DEADLY RESOLUTION

Savannah Morning News, GA
Oct 12 2007

A House committee vote could endanger the war effort in Iraq.

WEDNESDAY’S VOTE by the House Foreign Affairs Committee spotlighting
the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians almost a century ago is either
boneheaded bad timing or a deliberate attempt to sabotage the American
war effort in Iraq.

While historians agree that the deaths occurred, the committee vote
branded the atrocity with the politically charged term of genocide
on the part of Turks at the end of World War I.

Although the vote has yet to go to the floor of the full House, the
committee’s action could endanger our military’s use of its base in
Turkey, and foul the delicate balance of peace in northern Iraq.

House Resolution 106 has for years been the subject of
vigorous lobbying from both sides of the issue by Turkey and
Armenian-Americans. Turkey claims the number of deaths has been
inflated and that Turks also died in the civil war that roiled the
area at the end of the wider World War I.

However one might feel about recognizing the plight of the Armenians
more than 90 years ago, it is difficult to imagine a worse time to
anger Turkey, an important NATO ally.

According to the Associated Press, some 70 percent of U.S. air cargo
bound for Iraq and a third of the fuel used in the war goes through
Turkey.

What’s more, it is only through fervent diplomatic efforts that the
United States has convinced Turkey not to cross the northern border
of Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish separatists agitating for independence
from Turkey. Both the United States and the European Union label the
Kurdish Workers’ Party, or PKK, as a terrorist organization.

However, the U.S. strongly opposes a military incursion by Turkey
into Iraqi Kurdistan for fear it would destabilize one of Iraq’s only
peaceful sectors.

It should also be noted that after France’s lower house of parliament
passed a bill last year making it illegal to deny the deaths were
genocide, Turkey cut off military relations with that country. And
that’s even though the measure was never passed by France’s upper
house to become law.

Analysts say Turkey is not likely to take such drastic action in
relation to its much broader military relationship with the United
States.

But Turkey is a democracy as well, and its leaders are subject to
public pressure.

That means our soldiers on the ground could see some repercussions from
the foolishly timed action of American politicians safely ensconced
at the Capitol.

Many more deaths caused by rebels based in northern Iraq, and Turkey’s
leaders might succumb to public outcry to put an end to the violence.

Heaven help the 19 Democrats and eight Republicans who voted the
measure out of committee if House Resolution 106 triggers a new
eruption of violence in Iraq.