Thousands of rowdy demonstrators forced cancellation of the last leg of the Olympic torch ceremony in Paris on Monday with repeated attacks on the procession, escalating international protests over China's human rights record ahead of the 2008 Games in Beijing this summer.About 3,000 French police officers, some of them spraying Mace, sought to guard the 17-mile parade route but were often unable to stop demonstrators, many of them waving Tibetan flags, from surging onto the streets as torch carriers passed. At least three times, the torch was extinguished and the athletes retreated for protection into buses.
"Normally, this is supposed to be a celebration -- the torch is a symbol of peace. This was not very pleasant."
Later, with the relay dragging hours behind schedule because of the confrontations, Olympic organizers in Paris and at the Chinese Embassy halted the procession 3 1/2 miles from its end and carried the torch inside a bus for the remainder of the route.
courtesy of http://www.washingtonpost.com
I have been following the Olympic Torch relay with some interest. Personally I don't think Canada should boycott these games. By boycotting these games Canada takes a stand against China's human rights records. I'll be the first to admit I an not a big fan of the Olympic games, but maybe some good can actually come from having the games in Beijing. But hosting the games China has put itself on the world stage for all to see, blemishes and all. Maybe all this political attention these games have put on China will be enough to start a dialogue towards change. And with the world looking on, hopefully those changes will be positive rather then negative...
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