If the United States boycotts the opening ceremonies of the Chinese Olympics then they should boycott the entire Olympics. All or nothing. To boycott the Olympics would be a waste of time. It would have little effect on China. The only people it would hurt would be the athletes who have worked so hard to compete. Why should they be punished? The people who should be punished are the people on the Olympic committee who chose to give China the Olympics. That should never have happened. They should all be fired. However, China does have the Olympics so it's something we'll have to live with. Sporting events should never, for any reason, be politicized.

Any country that politcalizes the games should be barred from them. It violates the spirit of the games and should NOT be tolerated.

Absolutely not! The Olympics are a time to set aside politics and unify as a planet. China's government should be protested against, but not like this.

I firmly believe that boycotting the Olympics would make a Powerful statement to China and the World that the US firmly decries China's policies regarding Tibet and the Sudanese Darfur tragedy.

No! More US people should show up in the opening ceremony.

Boycotting Olympics in Beijing will only show how naive, ignorant, and opinionated Americans are. I don't think the U.S. has the right to criticize any other countries for human rights. It was the USA together with other western bandits who invaded and robbed China and killed hundreds of Chinese a century ago; it was the USA who invaded Vietnam and killed thousands of Vietnamese for no good reason; it was the USA who invaded Korea and killed over 100 000 Korean and Chinese; it was the USA who bombed innocent Iranians; it is the USA who is still killing common Iraq people every day NOW; it is the American hospitals who abandoned sick people without health insurance on the street. For those Americans who are advocating for Tibet independence such as Richard Gere, how much do you know the history of Tibet and China? Do you know that Tibet has been a part of China since 700 years ago? Do you know how common Tibetans who are living in Tibet think? Before the PRC, 95% of the Tibetan population were slaves and the Dalai family and other monks were the dictators. It was the new government freed the 95% common Tibetan people. How many of you have ever been to Tibet and talk to the common Tibetans not your Tibetan friends here? Please don't consider yourself as a human right fighter if you don't even what human rights should be. If you don't know how to respect one fifth of the world population, how can you talk about human right? Olympic Games belong to all the human beings in the world. It's not the Western's Olympics. If it has never been held in China, the Olympic spirit will never be embodied because it ignored 1/5 of the world great population.

China is systematically destroying Tibetan culture though intolerance and apartheid. China is eliminating all religious freedom though the destruction of Buddhist symbols and the razing of houses of worship. China is creating apartheid by not giving Tibetans equal social status in their own country. 100s of 1000s of Tibetans have died as a result of China taking control, and countless families have been broken; lives ruined. If the Olympics provide a platform to raise awareness about this ongoing tragedy, how can it not be used as such? And once awareness is raised, how can it be ignored?

Boycotting Olympics in China should not be an excuse for political purposes. It's just a sport event for many countries and many athletes all around the world, gathering together and have a competition.
Tibet wanna get the independence from China due to the human rights, freedom...etc. How can a place in the middle of a country get independence? A country with a country?
I agree China government not yet be opened views to most countries. But when a violent protest happens, how can a government not to take control? Please watch the news from Asian channels (tvb.com in English, Hong Kong news online), Those violent protesters set fires and bombs in residential area and streets. A shop was set a fire, 4 girls died, one of them is the daughter of the owner. He was crying and crying, his shop was robbed, girls are killed, how can a government not to take control??? What if it happens in the U.S, UK or France? Then people complained the government but not the protesters?
Please be fair to China! Please do something else like gas price, Iraq war, mortgage, economy recession...etc. Please pay attention to these problems instead of others. A protest in Tibet affects the global urgently? President Bush raised all the issues for the global, please take care of them first.
And, whoever does not wanna go the Olympics in China, it's fine. Who cares? Chinese people don't care. Americans or Europeans have guts, pride or justice? Don't do any business with China, economical block them, see who loses? Definitely not China. Why? Ask President Bush.

Boycotting is a bad idea but:

The Chinese government is one of the most oppressive on the planet. They produce goods with slave labor, outlaw real labor unions, and send us shoddy cheap products that we seem to love. Also U.S. companies such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others aid in the oppression of the Chinese and others that they control by force.

But Chinese government did not research on nuclear weapons, like Middle East countries or N. Korea.
Many brand-named companies, such as Gap, Starbucks, in the U.S also use cheap labors from the third world countries or developing countries. They tricked poor people to work for them too.
For poor or bad quality products, China should not be the only side to take responsibilities. Whoever order those products, they have quality control, quality assurance people to check all products before they sign to receive the order. If these products are not qualified to safety or design standard, the buyers can reject instead of taking the orders then blame the Chinese manufacture.
Chinese manufactures do their jobs according to what the design, blue print, and materials the buyer requested. so, it's Chinese faults because of the design isn't safe? it's Chinese faults because of the materials didn't meet the buyer's standard?
Again, Yahoo Hong Kong news said people who support the independent of Tibet planned to carry bombs to the Olympics, and planned to kidnap athletes, Should Chinese government stop these violent crimes first?

But Chinese government did not research on nuclear weapons, like Middle East countries or N. Korea.
Many brand-named companies, such as Gap, Starbucks, in the U.S also use cheap labors from the third world countries or developing countries. They tricked poor people to work for them too.
For poor or bad quality products, China should not be the only side to take responsibilities. Whoever order those products, they have quality control, quality assurance people to check all products before they sign to receive the order. If these products are not qualified to safety or design standard, the buyers can reject instead of taking the orders then blame the Chinese manufacture.
Chinese manufactures do their jobs according to what the design, blue print, and materials the buyer requested. so, it's Chinese faults because of the design isn't safe? it's Chinese faults because of the materials didn't meet the buyer's standard?
Again, Yahoo Hong Kong news said people who support the independent of Tibet planned to carry bombs to the Olympics, and planned to kidnap athletes, Should Chinese government stop these violent crimes first?