DON’T INSULT A FRIEND TO FEEL GOOD
Robert J. Reagan Dallas
Wall Street Journal
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April 8 2009
In response to Rep. Adam Schiff’s advocacy of a Congressional
resolution "recognizing" the so-called Armenian genocide, "for the
precious few victims still with us" ("Time to Recognize the Armenian
Genocide," op-ed, April 4): It is arguable that the dependent children
of Armenians murdered during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire —
the youngest of whom are now octogenarians — are indeed victims of
those atrocities. But how would that recognition now help them? Or
how could it be an effective rebuke to the perpetrators?
What is next? A resolution decrying the Harrying of the North by the
Normans under William the Conqueror to mollify the descendants of
English Geordies?
The present government and ruling institutions in Turkey are unrelated
to the former Ottoman sultan and his coterie, the perpetrators of the
crimes complained of. Those despots were deposed by secular republicans
and have been gone for nearly nine decades. Since then, the Turks
have been, or have wanted to be, the West’s friend. Turkey was one of
the early members of NATO, and amazingly still believes it is in its
interest to continue its membership. It is one of the few real friends
that the U.S. has had among predominately Muslim nations. Passing
Rep. Schiff’s resolution would harm that relationship as well as our
other Middle Eastern interests without any commensurate benefit.