Amen! That was my very first thought as well :) You would think history provides sufficient demonstrations that private deals with tyrants usually backfire in the end.

The Dalai Lama is an amazing person; always has a smile and kind words, even in response to threats and anger from the Chinese govt. I loved his responses after meeting Bush: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/10/17/dalai.lama.ap/index.htm...