U.S. policy stamped in blood
Rocky Mountain News, CO
April 19 2008
This Web only Speakout has not been edited.
Pamela Barsam Brown
Saturday, April 19, 2008
With Tibetan, Burmese and Darfurian cultural, religious, and human
rights in the news, it is appropriate to extend the discussion to
the political expedient travesty of United States foreign policy on
the Armenian Genocide.
In April 2006, I encountered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in an
Alexandria, VA restaurant. I approached Dr. Rice who was accompanied
by First Lady Laura Bush and a secret service cadre. As I shook her
hand, I broached the subject of genocide by commenting on my family’s
support of action in Darfur. She replied, "I have been there." Moving
to the topic of the Armenian Genocide, I told her I was in Washington
to urge my congressional delegation’s support of a reaffirmation of
the Armenian Genocide — a horrific event every American Armenian
connects to. She simply stared back at me – and, without further
comment, departed.
This February, I was again in Washington to promote Genocide
reaffirmation. I met with first-term Colorado Congressman, Doug
Lamborn. Mr. Lamborn, a former Colorado State Representative, had
cosponsored a state resolution supporting Genocide recognition. As
CO District 5 Representative, he cosponsored H. Res.106 in February
2007. However, that October, he withdrew his name. I wanted to
know why!
During my meeting with Representative Lamborn, he told me he had
rejected multiple State Department attempts to persuade him to
withdraw from H. Res.106 because he understood the historical facts
of the event. The turn came with an unsolicited call from General
David Petraeus. He told Representative Lamborn that his support of
the Armenian Genocide resolution threatened the safety of our troops
in Iraq because of Turkey’s view of this sensitive political issue.
When I heard Mr. Lamborn’s explanation, I was stunned. All I could
think was how could this happen in America — a country once viewed
around the world as a beacon of moral justice. That America had
actively and officially assisted my great grandmother sue the Ottoman
Empire for its government directed murder of her husband. My great
grandfather was an American educated medical doctor, ordained minister,
and naturalized American citizen who was murdered by Turkish gendarmes
in his home town of Turkey. In 1897, the U.S. Consulate in Sivas
completed its investigation of his murder and provided an official
recounting to the U.S. State Department and my great grandmother.
This present-day official Genocide denial policy is a legacy
initiated by President George Herbert Walker Bush. The slippery
slope was strengthened and reaffirmed by President William Jefferson
Clinton who personally intervened to subvert passage of a House
Genocide reaffirmation resolution. President George Walker Bush
has grown genocide denial into an Administration-wide policy,
aided by the compliance of our 110th Congress. As my own experience
confirms, President Bush’s denial zeal has permeated into every
pore of government — even reaching into the highest levels of our
traditionally non-partisan military command. Another consequence of his
proactive denial is the currently diminished Administration-proposed
financial support package for the blockaded Republic of Armenia.
While both parties have been complicit in denigrating the first
Genocide of the 20th Century, a change of course could come with our
2008 Presidential election. Senators Clinton and Obama have pledged
to reaffirm the Armenian Genocide (Senator McCain would presumably
maintain the current policy of denial).
>>From just this one perspective of honoring and acting on the rights
of humanity, It is certainly TIME FOR CHANGE!
Pamela Barsam Brown is a resident of Boulder.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress