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BUSH ADMINISTRATION LOBBYING THE HOUSE NOT TO PASS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
RTT News, NY
http://www.rttnews.com/FOREX/politicalnews.asp? date=10/10/2007&item=12
Oct 10 2007
With the House Foreign Affairs Committee preparing to vote on a
resolution declaring the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
in Turkey during World War I to be genocide, the Bush administration
lobbied heavily against passing of the bill, saying it would hurt
relations with a strategically important U.S. ally.
Urging U.S. legislators not to pass the resolution, President Bush
said on Wednesday "This resolution is not the right response to these
historic mass killings."
Addressing reporters outside the White House, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said passage of the resolution would be very
problematic for U.S. policy in the Middle East, because the U.S. is
very much dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally to help with
its efforts.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the government is very much
concerned about the resolution, because good relations with Turkey
are vital, as 70 percent of the air cargo intended for and 30 percent
of the fuel consumed by the U.S. forces in Iraq flies through Turkey,
which attacked Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq on Wednesday
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, refers to
"the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians
as genocide." With enough support in the full House, the resolution
is expected to pass, but the bill will still not be binding as Bush
staunchly opposes the resolution.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul warned in a letter to
President Bush that bilateral ties would suffer if Congress passes
the genocide bill.
Denmark Pushes For Political Dialogue With Taliban Guerillas []
10/10/2007 7:25:35 AM Six years after the US-led invasion of
Afghanistan, Denmark has backed the idea of opening a dialogue with
the Taliban guerrillas fighting NATO troops in the war-ravaged country.
Defense Minister Soeren Gade said in a live television interview
that if a dialogue could save lives to have the Taliban involved in
the political process, it should be explored but only on a condition
that the militant group lay down their arms and desist from attacking
civilians and NATO forces.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been urging Taliban militants to
meet the government for peace talks while the UN has also been saying
that a rising number of Taliban fighters also want peace.
However, the Taliban and the factional warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,
leader of the militant group Hezb-i-Islami, have spurned peace offers
insisting that international troops must first leave the country.
RTT News, NY
http://www.rttnews.com/FOREX/politicalnews.asp? date=10/10/2007&item=12
Oct 10 2007
With the House Foreign Affairs Committee preparing to vote on a
resolution declaring the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
in Turkey during World War I to be genocide, the Bush administration
lobbied heavily against passing of the bill, saying it would hurt
relations with a strategically important U.S. ally.
Urging U.S. legislators not to pass the resolution, President Bush
said on Wednesday "This resolution is not the right response to these
historic mass killings."
Addressing reporters outside the White House, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said passage of the resolution would be very
problematic for U.S. policy in the Middle East, because the U.S. is
very much dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally to help with
its efforts.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the government is very much
concerned about the resolution, because good relations with Turkey
are vital, as 70 percent of the air cargo intended for and 30 percent
of the fuel consumed by the U.S. forces in Iraq flies through Turkey,
which attacked Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq on Wednesday
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, refers to
"the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians
as genocide." With enough support in the full House, the resolution
is expected to pass, but the bill will still not be binding as Bush
staunchly opposes the resolution.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul warned in a letter to
President Bush that bilateral ties would suffer if Congress passes
the genocide bill.
Denmark Pushes For Political Dialogue With Taliban Guerillas []
10/10/2007 7:25:35 AM Six years after the US-led invasion of
Afghanistan, Denmark has backed the idea of opening a dialogue with
the Taliban guerrillas fighting NATO troops in the war-ravaged country.
Defense Minister Soeren Gade said in a live television interview
that if a dialogue could save lives to have the Taliban involved in
the political process, it should be explored but only on a condition
that the militant group lay down their arms and desist from attacking
civilians and NATO forces.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been urging Taliban militants to
meet the government for peace talks while the UN has also been saying
that a rising number of Taliban fighters also want peace.
However, the Taliban and the factional warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,
leader of the militant group Hezb-i-Islami, have spurned peace offers
insisting that international troops must first leave the country.