WHY I REFUSE TO VOTE
By Theodoros Karakostas

Greek News
October 13 @ 11:35:32
New York

Every time there is an election, there is the usual well intended
public campaign to encourage voting. I am perhaps being cynical
but I do not wish to participate in a process that for all intents
and purposes is devoid of legitimacy. The fundamental topic of
this commentary pertains to foreign policy and the defacto media
blackout of certain issues, but the farce that constitutes present
day politics deserves at least a slight mention as can be seen by
the intellectually bankrupt displays that were showcased at both the
Democratic and Republican National Conventions this past summer. Both
of them constituted nothing more than entertainment value.

There is a documentary film entitled, "Days Made of Fear" which
features footage shot in Kosovo between 1999 and 2004. The difference
between this film and what American television media outlets
traditionally aired is that this features footage of the Serbian
community. This film is evidence of the ethnic cleansing process of
Serbs that has taken place under the auspices of NATO, the European
Union, and the United Nations. Hundreds of Serbian Orthodox Churches
and Monasteries were destroyed by Albanian Muslims during this period
without any intervention on the part of the Western powers. Even
worse, this footage has never been aired on American television
because apparently it contradicts official anti-Serb hysteria that
fueled the 1999 war on Belgrade.

Earlier this year, the Bush administration emulated the Balkan
policies of the Clinton administration and supported "independence" for
Kosovo. American and European diplomats paid lip service to the rights
of the Serbs in Kosovo, but no one addressed the horrific mistreatment
of Serbs in Kosovo, nor have the westerners taken measures to impose
sanctions on the Kosovo leadership in response to the mistreatment
of Serbs and the destruction of Churches and Monasteries that have
enormous spiritual and historic value.

In addition, the Bush administration opposed passage of a Congressional
Resolution that would have recognized the Armenian Genocide. During
the period of 1914-1923, the Islamic leadership of the Ottoman
Empire and its successor under the murderous figure of Mustafa
Kemal slaughtered at least three million Armenian, Assyrian, and
Greek Orthodox Christians. Turkish policies of ethnic cleansing have
continued through the infamous anti-Greek pogroms of 1955, the Turkish
invasions of Cyprus, and the present war by the Turkish paramilitary
State against the Ecumenical Patriachate. Between 1993 and 2007, there
have been at least six attempts to murder the Ecumenical Patriarch, but
if one watched American television, one would not have noticed a thing.

Events in Turkey, as with Kosovo and Serbia serve to demonstrate that
censorship is a fact! The glorification of the late Turkish dictator
Mustafa Kemal by numerous American think tanks and other interests
doing the sinister bidding of the Turkish Islamo-military ruling
coalition demonstrates for me the utter futility of participating
in an election where the winner will inevitably be influenced by
the notorious and well financed Turkish lobby into manipulating both
history and supporting policies of ethnic cleansing against the Greeks
of Cyprus. The degree to which American policy is manipulated can
be seen by the fact that the official foreign policy establishment
successfully persuaded both the Clinton and Bush administrations into
betraying Greece by recognizing the government of Skopje under the
name of "Macedonia".

An enormous tragedy is playing out for the Christians of Iraq. During
this past summer, the Archbishop of the Chaldean Catholics was murdered
for refusing to pay extortion money to Islamic extremists. The
Christians were at least secure under the former dictatorship that
the Bush administration and its neo conservatives overthrew. The
administration that waged war on Iraq never took into consideration
what would happen to the Christians who have been fleeing to Syria,
another potential target for the neo conservatives. Damascus is the
home of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and there are at
least one million Christians in Syria who will be secure, unless the
next administration decides to implement "regime change" there.

What has happened to the "war on terror"? The only discernible war to
be noticed is the war on the Christian East which has been under way
for decades. The West permitted Muslim Turkey to take Constantinople
and Asia Minor in 1922, the Turkish invasions of Cyprus, and gave
Kosovo, Serbia’s Jerusalem to the Muslims. In Kosovo, Saudi Arabia
is funding the construction of Mosques while Orthodox Churches and
Monasteries burn. In the occupied territories of Cyprus, over five
hundred and fifty Churches and Monasteries have been converted into
Mosques, or are being used as stables where settlers from Turkey are
housing their farm animals.

In light of the appalling turmoil and tragedy that continues to
engulf the Christian East, and in light of the fact that no matter
which party comes to power, the think tanks will continue to press
the next administration to continue with policies that have been to
the detriment of Hellenism and Orthodoxy, I refuse to participate in
the "voting" process since I believe that such participation would
legitimize the undemocratic think tanks that continue to shape policies
toward the Balkans, Turkey, Russia, and the Middle East.

In conclusion, I lament and mourn the Churches and Monasteries of
Kosovo and Cyprus, and their missing faithful. Very soon, there may be
no more Greek Orthodox Christians in Turkey. Democratic Presidential
Candidate Barack Obama has been accused of being a Muslim. The fact
remains that no matter who becomes President, foreign policy could not
possibly be any more pro-Islamic to the detriment of the Christian East
than it already is. May the persecution of the forgotten Christians
of the East come to an end.