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Worse Than Irrelevant
A congressional resolution about massacres in Turkey 90 years ago
endangers present-day U.S. security.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007; A16
IT'S EASY to dismiss a nonbinding congressional resolution accusing
Turkey of "genocide" against Armenians during World War I as
frivolous. Though the subject is a serious one -- more than 1 million
Armenians may have died at the hands of the Young Turk regime between
1915 and the early 1920s -- House Democrats pushing for a declaration
on the subject have petty and parochial interests. Rep. Adam B. Schiff
(D-Calif.), the chief sponsor, says he has more than 70,000 ethnic
Armenians in his Los Angeles district. Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.), who has promised to bring the measure to a vote on the
House floor, has important Armenian American campaign contributors.
How many House members can be expected to carefully weigh Mr. Schiff's
one-sided "findings" about long-ago events in Anatolia?
The problem is that any congressional action will be taken in deadly
earnest by Turkey's powerful nationalist politicians and therefore by
its government, which is already struggling to resist a tidal wave of
anti-Americanism in the country. Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, called President Bush on Friday to warn against the
resolution. Turkish politicians are predicting that responses to
passage by the House could include denial of U.S. access to Turkey's
Incirlik air base, a key staging point for military operations in Iraq
and Afghanistan. The Turkish parliament could also throw off
longstanding U.S. constraints and mandate an invasion of northern Iraq
to attack Kurdish separatists there, something that could destabilize
the only region of Iraq that is currently peaceful.
No wonder eight former secretaries of state, including Henry A.
Kissinger, James A. Baker III, George P. Shultz and Madeleine K.
Albright, have urged Ms. Pelosi to drop the resolution, saying it
"could endanger our national security interests in the region,
including our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and damage efforts to
promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey." Yet the measure is
proceeding: It is due to be voted on today by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee.
Supporters say congressional action is justified by the refusal of the
Turkish government to accept the truth of the crimes against
Armenians, and its criminalization of statements describing those
events as genocide. It's true that Turkey's military and political
class has been inexcusably slow to come to terms with that history,
and virulent nationalism -- not Islamism -- may be the country's most
dangerous political force. But Turkish writers and intellectuals are
pushing for a change in attitude, and formal and informal talks
between Turks and Armenians are making slow progress. A resolution by
Congress would probably torpedo rather than help such efforts. Given
that reality, and the high risk to vital U.S. security interests, the
Armenian genocide resolution cannot be called frivolous. In fact, its
passage would be dangerous and grossly irresponsible.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2007/10/09/AR2007100901892.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
A congressional resolution about massacres in Turkey 90 years ago
endangers present-day U.S. security.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007; A16
IT'S EASY to dismiss a nonbinding congressional resolution accusing
Turkey of "genocide" against Armenians during World War I as
frivolous. Though the subject is a serious one -- more than 1 million
Armenians may have died at the hands of the Young Turk regime between
1915 and the early 1920s -- House Democrats pushing for a declaration
on the subject have petty and parochial interests. Rep. Adam B. Schiff
(D-Calif.), the chief sponsor, says he has more than 70,000 ethnic
Armenians in his Los Angeles district. Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.), who has promised to bring the measure to a vote on the
House floor, has important Armenian American campaign contributors.
How many House members can be expected to carefully weigh Mr. Schiff's
one-sided "findings" about long-ago events in Anatolia?
The problem is that any congressional action will be taken in deadly
earnest by Turkey's powerful nationalist politicians and therefore by
its government, which is already struggling to resist a tidal wave of
anti-Americanism in the country. Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, called President Bush on Friday to warn against the
resolution. Turkish politicians are predicting that responses to
passage by the House could include denial of U.S. access to Turkey's
Incirlik air base, a key staging point for military operations in Iraq
and Afghanistan. The Turkish parliament could also throw off
longstanding U.S. constraints and mandate an invasion of northern Iraq
to attack Kurdish separatists there, something that could destabilize
the only region of Iraq that is currently peaceful.
No wonder eight former secretaries of state, including Henry A.
Kissinger, James A. Baker III, George P. Shultz and Madeleine K.
Albright, have urged Ms. Pelosi to drop the resolution, saying it
"could endanger our national security interests in the region,
including our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and damage efforts to
promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey." Yet the measure is
proceeding: It is due to be voted on today by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee.
Supporters say congressional action is justified by the refusal of the
Turkish government to accept the truth of the crimes against
Armenians, and its criminalization of statements describing those
events as genocide. It's true that Turkey's military and political
class has been inexcusably slow to come to terms with that history,
and virulent nationalism -- not Islamism -- may be the country's most
dangerous political force. But Turkish writers and intellectuals are
pushing for a change in attitude, and formal and informal talks
between Turks and Armenians are making slow progress. A resolution by
Congress would probably torpedo rather than help such efforts. Given
that reality, and the high risk to vital U.S. security interests, the
Armenian genocide resolution cannot be called frivolous. In fact, its
passage would be dangerous and grossly irresponsible.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2007/10/09/AR2007100901892.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress