WISE RETREAT ON ARMENIAN RESOLUTION
Charleston Post Courier, SC
Oct 29 2007
The sponsors of a House resolution that would have labeled the deaths
of millions of Armenians in Turkey in 1915 as "genocide" have asked
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a letter to "delay" the
measure until "the timing is more favorable." A spokesman for the
speaker said she "respects the judgment" of the sponsors.
"Delay," for all practical purposes, means the resolution is dead for
this Congress. A head count by Rep. Pelosi’s lieutenants revealed
that the measure, which was approved by the House Foreign Affairs
Committee headed by close Pelosi ally Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif.,
and approved for floor action by the speaker, doesn’t command enough
support to pass the House. The speaker should have listened earlier
to one of her senior leadership aides, Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., who,
according to The Associated Press, told her the measure lacked support
and would fail.
The weakness of support for the measure should have been no surprise
to the House leadership. By implicitly blaming Turkey for events that
happened during the reign of the long departed Ottoman Empire, the
House resolution "would really damage our relations with a democratic
ally who is playing an extremely important strategic role in supporting
our troops," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a House panel
on Thursday. This fact was evident long before the resolution became
an issue, but it was underscored when Turkey withdrew its ambassador
to the United States after the Foreign Affairs Committee vote. Turkey
is a vibrant democracy, a member of NATO, and one of the few Muslim
nations supporting the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its
air bases are a critical link in the supply chain for both wars.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a sponsor of the resolution, blamed the
decision to "delay" the resolution on agents of the Turkish government
aided by the Bush administration. "I think the Turkish lobby has,
regrettably, earned their money," he said in an interview.
"I think they were successful in a campaign that was persuasion and
coercion. Unfortunately it was aided and abetted by our own State
Department."
But the more likely explanation is that a majority of the House
realized the international mischief it could do, and wanted no part
of any vote that would expose them to the charge they were putting
U.S. military personnel in greater danger.
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