The games should only be boycotted if it can be assured in no uncertain terms that the Chinese will not turn their resentment & rage towardst the tibetans, as a result. No this is clearly not a matter for China to assess because the Chinese are the culprits of these atrocities. Since the United States & China have such close & need I say - co-dependent relations at present time, then yes the United States should impose sanctions/ requests etc to ensure that peace is reached & that the Tibetans are left to live freely, with humane living conditions & their choice to practice buddhism.

It is a gross understatement to say China's violent repression of freedom of assembly and expression is not worthy of an Olympic host.

I urge people to write to Congress and to members of the International Olympic Committee calling on them to take immediate actions to reduce the suffering in Tibet by:
1. Stating publicly that China's brutal crackdown on demonstrators in Tibet are not acceptable; and
2. Removing Tibet and Mount Everest from the planned Olympic Torch Relay before the Games. The idea of the torch being run through streets where Chinese recently beat and shot Tibetans is appalling.

The Tibetan region was an independent nation for a thousand years before China invaded and occupied it in 1949. China is now exploiting the mineral and water resources of Tibet and using it for military objectives, and viciously controlling the Tibetan people. The Tibetans who died this past week trying to regain their rights may not have died in vain if the IOC, other world leaders and the global community react with firmness and compassion. We must hold China accountable to their human rights commitments. If the IOC and others remain silent while its 2008 Olympic host country shoots into unarmed crowds, then the IOC becomes an apologist for these atrocities.

Gross understatement?....Lets change the name....Instead of CHINA lets change the scope to SUDAN and it GENOCIDE......Ok ??? Do you feel the hypocrisy now...

China is beyond control of the western financiers and their paid media outlets and the sad part is that the THE BBC SEEMS TO BE PART OF THIS LIE....

In an NPR interview this week, the Chinese Ambassador to Washington repeatedly dodged the question (posed by Robert Siegel as I recall) whether Tibetans might have legitimate grievances about how they are ruled. China will continue to suppress Tibet until it is forced to answer this question and talk to the Dalai Lama. The ambassador laid down the usual smokescreen of how the unrest in Tibet is purely criminal and that the Dalai Lama seeks to west Tibet away from China -- as if he could. It convinces nobody. The Chinese authorities need to know that the world sees through their smokescreen very well and get real. Keep on interviewing them, please, and gently point this out.

The countries who care about human rights should immediatly set up an alternate Olympic site to hold the games. Boycott China and the IOC. The choice was political and market based to begin with. Hold it somewhere else, open up sponsership and promote Total freedom and goodwill. Show the world that the atheletic community can indeed rise above hatered and join together in a less repressive environment. If enough countries got on board, what a signal for what the Games are supposed to be about it would be! Atheletes could still have pride about the competition and at the same time help change the world a bit.

THE SAME WAY THE PROTEST IN LOS ANGELES AND THE PROTEST AGAINST THE IRAQ WAR HAVE BEEN HANDLE.... USA does not have the moral values to criticize nobody.....CHINA IS NOT GOING UP...WE ARE GOING DOWN...