American elections and Armenia
Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
5 Nov 04
by Sarkis Gevorkyan
The presidential elections in America have demonstrated that George
Bush’s active foreign policy is supported by more than 50 per cent of
the Americans at least. The reason is evident: George Bush is a
guarantor of the country’s security. Bush’s failure in the elections
would be tantamount to acknowledging by the American voters their
country’s defeat in Iraq. This would also be a strong psychological
blow to America’ confidence.
At the same time we think that during his second term of office,
George Bush will pursue a more balanced foreign policy which will be
based on the following priorities:
1. The antiterror fight will continue with a tendency towards
attracting both strong and weak allies;
2. The role of the UN and other countries will be increased in the
reconstruction of Iraq in order to “legitimate” the previous US
policy;
3. A new balance of forces will be formed in Eurasia to continue the
fight against terrorism.
Passage omitted: recaps on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
and Putin’s support for Bush
The results of the US elections should not have a negative impact on
Armenian-American relations. From this point of view, it would be a
dangerous misunderstanding to think that that the support of the US
Armenian diaspora for John Kerry coincides with the political position
of Armenia. The leadership of Armenia has always thought that
prospects for Armenian-American cooperation have nothing to do with
the outcome of the presidential elections in the USA.
Therefore, any attempt to present the position of the Armenian
diaspora of the USA as Armenia’s position is a deliberate attempt to
distort reality. However, in order to substantiate this, some people
even used the results of the make-believe election recently held by
the US embassy in Armenia, when Armenian officials invited to the
embassy voted for John Kerry, who, by that time, had already suffered
a defeat.
Armenia is a state whose interests do not coincide with the political
position of the US Armenians.
Passage omitted: minor details