The Olympics haven’t even started and already the Gold Medal for courage is clear — the people of Tibet who are bravely facing down the Chinese communist regime. When it was announced that the 2008 Olympics would be in Beijing, some worried that it would lend prestige to the Communist leadership there. What has happened instead is that the games have emboldened the resistance, which hopes that, with the eyes of the world on China, the government’s latitude to crush opposition will be limited.

Many of the Tibetans are, as those who risk their lives for freedom so often are, motivated by religious faith. Secretary Rice issued a statement over the weekend urging China “to respect the fundamental and universally recognized right of all of its citizens to peacefully express their political and religious views” and calling on Beijing “to release monks and others who have been detained solely for the peaceful expression of their views.” Worthwhile sentiments, except that they were issued by the State Department under the unfortunate headline “Call for Calm in Tibet.”

The values of America beckon our government to call not for calm, but for the protests to spread throughout China and for freedom to spread with them. Imagine if, as America’s founding fathers sought freedom from Britain, France had responded with a “Call for Calm” in America. Between the people of Tibet and the Communist Chinese is not where America belongs. It belongs behind the people of Tibet and the rest of the forces of freedom in China, giving them encouragement and support.