it is for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games

How sorrowful it is to see that the Olympics are being turned into a means of pressure and political leverage! Owing to numerous pro-Tibet and anti-Chinese protest actions, it is for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that the IOC was considering the possibility of cutting short the relay, which cannot but give sorrow to too many people around the world!
At the same time, these protest actions can help to extract the real party that might be interested in bringing Beijing into discredit. Mind this, the first legs of the global torch relay that took place in Turkey, Russia and Kazakhstan, were never clouded by any anti-Chinese actions and attempts to disrupt the relay or put out the flame. You know why? Because these countries try to make their own policy independent of Washington! The US bears minimal influence upon these countries (or no influence at all) and fails to impose its will on their authorities. Turkey, for example, has long ago stopped being Uncle Sam's dummy. That's why no man tried to disrupt the relay there.
As for "trouble-free, enlightened and civilized" Europe, the governments of France and Great Britain are known for their servile attitude to Washington, and that's why all protest actions were taking place there. That's exactly France and GB where the US secret services were able to show their full-fledged might and start that stir targeted at China. It's ?'cause those provocations were done actually upon sufferance of official authorities!