est
MediaMatters
for America
October 12, 2007
NY Times again omitted Bush’s 2000 pledge to "properly recognize[]"
"genocidal campaign" against Armenians
Summary: An October 12 New York Times article about a House of
Representatives resolution labeling the killing of Armenians by the
Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923 as genocide reported that the Bush
administration opposed the resolution. However, the article did not
mention that as a presidential candidate in 2000, Bush sent a letter
to the Armenian National Committee of America, in which, according to
a press release on the organization’s website, he wrote that "[t]he
Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that defies
comprehension" and that if elected president, he "would ensure that
our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of the Armenian
people." An October 11 Times article also did not mention the letter.
An October 12 New York Times article about the resolution approved by
the House Foreign Affairs Committee on October 10 — labeling the
killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923 as genocide
— reported that the Bush administration opposed the resolution
without mentioning that as a presidential candidate in 2000, Bush sent
a letter to the Armenian National Committee of America, in which,
according to a press release on the organization’s website, he wrote
that "[t]he Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that
defies comprehension." According to the excerpt of the letter posted
on the website, Bush also said that if elected president, he "would
ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of the
Armenian people," as Media Matters for America documented. The New
York Times also did not mention Bush’s pledge in an October 11 article
about Bush’s objection to the House committee’s resolution. Similarly,
two separate reports on the October 11 edition of CNN’s The Situation
Room noted the administration’s objections to the resolution without
mentioning Bush’s reported promise in 2000 to "properly recognize[]"
the Armenian people’s "tragic suffering." During the 5 p.m. ET hour of
The Situation Room on October 10, CNN senior Pentagon correspondent
Jamie McIntyre noted:
At issue, a House resolution labeling the killings of hundreds of
thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I genocide.
President Bush used that word himself as a candidate back in 2000,
but says now the timing couldn’t be worse.
McIntyre did not note Bush’s 2000 pledge, and CNN has not mentioned
the fact that Bush had previously used the term "genocidal campaign"
to describe the Ottoman Empire’s treatment of the Armenians since
McIntyre’s report on the October 10 edition of The Situation Room.
In an October 10 statement, Bush urged members of the House "to oppose
the Armenian genocide resolution":
On another issue before Congress, I urge members to oppose the
Armenian genocide resolution now being considered by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee. We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the
Armenian people that began in 1915. 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.
>From the October 12 New York Times article:
The committee vote in the House, though nonbinding and largely
symbolic, rebuffed an intense campaign by the White House and earlier
warnings from Turkey’s government that such a vote would gravely
strain relations with the United States.
In Washington, the Bush administration tried to ease the hard
feelings between the countries, and vowed to try to defeat the
resolution on Capitol Hill.
"One of the reasons we opposed the resolution in the House
yesterday is that the president has expressed on behalf of the
American people our horror at the tragedy of 1915," said Dana Perino,
President Bush’s chief spokeswoman. "But at the same time, we have
national security concerns, and many of our troops and supplies go
through Turkey. They are a very important ally in the war on terror,
and we are going to continue to try to work with them. And we hope
that the House does not put forward a full vote."
[…]
For his part, Ross Wilson, the United States ambassador to Turkey,
also tried to calm relations, issuing a statement on Thursday saying
that the partnership between Turkey and the United States was strong
and would remain so. He added that he, President Bush and Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice regretted the committee decision.
During the 4 p.m. ET hour of The Situation Room, anchor Wolf Blitzer
stated that "the Bush administration is warning of some major
consequences, ramifications, if the full House moves forward with this
legislation." In the 5 p.m. ET hour of the program, CNN State
Department correspondent Zain Verjee reported that Rice will be "be
reaching out to top House leaders, trying to convince them not to let
the resolution go through in the full House." Neither Blitzer nor
Verjee mentioned the pledge Bush reportedly made in 2000.
According to the Armenian National Committee of America’s press
release, Bush called the Turkish killing of Armenians a "genocidal
campaign" and vowed that the United States would "properly
recognize[]" the event. The blog Think Progress highlighted the press
release on October 10. Despite his pledge as a candidate to "ensure"
this recognition, as president, Bush does not appear to have used the
term "genocide" — or a variant thereof — to describe the killings,
according to a search of the White House website. From the "partial
text" of Bush’s letter on the Armenian National Committee of America
website:
The twentieth century was marred by wars of unimaginable
brutality, mass murder and genocide. History records that the
Armenians were the first people of the last century to have endured
these cruelties. The Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign
that defies comprehension and commands all decent people to remember
and acknowledge the facts and lessons of an awful crime in a century
of bloody crimes against humanity. If elected President, I would
ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of the
Armenian people.
>From the 4 p.m. ET hour of CNN’s The Situation Room on October 11:
BLITZER: Turkey recalling its ambassador to the United States. The
announcement coming after a House panel approved a bill describing
mass killings of Armenians during World War I as genocide.
Our congressional correspondent Dana Bash is on the Hill. She’s
watching this story for us.
Dana, the Bush administration is warning of some major
consequences, ramifications, if the full House moves forward with this
legislation.
BASH: They sure are, Wolf. But you know, a small but very vocal
Armenian-American community, they have been lobbying Congress for
decades to call the mass killings actually genocide.
In the past, congressional leaders simply have not voted for it
because of that kind of pressure from the Turks and from presidents,
Democrats and Republicans, and the intense lobbying from high-powered
lobbyists that the Turks hired in order to do that. But that pressure
is not swaying the Democratic leaders now running Congress.
[begin video clip]
BASH: Mass killings of Armenians by the Turks took place
nearly a century ago. So why is the House moving to label it genocide
now?
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Because now — there’s
never a good time. And all of us in the Democratic leadership have
supported — are making — reiterating Americans’ acknowledgement of a
genocide.
BASH: Defiant Democratic leaders say they view this as part of
their mandate, restoring America’s moral authority around the world.
REP. TOM LANTOS (D-CA): When the Turkish government says there
was no genocide of Armenians, we have to set them straight.
BASH: For Foreign Affairs chairman Tom Lantos, fighting for
human rights is personal.
BASH: You escaped two labor camps in Hungary?
LANTOS: Yes, yes.
BASH: And you were how old?
LANTOS: Well, by that time, I was 16.
BASH: He is the only Holocaust survivor in Congress.
LANTOS: I feel that I have a tremendous opportunity as a
survivor of the Holocaust to bring a moral dimension to our foreign
policy.
BASH: Lantos pushed the symbolic resolution calling Armenian
killings genocide despite intense pressure against it from the Bush
administration. He dismisses Turkish warnings this could jeopardize
U.S. relations with Turkey, a critical Mideast ally that insists the
Armenian deaths were not genocide.
BASH: What if it says, "You’re not going to be able to use our
air space anymore," or, "You’re not going to be able to use our
country to get critical supplies to the men and women who are fighting
in Iraq"?
LANTOS: Well, with all due respect to the Turkish government,
the Turkish-American relationship is infinitely more valuable to
Turkey than it is to the United States. The Turkish government will
not act against the United States because that would be against their
own interests. I’m convinced of this.
[end video clip]
BASH: But the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee
disagrees, and that Democratic chairman, Ike Skelton [D-MO], Wolf,
wrote this letter to the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, which CNN has
obtained. And in it, he warns that the Armenian resolution could
actually hinder the Democrats’ chief goal in this Congress, and that
is bringing troops home from Iraq. He says that is because Turkey, of
course, is a key transfer port — point, I should say, for getting
troops home from Iraq.
BLITZER: Dana Bash on the Hill for us. Thanks, Dana, very much.
>From the 5 p.m. ET hour of The Situation Room on October 11:
BLITZER: A strong reaction from Turkey right now. The Turkish
government pulling its ambassador from the United States. That after a
House committee passed a resolution saying Turkey committed genocide
in World War I against Armenians.
Our State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee, is following this
story for us, and it’s escalating literally by the hour, Zain. What’s
going on?
VERJEE: It is, Wolf. Here at the State Department, officials are
doing a lot of damage control. The big worry here today at the State
Department is that could Turkey turn from a friend into an enemy.
[begin video clip]
VERJEE: Turks take to the streets, tired of supporting the
U.S. and having little to show for it. Turkish officials say they just
don’t trust the U.S., which they thought was their closest ally. They
feel betrayed by a congressional committee vote calling the killing of
Armenians by Turks in World War I genocide. Turkey warned of
consequences, and now it’s making good on its threat, recalling its
ambassador the U.S. for consultations.
TOM CASEY (State Department spokesman): That is their
decision. I think that it certainly will not do anything to limit our
efforts to continue on reach out to Turkish officials.
VERJEE: Turkey is threatening more action if the resolution
passes the full House.
EGEMAN BAGIS (foreign policy adviser to Turkish prime
minister): Despite our warnings, U.S. Congress wanted to play
hardball. We now have to play hardball, as well.
VERJEE: Like cutting off its air space to the U.S. military,
like it did with France and Canada, who passed similar measures. It
could also end access to Incirlik Air Base, which the U.S. military
uses to transport critical cargo and fuel supplies to Iraq.
RICE: The passage of this resolution at this time would,
indeed, be very problematic for everything that we are trying to do in
the Middle East.
VERJEE: And might open a dangerous new front in the Iraq war.
Turkey wants to destroy Kurdish rebels, called the PKK, that have
launched cross-border attacks from northern Iraq, killing Turks.
BAGIS: PKK for us is what Al Qaeda is to you.
VERJEE: And Turkish officials say if the U.S. won’t go after
the PKK, Turkey will. Turkish helicopters crossed into Iraqi airspace
Thursday, and troops are dangerously poised along the border.
[end video clip]
VERJEE: And secretary of state, Wolf, Condoleezza Rice is reaching
out to the top Turkish leadership, trying to assure them that the U.S.
is a strong friend and a very good ally and that Turkey is important
to the U.S. She’s also going to be reaching out to top House leaders,
trying to convince them not to let the resolution go through in the
full House. Wolf.
BLITZER: Zain, lots at stake right now.
>From the 5 p.m. ET hour of The Situation Room on October 10:
BLITZER: The Bush administration right now is in a tense standoff
with Congress over a resolution that would pin the genocide label on
Turkey for mass killings carried out during the First World War. The
White House and military commanders are deeply worried about the
impact on the current war in Iraq by what’s happening in the House of
Representatives right now.
Let’s go to live to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie
McIntyre. He’s watching this story. Why is the Pentagon, in
particular, Jamie, so concerned?
McINTYRE: Well, it’s coming at a really bad time. Turkey sent
warplanes and attack helicopters into northern Iraq today to pound
Kurdish rebel positions, a possible prelude to an incursion. The U.S.
is urging restraint on Turkey, and, at the same time, the Bush
administration is accusing Congress of making things worse.
[begin video clip]
PELOSI: The House will be in order.
McINTYRE: As if to underscore her defiance of the Bush
administration, Speaker Nancy Pelosi gaveled the House to order with a
prayer by an Armenian chaplain.
CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II (Armenian Apostolic Church): With a
solemn burden of history, we remember the victims of the genocide of
the Armenians.
McINTYRE: That historical note has become a testy
confrontation with the White House. At issue, a House resolution
labeling the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks during World War I genocide.
President Bush used that word himself as a candidate back in
2000, but says now the timing couldn’t be worse.
BUSH: 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.
McINTYRE: The Pentagon argues the resolution would anger
Turkey and hamper the war effort in Iraq. Seventy percent of air
cargo, including armored MRAP vehicles, as well as 30 percent of fuel,
fly by way of the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.
– K.H.