As I noted yesterday, President Bush has called on Congress to reject a resolution condemning the genocide of Armenians committed by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Well, Bush’s request hasn’t gotten very far yet, since the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the resolution last night:
A House panel voted yesterday to approve calling the mass killings of Armenians that began in 1915 genocide, defying the White House, which warned that the measure could damage U.S.-Turkey relations.
The Foreign Affairs Committee passed the nonbinding resolution on a 27 to 21 bipartisan vote. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has promised she will bring the resolution to the full House for a vote.
Turkey, one of Washington’s most staunch Islamic allies, lobbied hard to kill the measure, launching a multimillion dollar campaign and threatening to curtail its cooperation in the Iraq war. President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates were joined by eight former secretaries of state and three former defense secretaries in condemning the proposal.
“This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror,” Bush told reporters in the White House Rose Garden yesterday.
But the committee’s chairman, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), said, “We have to weigh the desire to express our solidarity with the Armenian people . . . against the risk that it could cause young men and women in the uniform of the United States armed services to pay an even heavier price.” Lantos supported the measure, as did most lawmakers from California, whose large and influential Armenian American community has pursued similar proposals for decades.
The tally was far closer than the last vote to support the resolution, in 2005. But committee members that year knew the resolution would probably not reach the floor, and it did not. This time, Pelosi’s support makes a full House vote much more likely, causing committee members under heavy pressure by Turkey to think twice about their positions.
Pelosi did not lobbying colleagues yesterday, viewing it as a “matter of conscience,” an aide said.
Today, in response to the Committee’s action, Turkey recalled it’s Ambassador to the United States for “consultations”:
ANKARA (Reuters) - NATO member Turkey recalled its ambassador to the United States for consultations on Thursday after a vote in a U.S. congressional committee branded killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks genocide.
The committee’s decision is expected to weaken U.S. influence over Turkey at a time when the government is considering a military incursion into mainly Kurdish northern Iraq to fight Kurdish rebels.
Turkey’s prime minister will ask parliament next week to authorize a military push although analysts say a large cross-border operation remains unlikely.
Washington fears such an offensive could destabilize Iraq’s most peaceful area and potentially the wider region.
The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved on Wednesday a resolution branding the killings during World War One as genocide.
The issue of the Armenian massacres is deeply sensitive in Turkey, where it is a crime to portray them as “genocide.”
The non-binding resolution now goes to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Democratic leaders say there will be a vote by mid-November.
Turkey, which has the second largest army in NATO, has said bilateral ties and military cooperation could be damaged if Congress passes the measure.
The truth of the matter is this. Turkey needs us more than we need Turkey. If they’re going to be offended by the fact that the United States is recognizing historical reality and condemning an action committed by an Empire that no longer exists, then that’s their problem.
October 11th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Yes, indeedy - Turkey needs to get over themselves. Look - this happened long before most Turks now alive were born, so does it really affect them? Secondly, if Bush says not to do something, it’s pretty much a given it something that should be done. He wants us to ignore REALITY and overlook evil just so he can further his insane (and illegal) war in Iraq?
Not.
October 11th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Agreed!! It’s just rediculous that we have been hiding our heads in the sand since 1915 and ignore facts!! Sadam was hung for his atrocities and as Americans we have an obligation to the people of the world who have lost theirs. America cannot stand by and be bullied, we must practice what we preach. Turkey seems to demonstrate by their threats, they are no better today then the ottoman’s of yesterday.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
It has long been suspected and now confirmed. Our enemies have a staunch ally in the War on Terror located within our own House of Representatives. It may soon prove the same in the Senate also.
Rep. Lantos summed it up nicely when he said “We have to weigh the desire to express our solidarity with the Armenian people . . . against the risk that it could cause young men and women in the uniform of the United States armed services to pay an even heavier price.” Clearly, the House of Representatives put their own political ambitions and the concerns of handful of select individuals ahead of doing what is right for the entire nation. Obviously, they value their political pocket book more than the safety of our men and women in harm’s way.
Since when is it the place of the House of Representatives to make statements condemning foreign nations? Regardless of whether their statement is binding or not, there are far more pressing issues on the home front that need their “binding” action.
Clearly this is a calculated move in line with the Democratic strategy to do whatever it takes be sand in the war machine. War is not desirable, but at times it is a necessary evil.
To blatantly take deliberate moves that thwart and hinder any success that may otherwise be made in time of war is tantamount to treason. With such an elected body in place that is against every move the President makes, how can there be any success in Iraq.
If the Democrats want out of the war so bad, get out of the way and let us do what is necessary to get the job done.
The House of Representatives could learn a lot from the Kentucky motto: “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”. As a nation the stakes are much higher.
October 11th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Robert,
Why is the House wrong for recognizing a far too long ignored fact of history ?
Turkey is clearly being overly sensitive here. Or, perhaps they just don’t like dealing with the truth.
October 12th, 2007 at 2:53 am
Good stuff…if I can chime in:
The Turkish Foreign Ministry insists that “it has been accused of something that never happened in history.” With such statements coming straight from the horse’s mouth - what kind of diplomacy is possible? Damage control is possible.
The U.S. has mission critical supply routes that run through Turkey and provide crucial strategic support to U.S. troops in Iraq.
Continued at: http://www.gummyprint.com/blog/armenian-genocide-resurrected-blamed-on-ottomans-turkeys-government-is-upset/
October 12th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I am not a writer. This fact is probably evident from all the grammatical errors…;) I never realized how difficult it is to put thoughts into logical order and state them in written word.
I truly have no opinion on whether or not there was a genocide committed against the Armenians by Turkey. If this happened as stated, it was a long time ago. I believe if any country or culture looks back far enough, undesirable facts would be uncovered. The validity either side’s statements is not the point I was making.
Regardless of how anyone may personally feel on the subject, I merely do not believe it is the appointed task of the House to make judgments like this latest one, especially when there is so much more at stake in the overall National interest than a relatively few people’s hurt feelings. On the part of the House members who voted for this resolution, their action demonstrates poor judgment, a lack of understanding priorities and a callus disregard of the consequences, which just may include a lot of collateral damage.
It should not matter how anyone would feel about the justification of our presence in Iraq. The fact is, we are there. In order to get the job done and for us to get out, we need to present a unified front to the enemy, indeed, to the world. Consider a team of horses pulling a wagon. Their destination will attained much quicker if they are all pulling in the same direction and they will expend a lot less effort getting there. I include the Administration in that team as well.
The House needs to lift their collective heads out of their back yards, and consider the big picture.
October 12th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Finally. Acknowledgement. It actaully isn’t the first by the USA, just the first at such a high level. The President should stay out of this. He hasn’t a clue what this mean for millions of people today, and the souls of Milions who perished, Armenians and Hellenes alike.
Besides, the modern day nation of Turkey is offended only because they claim that the Ottoman Empire (so called by the Brittish that fed them (sometimes via Hapsburgs)) was the greatest there ever was. Hell, I thought GB, UK, whatever, makes that claim alone…
October 12th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Come on guys…the House passes resolutions like this frequently. This is simply a non-binding resolution affirming the record of the United States. Have you even read the resolution? It should not be a big deal. Turkey has spent millions of dollars (think about how much aid Turkey gets from the US each year…those dollars were your tax dollars) to make a firestorm of this issue. Who does Turkey think it is telling our Congress what to do? What kind of country do they think this is? Will they strong-arm, threaten and blackmail us into turning a blind eye on the truth because they themselves cannot face their past? If you want to know why it is important to pass this resolution ask yourself if you are content with what is happening in Darfur right now. There is a cycle of Genocide. It will reoccur if the civilized world does not stand up and say “STOP.” One way to do that is to recognize it when it has happened and send a message to the world that it will not be tolerated.
October 13th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Robert Stewart,
Turkey has only been our friend because we have paid them to be our friend. And that’s just the Turkish government. The people there have been as anti-US as in many Muslim majority countries.
I also want the US to be victorious in Iraq, but not at the cost of being muzzled when it comes to stating the truth. No threats or bullying should stand in the way of any organized body from being able to say the truth.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:07 am
As Rep. Sherman said it himself: we cannot offer genocide denial as a perk of friendship. If Turkey is our friend, are we supposed to look the other way when this issue comes up? PATHETIC. If the US truly wants Turkey to become a democracy like the rest of Europe, then Turkey must come to grips with what it has done in the past. The United States is just doing what the rest of Europe and the rest of the world has already done with passing this resolution. Its a message, “Turkey, genocide denial will not be tolerated, and you cannot just omit your history because it makes you look bad”. I don’t want the United States (my country) to be an accomplice to this campaign of genocide denial. This resolution is long, long overdue!
Furthermore, some arguments exist basing off the premise that Turkey is strategically and geographically essential to US foreign policy. If this is true (and well think its blown up way more than it is) then it still does not get in the way of this resolution because frankly, I resent the fact that the Turkey is holding the truth hostage. The United States spends an incredible amount of money on its military and this war in general. If worse comes to worse, the US will have to fly around Turkey instead of over it to bring supplies to its troops. What does that mean? More money because your using more jet fuel. BIG WOOP! I should imagine that depending on the amount of money the US spends on this war, the difference on some more gas for planes will be insignificant. Should the US deny rights to the silenced and oppressed because we don’t want to agitate an ally? If Turkey was a true ally, then it would not hold conditions to friendship.
Moreover, if you look at the economical figures, (and I have) Turkey’s economy is dependant on the United States and because of this I highly doubt Turkey will truly break of relations with the United States because of this resolution.
Finally, let me remind you that Turkey has threatened other countries the same way they are threatening the US when these other countries passed these resolutions. Economic trade between countries who have passed resolutions despite threats from Turkey have not gone down, but in fact they have gone up (after France passed a resolution, trade went up 225% and that is just one of the many examples of how Turkey is an artist at formulating these false threats it knows it cannot possible follow through with)
October 14th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
There is not much difference betweek the current Turkish Government and the current President of Iran. The Iranian President denies the Holocoast and the Turkish governmn et denies the Armenian genecide. The Turkish Government is like Baghdad Bob denying the evident. How can any civilized National associate with sociopaths like the current Turkish sociopaths?
Kevin Aslanian, victim of the Armenian Holocaust
October 15th, 2007 at 9:32 am
FACT: THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DID OCCUR…AND YES IT STILL MATTERS!!! GENOCIDE WILL NOT AND CANNOT BE OVERLOOKED!!!
ITS A WELL DOCUMENTED FACT..IT WAS NOT A TRAGEDY OR CIVIL WAR….HUNDREDS OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS AND CORRESPONDANCES SEIZED FROM THE OTTOMAN TURKS CONFIRM THAT 1.5 MILLION ARMENIANS WERE IN FACT DISPLACED FROM THERE HOMES AND MARCHED INTO THE DESERT WHERE THEY WERE IN FACT MURDERED OR LEFT TO DIE…….REGARDLESS OF AGE!!! THE TURKS HAVE NO FRIENDS AND THE U.S DOES NOT NEED THEM….PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT WE DO NOT HAVE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA BUT HAVE A BASE THERE…THESE FAMILIAR INTIMIDATION TACTICS WILL NOT WORK…. DO NOT BELIEVE THE LIES!!! I APPLAUD THE HOUSE AND SPEAKER PELOSI FOR HAVING THE GREAT MORAL CHARACTER AND COURAGE TO TAKE UP THIS ISSUE..
October 16th, 2007 at 1:00 am
This is nothing but TREASON at a time of war!!
1917 is when the resolution should have been passed and sure as hell not 90 years later when the only muslim country providing us a base of operations is insulted so we surrender a critical base of operations to the Liberal Democrats…treasonous bastards!!
The only question left is shall we have them AND you drawn and quartered or shall we simply call in a firing squad.
October 16th, 2007 at 8:13 am
I am dumbfounded at anyone who thinks this is a good time to be announcing that an incident 100 years ago should now be talked about in our congress, at the same time that the country involved is our strongest strategical point. This is a blatant attempt to mess with our setup of allies! You talk about endangering our troops, how about telling them “the base you came from is closed, there will be more gunfire in the one region that is semi peaceful, the conflict will be escalated….oh by the way this is all because your home land congress has decided to bring up something form 100 years ago for no good reason. You wanna acknowledge something, put it in a history book, not in a resolution of congress while our strong ally says if you do we will cut you off….who the F*** thought this would be a GOOD idea??
October 16th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Are you kidding me? The completely ineffectual morons in congress are trying to politicize any damn thing they can. Are they going to pass a resolution that we -the Americans - committed genocide against the Native Americans when we stole this country from them? Get a grip, it is over and done with, move on. The Turkish people are our closest ally in the Islamic world and a member of NATO. For political BS we are going to ruin that relationship? It just gets better and better. While they are rearranging the deck chairs our beautiful ship of state is sinking.
October 16th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Come on people, stop being afraid of Turkey.
And if you want to turn this into politics, then blame the Republican Congress for not passing this earlier.
October 17th, 2007 at 2:23 am
Most Armenian Americans are conservatives that vote mostly Republican. This is also a blatant vote grab as well as putting our men and women in the armed forces in Iraq at risk. Pretty much a win/win for the dems.
October 17th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
You…have…got…to…be…kidding me. How anyone can justify this resolution at this point in history, especially on the basis of mere egalitarianism, has got to have more than just a couple of screws loose.
There was ample evidence that Stalin was involved in massive pogroms within the USSR before, during, and after WWII. While a definite affront to humanity, our grandparents had much better sense than our parents (I’m 37) about how things actually work in the world and realized that they would need the Soviets’ help to end the Nazis.
This is no different. I know nothing of the events around which this resolution swirl, but if they are true…so be it. Nail the bastards to the wall that did it and erect the appropriate monuments to salve grandchildren’s emotional trauma. However…YOU DON’T DO IT RIGHT NOW. YOU DON’T DO IT TO OUR ONLY MUSLIM ALLY.
What you DO, is you lead by example and shut down the damned border with Turkey to ANY terrorists. The juxtipostion isn’t lost on me here; Laos and Cambodia come to mind, without even mentioning Syria and Iran.
The Speaker will speak platitudes about what’s right for humanity and will probably invoke children of this stripe or that and blame everything on the opposition.
First rule of leadership…everything is your fault, Mrs. Speaker.
October 18th, 2007 at 12:16 am
Scott,
The Stalin analogy is not accurate. We really DID need USSR to fight against Nazi Germany. That was a full blown war and we couldn’t do it any other way.
Do we really need Turkey? Sure, they make the war cheaper, because they are right next door, but we don’t need them as we needed Stalin back in WWII. Think of it this way, why is it that WWII (a much bigger war) was over in 6 years (1939-1945) yet we cannot finish this one in Iraq (over 4 years now), even though it is a much smaller war? My point is that if we really engaged all of our efforts, we can finish this war in less than a year. But neither part wants to do it. We don’t need Turkey as we needed Stalin.
My second point is that I don’t think Turkey wants a successful Iraq. Because then we won’t need Turkey (as much, if you will) if we already have a pro-US Iraq in the region.
Finally, let’s not forget that our alliance with USSR spawned decades of cold war. In other words, if we let Turkey have it’s way, we’ll be hostage to them for a much longer time (combined with the fact that, as I mentioned, Turkey does not want Iraq to succeed).
October 18th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
One off-topic counterpoint first…our alliance with the USSR did not spawn a cold war. That would have happened were we allies or not. Two completely different ideologies armed with nuclear weapons is what spawned the cold war, strange bedfellows or not.
My original point is that bringing this particular issue to bear at this moment is questionable at the least…horrible judgement at the worst.
Rereading some of the comments in support of the measure, stating that “Turkey needs to get over itself because none of the Turks living now were even alive at the time”. I challange those holding that particular sentiment to transpose “Turkey” with “black Americans”, and “Turks” with “blacks”.
October 19th, 2007 at 2:11 am
this is just as bad as the timing of the iranian president denying the holocaust in the middle of a middle east crisis. This is simply not the time for it and the people doing it must know they’re agitating the situation.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
what about the azerbaycan genocide at the hands of the armenians?????????????
October 19th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Scott,
Right you are on the cold war point. But I still think that if we just say “now is not the right time,” we’ll be saying that for decades. And some people, I guess, are perfectly okay with that. I am not.
Re: “black Americans”
The US does not have any laws on the books holding back black Americans, unlike Turkey, with their Article 301 (I believe) that makes it illegal to question “Turkishness,” which I find ironic since they keep talking about how we should leave this matter for historians to decide (and then prosecute those those historians under 301).
Besides, we have dealt with our slavery history more than Turks have with their issues. Wouldn’t you agree?
October 20th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Get ready to watch this video on the Armenian Genocide Resolution!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=L3_VOukV8KQ
Hye Standards Unite!
October 21st, 2007 at 3:41 pm
When Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied the Jewish Holocaust a few months ago, all the American politicians were shocked and in an uproar. However, George Bush is doing the exact same thing with the Armenian Holocaust by not supporting the resolution. There are more than 20 western countries (including Canada, France, Germany, Russia and Argentina) that have acknowledged the Armenian Genocide. It’s embarrassing that a country like the United States of America who proclaims to be a big supporter of human and civil rights, truth and “justice for all” can be unsupportive of such an atrocious act of inhumanity.
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I do not disbelieve it happened, nor do I think that it should go unadressed. Now, however, is not the time. There was ample time before and there will be ample time after things cool off to bring this up again.
My aging hippie father-in-law, when discussing this very issue, said that “it’s never a bad time to apologize”. Like most hippies, he misses the point. Sure, it’s never a bad time to apologize, but likewise, it’s rarely the right time the FORCE someone to apologize against their will. When you tell a five-year-old to apologize for something, they’re doing it because a) you are telling them to, and b) they want you off their back. They don’t mean it to the core of their being like an honest apology.
The same could be said for nation-states, as I believe the dealings between sovereign nations resembles grade-school antics. I forget which Dark Ages pope it was that said, “Do you realize, my son, with how little understanding the world is ruled?”
So true.