Free Iraq Now!

Tibet activists hang up banners on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, April 7, 2008. Three pro-Tibet activists scaled the cables of San Francisco's famed Golden Gate Bridge and hung banners to protest the arrival of the Olympic torch in the city on Wednesday. REUTERS/Kimberly White

Free Iraq Now! From the violence of the insurgents and holy Islamic warriors bent on killing themselves and as many innocents as they can take with them.

How do those opposed to U.S. presence end the U.S. led occupation of Iraq? How do they send our troops packing? Not by committing more acts of aggression and terror, but by stopping the attacks against the people and institutions of Iraq. By allowing the fledgling government to survive through its growing pains in the absence of sabotage and insurrection.

So what does this post have to do with Tibet and the Olympic Torch protests? Not a heckuvalot.

But it gives me a springboard to remind folks that about 5 years ago, the Dali Lama also appeared to "get it", when it came to perceiving the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, in the broader context of history and "end justifies the means" rationale:

Dali Lama: Iraq War May Be Justified
Scott Lindlaw, AP, September 10, 2003 11:09 PM

The Dalai Lama said Wednesday that the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan may have been justified to win a larger peace, but that is it too soon to judge whether the Iraq war was warranted. "I think history will tell," he said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, just after he met with President Bush.

"In principle, I always believe nonviolence is the right thing, and nonviolent method is in the long run more effective," said the Dalai Lama, who after the Sept. 11 attacks had implored Bush to avoid a violent response by the United States.

The exile Tibetan leader, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, said the Vietnam War increased suffering and was a "failure." But, he said, some wars, including the Korean War and World War II, helped "protect the rest of civilization, democracy." He said he saw a similar result in Afghanistan - "perhaps some kind of liberation."

"The people themselves, I think, suffer a lot under their previous regimes," he said. But he was adamant that the United States not lose sight of rebuilding Afghanistan.

The Dalai Lama urged Bush, in a letter on Sept. 12, 2001, to "think seriously whether a violent action is the right thing to do and in the greater interest of the nation and people in the long run." Asked whether the Iraq war was just, the Dalai Lama said the situation there is "more complicated" and will take more time before he can judge.