Hadley: Skipping Olympic opening ceremonies is`cop-out'

[Gunny]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It would be a "cop-out" for countries to skip the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics as a way of protesting China's crackdown in Tibet, President Bush's national security adviser said Sunday.

President Bush has given no indication he will skip the event. "I don't view the Olympics as a political event," Bush said this past week. "I view it as a sporting event." The White House has not yet said whether he will attend the opening ceremony on August 8.

"We haven't worked out the details of his schedule at this point in time, but from his vantage point, if you listen to what he has said, he has no reason not to go," Hadley said in broadcast interviews Sunday. "Because what he has said is we need to be using diplomacy."

"This issue [of the boycott] is in some sense a bit of a red herring," Hadley said in a broadcast interview. "I think unfortunately a lot of countries say, 'Well, if we say that we are not going to the opening ceremonies we check the box on Tibet.' That's a cop-out.

"If other countries are concerned about that, they ought to do what we are doing through quiet diplomacy, send a message clearly to the Chinese that this is an opportunity with the whole world watching, to show that they take into account and are determined to treat their citizens with dignity and respect. They would put pressure on the Chinese authorities quietly to meet with representatives of the Dalai Lama and use this as an opportunity help resolve that situation," Hadley said.

Critics of China say that were Bush to avoid the opening ceremony, it would send a powerful signal of international anger over China's violent response to demonstrating Buddhist monks in Tibet.

"The whole issue of opening ceremonies is a nonissue," Hadley said. "I think it is a way of dodging what really needs to happen if you're concerned about" Tibet. He added: "The president, at this point, is going to the Olympics. ... But from his vantage point, if you listen what he said, he has no reason not to go."

more ... http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/13/us.olympics.ap/index.html

I actually agree with the logic here. Not that i think the "quiet diplomacy" will ever amount to anything, but have come to the conclusion that IMO, the Olympics is not the appropriate time nor place to address political issues.

 

[Paulie]

The Olympics is the one time when all participating nations, whether specific ones are at odds with each other or not, are politically neutral and otherwise friendly.

To me, it's like experiencing "world peace" for 2 weeks.

 

[Larkinn]

World peace isn't "everyone stops arguing with each other". Who cares who argues. What matters is the massacres that go on around the globe. And they don't stop for the Olympics.

Peoples lives are more important than your silly feel good symbolism.

 

[Gunny]

The Olympics is the one time when all participating nations, whether specific ones are at odds with each other or not, are politically neutral and otherwise friendly.

To me, it's like experiencing "world peace" for 2 weeks.

Minus the speaking to you from on high part, it pains me greatly to agree with Larkinn, but IMO, the Olympics are a sham, and plenty of politics have been played during the games, both in and out of them.

I really don't see the point to participating in them at all.