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Temper Tantrum
A House committee just passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide. Turkey has threatened to go berserk if it passes the full House. Why we should let them do their worst.
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9 Responses to “Temper Tantrum”
I agree. I don’t see that much difference between the Turks denying that massacring a million or so Armenians was the equivalent of genocide, and Ahmadinejad denying the Holocaust. Both should be unacceptable to civilized nations. Obviously, in the first case we are talking about an ally whose air space we would like to use and in the second about a starring member of the Axis of Evil.
But, If we pretend that the genocide never happened, aren’t we just acting as enablers of holocaust denial?
There’s more. Turkey’s cooperation is essential in trying to maintain stability in at least northern Iraq. Turkey has attacked PKK sites within Turkey itself and is getting parliamentary approval of a plan to attack sites in Iraq should it so choose.
Then there’s a Turkish gas deal with Iran that the USA opposes.
Neither of these can be blamed on the non-binding (naturally!) resolution. But both of these merit more concern at this time than the moral accountability of Turkey for slaughtering as well as expelling the Armenians. Obviously it’s dishonest for Turkey to deny it engaged in wrong-doing.
This situation is similar to how we would treat Japan, one of our allies in the world, were China even more aggressive in its part of the world than it already is, with Japan’s well-known (though never admitted and apologized-for) record of atrocities in the past.
Not to press the issue now is not to pretend it never happened. We knew that it happened.
I agree, let the Turks bitch.
But let us also admit our own genocidal past- with Native Americans and blacks.
IMO this is the last of a string of stupid and counterproductive resolutions.
First off, resolutions don’t rarely accomplish anything. beneficial It’s just feel good posturing and saber rattling. We accuse Bush of using provocatice language like ‘Axis of Eviil” but then applaud when Congress does the same kind of nonsense.
What will this accomplish.? Will Turkey now hang its head in shame and admit the genocide? Or will it just get its back up and turn more anti-American?
The fact is, we need Turkey for supply routes. I don’t think we need to make a new enemy out of a friend in the ME right now.
What we should be doing, instead is to try o avert Trukey attacking Iraq to get at the PKK. Remember, that if they do attack, our troops will end up fighting. We don’t need another battlefront in Iraq, we need to try to prevent having one. That means diplomacy, not provocative resolutions.
This is tunnel-vision short-sighted, stupid and dangerous.
Americans seem always to equate tough words tith being tough. Acrually, a major part of being tough is knowing when to not speak a word.
What good did it do to pass the resolution naming Iran’s National Guard terrorists? Did Iran cower in fear, or did it pass a counter resolution, making us look like name-calling kids, exhanging insults in a playground?
Will we never learn?
We don’t pass resolutions against Saudi-Arabia, the home of 9/11 terrorists and repressive laws, and the exporters of Wahabi extremism all over the world. If you want to name all the evildoers of the the wrorld in resolutions, why start with Turkey? Why not Saudi Arabia or Burma?
DLS- Our ambassador to Turkey was recently recalled because he believed the genocide had happened, and refused to deny it. Do we only stand up for the truth when its convenient? I thought the GOP was against moral relativism? And how is this not the same as Holocaust denial? As this is a non-binding resolution, its hard to believe that our entire diplomatic relationship with Turkey would be affected.
Our foreign policy is already inconsistent and hypocritical. This is how we are seen by the rest of the world. Bush claims to be promoting democracy and human rights, but conveniently ignores the most blatant violations in S.A, Egypt and our biggest trading partner- China. Its a joke that others in the world get very well. We stand for access by corporate markets not democracy.
No. I’m just pointing out that this non-binding (silly; why do it if you don’t truly mean it?) resolution can interfere with our relations with Turkey. If you dislike the Japan analogy, consider that it’s similar as well to the Democrats’ visit to the Middle East, which was deliberate interference with official US foreign policy (conducted through the State Department and run by the Bush administration). In fact, that may be one motive behind this resolution.
Agreed wholeheartedly. Sometimes one has to work with those with dirty hands — Richard Nixon’s books on foreign policy have addressed this issue specifically. (The alternatives could be worse for us.) The same would be true if we were to establish much more open and freer relations with Cuba, something many on the Left (and others) have long sought, for example.
Krit-
“Do we only stand up for the truth when its convenient?
We should stand up for the truth when it doesn’t entail us being buried alive along eith the truh.
Consequences, you know.
This resolution doesn’t help Armenians in any real way, but it hurts us in a major real way.
The latter. Just why was this resolution passed, really? To tweak Bush and to interfere with conduct of our affairs in the Middle East, perhaps?
Have the Dems achieved tip-over?