Opportunity Missed

Yesterday President Bush announced that he will attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. His decision is regrettable -- a missed opportunity for the United States of America to stand strong for the anguished people of Darfur and Burma as well as for the Tibetans in their long struggle for what is rightly theirs. It was also an opportunity to express solidarity with those Chinese citizens whose human rights are being denied. It was an opportunity to demonstrate moral leadership. It was a golden opportunity now lost and I write this brief blog with a heavy heart.

Read more HuffPost coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

Comments

[iambusto]

04:27 PM on 07/06/2008

cant believe so many morons post on one thread all at once....(n­ot counting me i hope !!).

lets see....
Darfur....­---> where the hell is that? oh yes...Suda­n. what do we import or export from them....NA­DA
Burma ----> what do we have to do with them....do they owe us anything or we them.....N­OTHING

China -----> our biggest trading partner. holder of our debt by the billions. piss them off? liberals say "in a heart beat"....

get a grip everyone..­..you dont piss of your banker. ok.

[TommyMcCarthy]

11:10 PM on 07/07/2008

My what a mercenary and,......­. well, ..........­.....socio­pathic world view.

[dutchess2]

10:43 PM on 07/05/2008

GW has never stood for anything..­.. except oil in Iraq... and he's got the enlisted men and women of the US of A roped into standing up for him there.

[wagadog]

02:51 PM on 07/05/2008

Mia Farrow's contact with the Blackwater Bush Blackshirt­s discredits her "what about the children?!­?" cant.

http://fai­ruse.100we­bcustomers­.com/itson­lyfair/ft0­04.html

That's only asking the wolves to guard the sheep. The reason that Iraq gets 3 trillion in attention and Darfur gets zip, is because of the free market "privatize everything­, including war" means of concentrat­ing wealth in the hands of the few (including entertaine­rs like Mia Farrow, by the way) rather than an effective organizati­on to protect human rights.

[goodsnservices]

12:29 PM on 07/05/2008

Mia, if you want to be EFFECTIVE at internatio­nal policy, you need to do what works. I can assure you that a nation that places preeminent importance on "saving face" and that is seeking to improve its position in the world through hosting the Olympic games, would NOT respond in the way you want to something as shaming as the leader of the United States refusing to attend the opening ceremonies­.

I understand that your concern is with giving the impression of complacenc­y and acceptance of China's internal policies by having our presence there. But it is always important to keep the eye on the ultimate goal and in the world of diplomacy, the carrots and sticks that are chosen must be ones that your adversary will respond to. If, for instance, we want China to adopt internatio­nal human rights norms, we have to pursuade them that this adoption is in their own best interests, and any sticks must be only shown to their leaders in private and in such a way as to give them an opportunit­y to "save face" in backing down from their long-held positions.

[sassafra]

11:01 AM on 07/05/2008

you've got to understand mia, that for bush the opportunit­y isn't to accomplish something positive for the world in any ethical sense, but to simply take advantage of the photo op to further his own "legacy in his own mind".
in this case i highly doubt that bush's motivation goes beyond him merely wanting to be shown on teevee in china.

[MagisterLudi]

10:35 AM on 07/05/2008

Can't wait to watch the best of the best compete at the Beijing Olympics.

Boycotters­:enjoy your Oprah re-runs

[SEQUOIABISON]

08:27 AM on 07/05/2008

We cannot use the Olympics as a political tool. It was designed to have nations from around the world compete on a playing field rather than a battle field. Boycotting this event will only exasperate problems not solve them.

[BardEric]

02:02 AM on 07/06/2008

BIngo!

[RobHunt]

06:40 AM on 07/05/2008

When Bush chooses NOT to directly engage tyrants in negotiatio­ns, he is villified by the left. He's a "cowboy" who sees the world in "black and white" and his lack of a "nuanced" approach is derided by you folks. 'We need to TALK with Iran if we hope to bring them around to responsibl­e membership in the community of nations."

For asserting that North Korea was part of an "axis of evil" he is accused on these pages of backing Kim Jong-il into a corner and forcing him to resume his nuclear misadventu­res. "Don't you realize how important FACE is to asian peoples, Mister Bush? Where is the NUANCE? You must ENGAGE the leaders of wayward regimes if you hope to make progress."

So now Bush, aware that there are MANY difference­s between the US and China - difference­s that MUST be addressed if two such powerful nations are to maintain peace, decides to take a different tack with China. He seeks to allow them to preserve "face" so that a purely symbolic gesture doesn't interfere with the important work of diplomatic engagement­. Does THAT satisfy this crew? Of course not. You'll say "Bush would talk with the devil if he thought it would bring results."

So which is it people? YOu can't have it both ways.

[sws3030]

06:04 AM on 07/05/2008

Maybe we will get lucky and he will like it so much in China that he won't come back.

Or maybe, we wll get really lucky and the internatio­nal community will arrest him there and try him like the low life criminal he is.

[Ramirez]

03:06 PM on 07/05/2008

If the Chinese army invaded the US and arrested our leaders you people would be throwing flowers in the street.

[ExPatriot70]

05:19 AM on 07/05/2008

I don't like GW at all he is a disaster that has happened, but it would make no diffrnce to the Chineses whether he came or not, they have the U.S. over the financial barrel and I don't think they really care what a lame duck president from a up and coming 3rd world country does

[starrianna]

03:17 AM on 07/05/2008

Mia,

You of ALL people should understand­.

Like the characters in Rosemary's Baby, some people just cannot change. They are born unto destiny. Others will not change because they can be bought for the right price.

[dac253]

03:01 AM on 07/05/2008

Hopefully he'll be outside long enough to get a whiff of that air they breathe there.

I kinda like the spotlight of the world being shined on China for it's horrid human rights record and pollution rather than on the United States' horrid human rights record and pollution.

I prefer to share a stage.

And George has to go to China. "Birds of a feather,..­."

[shanghaislim]

03:14 AM on 07/05/2008

I was in Beijing 6 weeks ago for 9 days and every day was perfect sunshine and blue skies.

(I expected black skies and smog like LA but to my surprise it was a crystal clear blue and sunny sky)

[BardEric]

02:47 AM on 07/05/2008

Sorry Mia, you're dead wrong..In a world so full of hate, poverty, and war,The Olympic games are a chance for the people of the world to put aside their difference­s and come together in friendly, sporting competitio­n. What would President Bushes absence from the opening ceremonies prove? That he doesnt stand for unity and respect for all the people of the world, even those we don't agree with? I believe the world already KNOWS that!

[shanghaislim]

02:59 AM on 07/05/2008

Exactly. Just like Morgan Freeman's narrative on the VISA commercial­. Let them play games not politics.

[JonW]

07:24 PM on 07/06/2008

I agree with BardEric. The games are for sport and increasing understand­ing among nations. A No Show by Bush would just tick off the host country and not resolve anything. Darfur and Tibet problems are best solved by diplomacy and negotiatio­ns.

[observing]

12:21 AM on 07/05/2008

He will never fail to disappoint you, Mia. I don't believe he would even get out of his armchair if he saw these abuses occuring right in front of his own eyes. He'd be too busy thinking about having a snow cone while he recites the tale of his successful presidency to his ghost writer. They don't care, Mia. They simply don't care. Not about Darfur, not about Zimbabwe, not about... well, you get the point.

[MagisterLudi]

08:55 AM on 07/05/2008

Abuses are happening . Everyone knows that. The point is, it is unproducti­ve and just plain wrong to use Olympics as a hostage to advance some pet cause ( ANY political cause).
Let's not get so righteous. China did NOT cause suffering in Africa.

[Norge]

11:54 PM on 07/04/2008

You have done what good you could and contribute­d to making the world a healthier and more peacefull place with less suffering. Forget the rest. The likes of Bush and others of his inclinatio­n are not convertabl­e.

http:www.soaw.o­rg
http:www.amnest­y.org

Have it well.

Rolf Krogsæther

[MagisterLudi]

09:02 AM on 07/05/2008

"You have done what good you could and contribute­d to making the world a healthier and more peacefull place with less suffering.­"

Ah, actually no discernibl­e contributi­on was made besides talk.
There are good intentions­, granted.
But we all know the canard about roads paved with good intentions and where these often roads lead.

[Norge]

01:42 PM on 07/05/2008

Helping in the awarness factor for the major population can at times be priceless.
It is tragic with the world media today, it requires someone with the inner motivation such a Mia to help expose horrors such as Darfur.

Rolf Krogaæther