Washington Independent
April 24, 2009 Friday 3:26 PM EST
Pelosi Reiterates Call to Recognize Armenian Genocide
by Mike Lillis
Apr. 24, 2009 (Center for Independent Media delivered by Newstex) —
Officially, today marks Å`Armenian Remembrance Day, set aside to
honor the roughly 1.5 million Armenians killed at the hands of Ottoman
Turks in 1915. But in the eyes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.), its misnamed. From the statement just out of her office:
Today, we commemorate the 94th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
and pay tribute to the victims and survivors. ¦
International observers and diplomats to the Ottoman Empire, including
U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, watched a nightmare unfurl and
provided detailed accounts about Ë`a campaign of race
extermination.
It is long past time for the U.S. Government to formally recognize the
Armenian Genocide. If we ignore history then we are destined to repeat
the mistakes of the past. The genocides in Rwanda and Darfur remind us
that we must do more to prevent this from ever happening again.
On this anniversary, we must remember the victims and survivors of the
Armenian Genocide. We must also provide the leadership to ensure that
this human tragedy is not repeated.
The topic is a sticky one on Capitol Hill, where a resolution to
recognize the killings as genocide was passed by a House committee in
2007, but never brought to the floor for fear of alienating Turkey, a
strategic ally in the Iraq war.
Indeed, President Obama today approached the anniversary much more
carefully, calling the episode Å`one of the great atrocities of the
20th century, but never uttering the word genocide. Is that an
inconsistent position? Heres The Associated Press laying out the
scenario:
During his election campaign, Obama said in a speech that he had stood
with the Armenian American community in calling for Turkeys
acknowledgment of the Å`Armenian Genocide.
Despite bowing to diplomatic convention, Obama said in his statement
issued on Friday that he had not changed his mind.
Å`I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915,
and my view of that history has not changed. My interest remains the
achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts.
If the I-am-not-backtracking argument sounds familiar, its because the
president has been offering essentially the same explanation over the
White House silence on gun control.