Tuesday, October 14, 2003

What Would Buddha Do? Why Won't the Dalai Lama Pick a Fight?: "'I've always admired the Dalai Lama for his advocacy of nonviolence and his support of the rights of Tibet against Chinese domination,' [Howard Zinn] said recently. 'But I must say I was disappointed to read his comment on the war in Iraq [i.e., 'Wait a few years'], because this is such an obvious, clear-cut moral issue in which massive violence has been used against Iraqis with many thousands of dead.' Zinn added pointedly: 'I wonder if the Dalai Lama knows enough about the history of US foreign policy. If he did, he would understand the real motives of our invasion of Iraq and would not be ambivalent about the present war and occupation.'"

For someone like the Dalai Lama, reputedly of high intelligence, an exile who has lived his whole life in the shadow of Chinese hegemony, it is extraordinary he does not seem to understand the concept of hegemony and international relations.

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