PELOSI IS CHASING AWAY ANOTHER IMPORTANT ALLY
By Morgan Liddick
Summit Daily News, CO
Oct 30 2007
Was it ignorance, stupidity or malice? Much as I favor the first two,
I have to choose the last. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has a
staff to save her from foolishness, which I suppose is good news. They
cannot, however, save us from the effects of treachery, particularly
when undertaken in service of the politics of vengeance. More’s the
pity: We are all made less secure by her stunt of a House Resolution
condemning Turkey for the Armenian "genocide" of the First World
War. To begin with, Speaker Pelosi’s concern about genocide seems
curiously spotty. When she introduced her anti-Turkish resolution,
she said it was important because, "Genocide still exists, and we saw
it in Rwanda; we see it now in Darfur." But she has been in Congress
since 1987. Rwanda happened in 1994 – and she said nothing. Darfur is
happening now. Where is her resolution condemning that genocide? As
to the resolution itself: If Nancy Pelosi was a private citizen, she
might be more easily forgiven. The politics and history of national
minorities in the late Ottoman Empire is very murky, and the Armenians
have been far more effective than the Turks at getting their views on
the subject before a public sensitized to genocide by our experience
with the 20th century. But she is not a private citizen. She should
have known better. She should have known that in 1890, a group of
Armenian nationalists formed the Dashnaktsutsyun terrorist organization
in Tbilisi, Georgia. Working with the secret police of Tsarist Russia
and others, their goal was the violent overthrow of Ottoman authority
throughout what is now eastern Turkey. For 25 years, they pursued
this course through assassinations, bombings, military-style assaults
and the occasional seizure of towns. Van, in eastern Anatolia, was
the largest. Their support among Armenians, particularly in the East,
grew strong. Ms. Pelosi should have been reminded that when the Russian
Army invaded the Ottoman Empire in 1915, thousands of Armenians joined
them in their campaign; many more provided support.
This was open revolt in time of war; in other words, treason. She
should also have been apprised of conditions in the Kurdish and Arab
south of the collapsing Empire (into which many Armenians were forcibly
relocated), the chaos and lack of central control, and the ethnic
tensions which made murder of outsiders common. Or perhaps she was
told all this, and simply decided to ignore it. After all, there is
fact, and there are politics – and Ms. Pelosi is a politician with a
lot of Armenians in her district, a visceral hatred of the President,
an appetite for defeat in Iraq, and apparently, a reckless disregard
for our national interests, alliances and longtime international
friendships. Which brings us to the real purpose of Speaker Pelosi’s
resolution on genocide: to drive a wedge between the United States
and our ally, Turkey. Should we care? We should, because Turkey has
been a U.S. ally for 50 years. It is a NATO member and in the dark
days of the Cold War it did yeoman work for the West, at considerable
risk and cost. Although overwhelmingly Muslim, it is a tolerant and
relatively democratic country, and a large and stable place in a sea
of uncertainty. Although reluctant at first for reasons that are made
clear by the Speaker’s attack, it is an important associate in our
efforts in Iraq. That is why Nancy Pelosi chose to target it. The
Speaker’s resolution, together with Senator Joseph Biden’s companion
piece calling for Iraq to be split into three ethnic enclaves, suggests
what could be a new Democrat strategy to oppose the Iraq war: a push
for policies so toxic that none of our allies can possibly regard us as
reliable, let alone sane, partners in any international endeavors. The
repercussions are already clear.
No doubt encouraged by the Biden resolution’s promise of autonomy,
attacks against Turkey from northern Iraq mounted by the Kurdish
PKK terrorist organization have escalated. Turkey may eventually
respond militarily, which will create merry hell for all parties in
Iraq, including us. Mission accomplished, Senator. Speaker Pelosi’
resolution, which she promises to bring to the House floor, will
further estrange Turkey, which has already recalled its ambassador for
"consultations". Turkish President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan
have also lodged strong protests. Eventually this large, friendly
Muslim democracy may go its own way, having decided that the United
States is not worth trusting – and we will have lost an influential
and strategic ally. Mission accomplished, Madame Speaker.
Taken together, these actions show clearly why the Founders left
foreign policy to the Executive Branch. Childishly focused on revenge,
ruled by emotion and consumed by the search for partisan advantage,
this Congress is not ready for prime time.
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