RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
by Taylor Alfonso
The Hornet, CA
Oct 17 2007
Most people have accepted that politics and politicians are corrupt.
But just for kicks, here is another example of continued injustice
and lack of morals in our government.
According to an article published in the October 11 edition of The
Los Angeles Times, President George W. Bush, eight Democrats and 13
Republicans oppose a House bill calling for the U.S. to recognize
the mass murders of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
as genocide.
>From 1915-1917, the Ottoman Empire committed deplorable, horrendous
acts against the Armenians, a minority population in the Empire. They
were not considered minorities because there were few in the
population, but due to their religion.
Aside from various acts such as mass rape, the use of concentration
camps, deportation, confiscation of property and murder, it is
widely accepted that the Ottoman Empire’s goal was to terminate the
Armenian race.
In "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish
Respon- sibility," Taner Akcam, a historian teaching at the Center
for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota,
argues that the genocide occurred as a response to the Ottoman’s fear
of losing their power.
The Empire focused its vengeance on the Armenians whom they considered
a threat.
Akcam states that the Ottoman Empire sought a "deliberate
extermination" of the Armenians. He cites that the Ottoman Interior
Ministry’s goal was to keep the Armenian population between five or
10 percent of the Empire’s population.
Thankfully, the measure passed in the House, but it must still be
passed in the Senate.
It is disturbing that there is opposition to the bill at all.
According to the Los Angeles Times article, Bush and those opposing
the bill are fearful of losing their ally, Turkey.
If the bill is passed, the U.S. airbase in Turkey may be threatened.
"Its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in
NATO and in the global war on terror," said Bush.
It’s not just Bush who has opposed a bill like this. Former-President
Bill Clinton also aggressively advised against a genocide resolution
when he was in office in 2000.
Understandably, the government wants to keep its allies and keep its
air bases secure.
But how horrible must our situation in the Middle East be if our
government is scared to officially recognize that there was genocide
in 1915. Even in 2007 genocide still exists-it’s happening in Darfur.
This resolution must be accepted by our government in order to let
other countries know that the extermination of races is unacceptable.
It’s not as if government officials don’t agree that genocide occurred,
there is overwhelming evidence proving it, but they will not recognize
it. What’s worse, losing air bases in Turkey, or ignoring genocide?
rage/paper921/news/2007/10/17/Opinion/Recognize.Ar menian.Genocide-3038139.shtml