The lion awakes, and the dragon won't like it

The Christian Science Monitor has an on-line article about the younger generation of Tibetans that isn't buying into the old non-violence thing in the face of Chinese oppression. There's a book out about the last time the Tibetans tried armed resistance; it didn't work so well for the Khampas... "From 1955 onward, Tibet's freedom fighters were assisted, with varying degrees of success, by the CIA, until the eventual collapse of organised resistance inside Tibet in 1962. Many were killed and tortured, though survivors escaped and regrouped in Western Nepal to carry on the struggle with renewed American support until 1969, when the notion of aiding the Tibetans fell victim to President Nixon's rapprochement with China. The last remnants of Tibetan resistance were eradicated during the winter of 1974/75 in Mustang, as the King of Nepal, under pressure from Beijing, demanded the Tibetans surrender. Most did, others resisted, and were gunned down by Nepalese soldiers under a turquoise Himalayan sky. It was a sad and lonely ending, and one cannot help but wonder if the outcome would have been the same had greater assistance been furnished at an earlier time, or perhaps more significantly if the Tibetan Government had accepted US offers of military and economic support in 1951-56."

Rico says a sad story, like the Bay of Pigs, of 'premature anti-communists' (that's a Spanish Civil War reference to premature anti-fascists, in case your history is weak) getting let down by the United States... (There should be a great movie made about the Khampas; Rico will happily direct, if someone will put up the money.)