HOUSE COMMITTEE SIDES WITH TRUTH, WHILE BUSH SIDES WITH TURKEY
By Harut Sassounian, Publisher, The California Courier
AZG Armenian Daily
18/10/2007
The Los Angeles Times published last week a very brief, yet insightful
letter to the editor. In mere twelve words, reader Daniel P. Quinn
of St. Petersburg, Florida, summarized Pres. Bush’s position on the
Armenian Genocide resolution: "President Bush was asked to choose
between two allies: Turkey or truth." Regrettably, Pres. Bush made
the wrong choice.
He chose to side with Turkey rather than the truth.
Standing in the White House Rose Garden, just hours before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee was to vote on the Genocide resolution,
Pres. Bush shamelessly told reporters: "This resolution is not
the right response to these historic mass killings." The way the
President has dealt with the Armenian Genocide issue is as follows –
make false promises to Armenian-Americans during the presidential
campaign in order to get their contributions and votes, and fool them
into believing that he will keep his word after the election.
Pres. Bush may be able to get away with misrepresenting facts while
in the White House, but he cannot force Speaker Nancy Pelosi to do
the same in the House of Representatives.
Sadly, Pres. Bush was not alone in taking such a shameful position
using the war in Iraq as a cover.
The Secretaries of State and Defense, eight former secretaries of
state, three former defense secretaries, the President and Defense
Minister of Israel, several Jewish American organizations, top Turkish
officials and their Washington lobbyists, all failed to tell the
truth. Their names will forever be recorded in the annals of history
as genocide deniers.
One politician, who takes the prize for the most hypocritical
behavior, is Rep. Jane Harman (D-El Segundo). She will be hounded
by Southern California’s large Armenian community until she is no
longer in office. She deviously sent a private letter to Speaker
Pelosi saying that she will vote against the genocide resolution,
while keeping her name as a co-sponsor.
Rep. Harman apparently tried to benefit from the continued support of
the Armenian-American community, by fooling them into thinking that
she is on their side, while quietly undermining the resolution’s
approval! Only after her ruse was exposed by supporters of the
resolution, she made her letter to Pelosi public by posting it on
her website.
Flip-flopping is bad enough. Being devious and getting caught is
much worse.
To all American officials who have mindlessly kept repeating
that the Genocide resolution should be opposed because it would
"significantly damage our efforts to promote reconciliation between
Armenia and Turkey at a key turning point in their relations,"
Armenian President Kocharian came up with a devastating answer:
"It’s impossible to damage non-existent relations."
There were plenty of other idiotic remarks made by those opposing the
resolution. For example, after Nabi Sensoy, Turkey’s ambassador to the
United States, was recalled, Prime Minister Erdogan said that he had
learned about his Ambassador’s recall from reading Turkish newspapers,
just like any other citizen!
Incidentally, it was completely foolish of the Turkish government to
have summoned its envoy in Washington back to Ankara on the eve of the
pending critical floor vote in the House. Just imagine Amb. Sensoy
landing in Washington’s Dulles Airport right after the full House
has passed the Genocide resolution.
More ominous is the threat against Turkey’s Jews made by Turkish
Foreign Minister Ali Babajan who was quoted by Today’s Zaman as saying:
"We have told them [the ADL and other Jewish groups] that we cannot
explain it to the Turkish public if a road accident happens. We have
told them that we cannot keep the Jewish people out of this." Despite
this alarming threat, seven of eight Jewish members of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee voted last week in favor of the Armenian
Genocide resolution, ignoring the pleas of both Israeli leaders and
some American Jewish organizations.
Significantly, Turkish officials have not gone beyond a war of words
after the passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution in committee,
despite all of their threats. As expected, the Turks were simply
bluffing.
However, should Turkey take any drastic measures against the U.S.,
it would only reinforce the perception in the minds of most Americans
that Turkey is not a reliable ally. Friends do not threaten each
other. Furthermore, the threatened action against the Kurds in Northern
Iraq has absolutely nothing to do with the Armenian resolution.
In the final analysis, the passage of the Genocide resolution in
the House Foreign Affairs Committee was not as significant as the
fact that every member of the committee, regardless of whether they
were for or against the resolution, openly acknowledged that the
Armenian Genocide is a historical fact. This unanimous admission of
the truth is the ultimate victory over Turkish denialism. Once again,
the Turkish regime, through its obsessive and paranoid lobbying
against this symbolic resolution, has made the Armenian Genocide a
major international issue that was covered by most newspapers and TV
programs around the world in recent days.
In order to counter the intense pressure on members of Congress by
the denialist camp, all supporters of the Armenian Genocide resolution
are urged to call their congressional representatives to ensure that
they are not swayed by vain threats and falsehoods. Please call the
Capital switchboard at 1-202-225-3121 and ask to be connected to your
representative. Urge him or her to vote yes on the resolution when
it comes to a vote on the House floor.