DIPLOMATIC POST TANGLED IN HISTORY
by Michael Doyle

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
August 6, 2006 Sunday
Sunday First City Edition

The U.S. ambassadorship to Armenia is snagged on the nominee’s refusal
to call the slaughter of Armenians genocide.

Washington, D.C.

Armenian American activists are flexing their muscles to block approval
of a new U.S. ambassador to Armenia.

The delay is temporary, and career diplomat Richard Hoagland is
probably still a good bet to win the Yerevan posting. He must wait,
though, in a vivid illustration of how ethnic constituencies exert
political clout.

"We’re pretty fortunate to have leaders who do listen to what we have
to say," said Hygo Ohannessian, chairwoman of the Armenian National
Committee’s Central California chapter. "They know how the community
feels."

Instead of routinely confirming President Bush’s nominee as scheduled
last week , the GOP-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee
pushed Hoagland’s fate over into September.

Instigated by Democratic Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and John Kerry
of Massachusetts, the confirmation delay is a symbolic gesture, a
ratcheting up of pressure and a reflection of what Armenian National
Congress spokeswoman Elizabeth Chouldjian termed a "full-bore,
nationwide grassroots campaign."

Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota last week became the first Republican
to announce his opposition. Coleman, who is Jewish, told the Associated
Press that he feels "heightened sensitivity to the reality of genocide
and mass murder, and the importance of recognizing it for what it is."

Chouldjian said she has sent out e-mail advisories to about 50,000
activists nationwide and a postal mailing to an additional 15,000.

"It’s like anything; not everyone is involved," Ohannessian said,
"but those that are interested in this, are quite interested."

The activists and the senators dispute the Bush administration’s
refusal to acknowledge an Armenian genocide.

Hoagland, a 21-year State Department veteran and one-time ambassador
to Tajikistan, likewise sidestepped the word "genocide" at his June
28 confirmation hearing. Instead, he used words like "horrific" and
"tragedy" to describe the slaughter and deprivations in the Ottoman
Empire between 1918 and 1923.

Hoagland’s own ambassadorial qualifications have not been questioned.

Rather, he is more of a political hostage. The ambassador he seeks
to replace, John Evans, is a diplomatic lame duck after apparently
angering State Department officials with his public references to an
Armenian genocide.

"Mr. Hoagland is caught in the middle of the situation," said Natalie
Ravitz, spokeswoman for Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.

Boxer is one of nine Senate Foreign Relations Committee members to
press Hoagland on the Armenian genocide issue in follow-up written
questions. The questions from Armenia’s supporters are blunt; the
answers are unfailingly discreet.

"Please provide the State Department’s definition of the term
`genocide’ and an explanation of how the killing and forced exile of
1.5 million Armenians between 1915-1923 fails to meet that definition,"
Boxer urged.

Hoagland replied that "this tragedy is of such enormous human
significance that its historical assessment should be based not on
politics, but through heartfelt introspection among civic leaders,
scholars and the societies at large."

Although they don’t vote on nominations, House members have likewise
been weighing in. With 159 members, the Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues has rallied. Sixty-one House members wrote the State
Department protesting Evans’ removal, including Minnesota Democrats
Collin Peterson and Betty McCollum.

Still, when the dust settles, most nominated ambassadors win
confirmation. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has held hearings
on 476 nominations since President Bush took office in January 2001,
committee records show. Only a handful of would-be ambassadors have
had their nominations thrown back to the White House.

"Defining `winning’ is always a challenge," said Bryan Ardouny,
executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America, "but this has
been a very good opportunity to have U.S. senators look at history
and understand the past."