driven remote surveillance system – offering immediate access to records on every citizen in China, while linking to vast networks of cameras designed to increase police efficiency.”

According to the Canadian group Rights and Democracy, Western companies have collaborated with China to implement technologies like:

  • speech recognition technology for automated surveillance of telephone conversations;
  • the integration of face recognition and voice recognition technology
  • smart cards for all citizens which can be scanned without the owner’s knowledge
  • closed-circuit television to monitor public spaces

What this means for Tibetans is that they are under more surveillance than ever. Now China can systematically arrest and torture any Tibetans even remotely involved in the pro-independence demonstrations; away from cameras, in the middle of the night, behind prison walls. A truly chilling prospect, brought to you by the Western companies named in the R&D report.

Beyond the applications for Tibet, it’s this sort of Orwellian technology that makes totalitarian government’s more effective at controlling their populations and stifling dissent. Anyone who cares about civil liberties should be appalled at how China has used surveillance technology – developed with the help of Western corporations – to repress and crack down on Tibetans who seek freedom. If you ever wonder why I fear the unlimited expansion of executive powers pursued by the Bush administration, this is pretty much exactly the natural evolution of the surveillance state that could be achieved in a Bush-styled system in the US. Fortunately, we’re not there yet, but as this technology was developed with the help of companies like Nortel, it’s not hard to believe that American telecoms could also lend their capacities to build a system like Golden Shield.

Pelosi Meets with Dalai Lama in India

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The Gavel has a great report from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s meeting in Dharamsala, India with the Dalai Lama:

The delegation was welcomed to the community by thousands of Tibetans in a ceremony led by Speaker Karma Choephel of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. The delegation then proceeded to an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama where they discussed issues relating to Tibet and the plight of Tibetan refugees in India.

In the afternoon, the delegation visited the Tibetan Children’s Village, supported in part with U.S. assistance, that educates and looks after thousands of Tibetan children, most of whom are orphans and new refugees from Tibet. The delegation also met with Tibetan monks, nuns, and children who recently escaped Tibet over the perilous Himalayan mountain passes.

In addition to Speaker Pelosi, the congressional delegation includes the Chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Ranking Member James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, Chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee George Miller of California, and Representatives Jim McDermott of Washington, Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia, Anna Eshoo of California, Jay Inslee of Washington, Rush Holt of New Jersey and Hilda Solis of California.

The members of the Congressional delegation have done a very honorable thing in the pursuit of freedom and peace. I want to extend my deep thanks to all of them for traveling to Dharamsala to meet with the Dalai Lama and raise the profile of what is happening in Tibet. Further, this meeting by high level congressmen and women of both parties shows that the US takes the Tibetan government-in-exile seriously and at least some of our elected officials are looking to engage the TGIE to produce a solution for Tibet.

During her remarks, Speaker Pelosi said one thing that particularly stood out to me for its prescience and moral clarity:

If freedom loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China’s oppression in Tibet we have lost all moral authority to speak on human rights anywhere in the world. The cause of Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world. A challenge we can help meet.

Amen. Those of us who are free to speak and free to act have a moral obligation to do so in the face of oppression and injustice. It does not matter where we live and what transgressions our forefathers may have committed – we are here today and we have the power and thus the obligation to speak out. And now, with clarity and immediacy, we must speak out for Tibet.

There is no doubt, Tibetans are being murdered at the hands of the Chinese government for speaking out themselves. You see, Tibetans simply are not free to speak out for their independence. Doing so, as untold thousands are doing now, comes at the risk of beatings, imprisonment, torture, and death. But we do not face the same hurdles outside of China and so we must speak out for Tibet. The obligation that comes with our privileges as free people who love our freedom is that we must exercise it on behalf of those oppressed peoples who yearn for freedom. Right now our obligation lies with the plight of Tibetans who seek independence from China’s brutal military occupation.

Fogey of War

Bill Maher does a great take down of John McCain in the closing sectino of “New Rules.” There are some good jokes in there, but Maher is deadly serious when it comes to the current failing of the American press and public to recognize that John McCain is dangerously wrong about how to handle the war in Iraq and America’s response to terrorism. Enjoy…

Transcript:

New Rule: Old soldiers never die, they get young soldiers killed. This week John McCain said for the third time in two days, that Iran, a Shi’ite stronghold was training al Qaeda a militant Sunni organization.  That the Hatfields of the Muslim world would be working with the McCoys is so not true even Dick Cheney hasn’t said it. Now the press, which loves McCain because he feeds them BBQ, dismissed this as just one of those senior moments, not to worry, he’s only going to have his finger on the nuclear trigger.  But it’s not just a ‘gaffe,’ it’s what McCain really thinks. And therein lies the paradox of this campaign: McCain’s strength is really his weakness. He’s a warrior who’s dumb about war.   Whoever read The Art of War, chapter three of The Art of War says, “Know thy enemy.”  And John McCain plainly doesn’t.  He thinks the solution is our presence in the Middle East.  No, the problem is our presence in the Middle East.   That’s why I don’t care if John McCain is better than Bush on global warming or torture or campaign finance, because he’s exactly the same as Bush on the war.  They both don’t get the same thing.  As long as we’re setting up shop in the heart of the Arab world, we’re not keeping America safer.  Bin Laden goes ballistic over cartoons in Danish newspapers, and Goober and Grandpa want to put up a Hooters in Fallujah. They don’t “hate us for our freedom,” they hate us for our fiefdom.  Winning the War on Terror comes down to this: what will make us safer from pissed off Arab teenagers who are willing to die?  There are a number of good answers to that question, but occupying their land for the next 100 years is not one of them.

Some people look at McCain and see a tough guy who is going to protect us from the “Islamofascists.”  I look at him and see a walking Tom Clancy action figure who is going to get us all killed.  And yet a new poll shows that a majority of Americans believe John McCain is the candidate best qualified to answer when that red phone rings at 3:00 a.m., because he’d be up anyway, trying to pee.  Yes, 55% of Americans think it’s McCain who should answer that phone, because they know John McCain is a warrior.  He will not waver or hesitate.  He will answer that phone and give the order that sends men to die and it will turn out to be a recording asking him if he’s happy with his mortgage.  

Tibet Solidarity News & Analysis

Twenty-six Nobel laureates, including Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, have issued a statement condemning China’s violent response to protests in Tibet.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled all the way to Dharamsala, India to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Dharamsala is the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. It’s a real statement about Speaker Pelosi’s commitment to promoting peace and freedom in Tibet at a time when China is shown itself as a brutal and violent government willing to use limitless force against Tibetans. Thank you, Speaker Pelosi, for leading on this and being an example of how free people can exercise their power to stand on principles to promote human rights anywhere in the world.

My friend Josh Schrei has been one of the most committed, effective activists for Tibet in the US as the Tibetan independence ovement grew in the States over the last 20 years. He has a piece on Guerrilla News Network about the current situation in Tibet, evaluating what it should mean that some Tibetans may be resorting to violence against the Chinese occupation. Josh puts forward a serious discussion of the tension between the Dalai Lama’s long efforts through non-violence and the recent attention some acts of Tibetans finally turning to violence have commanded from the global community. It’s definitely worth a read.

Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, has a great post up dissecting the false notion that the protests in Tibet are violent when Tibetans throw stones and break windows. Lhadon writes:

as Nelson Mandela said, “the occupier bears prime responsibility for enduring conflict.” The true source of these riots and the violence, perceived or real, is the Chinese government’s illegal occupation of Tibet – and we must never lost sight of this basic context. Even if Tibetans wield guns and launch a violent attack tomorrow, the Chinese government is to blame because Tibetans are only responding to the Chinese government’s oppression. Beijing is lucky that the Tibetans are only throwing stones right now.

Let’s get real: how much violence can a few hundred unarmed monks and lay Tibetans really commit against a few hundred tanks and several thousand armed police and riot troops? China keeps all the guns, and uses them too – and yet they want to cry about Tibetans breaking their windows?

The whole post is worth a read, as Lhadon lays out clearly the force that Tibetans are up against and what we must remember about the circumstances in Tibet as we continue to get news about Tibetans efforts to attain freedom in their own land.