Posted on 10/15/2007 6:32:40 PM PDT by jazusamo
Monday, October 15, 2007
With all the problems facing this country, both in Iraq and at home, why is Congress spending time trying to pass a resolution condemning the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire nearly a century ago?
Make no mistake about it, that massacre of hundreds of thousands -- perhaps a million or more -- Armenians was one of the worst atrocities in all of history.
As with the later Holocaust against the Jews, it was not considered sufficient to kill innocent victims. They were first put through soul-scarring dehumanization in whatever sadistic ways occurred to those who carried out these atrocities.
Historians need to make us aware of such things. But why are politicians suddenly trying to pass Congressional resolutions about these events, long after all those involved are dead and after the Ottoman Empire in which all these things happened no longer exists?
The short answer is irresponsible politics.
People of Armenian ancestry in the United States and around the world are justifiably outraged at what happened in the Ottoman Empire -- and at subsequent governments in Turkey which have refused to acknowledge or accept historical responsibility for the mass atrocities that took place on their soil.
But the sudden interest of Congressional Democrats in this issue goes beyond trying to pick up some votes.
They want a resolution to condemn what happened as "genocide" -- a word that provokes instant anger among today's Turks, since genocide means a deliberate government policy aimed at exterminating a whole people, as distinguished from horrors growing out of a widespread breakdown of law and order in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
These are issues of historical facts and semantics best left to scholars rather than politicians.
If Congress has gone nearly a century without passing a resolution accusing the Turks of genocide, why now, in the midst of the Iraq war?
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this resolution is just the latest in a series of Congressional efforts to sabotage the conduct of that war.
Large numbers of American troops and vast amounts of military equipment go to Iraq through Turkey, one of the few nations in the Islamic Middle East that has long been an American ally.
Turkey has also thus far refrained from retaliating against guerrilla attacks from the Kurdish regions of Iraq onto Turkish soil. But the Turks could retaliate big time if they chose.
There are more Turkish troops on the border of Iraq than there are American troops within Iraq.
Turkey has already recalled its ambassador from Washington to show its displeasure over Congress' raising this issue. The Turks may or may not stop at that.
In this touchy situation, why stir up a hornet's nest over something in the past that neither we nor anybody else can do anything about today?
Japan has yet to acknowledge its atrocities from the Second World War. Yet the Congress of the United States does not try to make worldwide pariahs of today's Japanese, most of whom were not even born when those atrocities occurred.
Even fewer, if any, Turks who took part in attacks on Armenians during the First World War are likely to still be alive.
Too many Democrats in Congress have gotten into the habit of treating the Iraq war as President Bush's war -- and therefore fair game for political tactics making it harder for him to conduct that war.
In a rare but revealing slip, Democratic Congressman James Clyburn said that an American victory in Iraq "would be a real big problem for us" in the 2008 elections.
Unwilling to take responsibility for ending the war by cutting off the money to fight it, as many of their supporters want them to, Congressional Democrats have instead tried to sabotage the prospects of victory by seeking to micro-manage the deployment of troops, delaying the passing of appropriations -- and now this genocide resolution that is the latest, and perhaps lowest, of these tactics.
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy.
“in all of my life, i’ve never seen such gutless wonders.”
not only gutless wonders....overprotected, socialist, scu*bag pieces of excrement who are not worthy of being protected by those young men and women who put themselves on the line for them.
these people are scu*bags and worse. nasty, slimy swine who exhibit the most irresponsible behavior. bunch of scu*bags!!!
“in all of my life, i’ve never seen such gutless wonders.”
not only gutless wonders....overprotected, socialist, scu*bag pieces of excrement who are not worthy of being protected by those young men and women who put themselves on the line for them.
these people are scu*bags and worse. nasty, slimy swine who exhibit the most irresponsible behavior. bunch of scu*bags!!!
I’m not questioning their patriotism.
I’m flat out accusing them of treason.
I see your point but I’m looking at it from a standpoint of them protecting this nation from outside invaders which is what radical Muslims are, they are complete cowards when it comes to that.
I’m glad Dr. Sowell got that pearl into his column, it is very telling.
Sowell’s right on as usual. Rush has been livid about this for the same reason since that resolution passed.
I agree
Is there any doubt that they are pleased to hear of tragedies in Iraq and even of our troops being killed? And if it's well-timed for an election they will be clenching their fists saying, "yes!" This kind of meddling with the war, not even having a plausible rationale, is unashamed evil.
I spent a year stationed in Turkey, and there are few allies as pro-American as the Turks.
The murder of the Armenians was a horror, but it was performed by the Ottoman Empire, NOT the Turkish Republic.
The resolution now before the House is timed to sabotage the war effort. Murtha boasted that he would use whatever means at his disposal to make it impossible to prosecute the GWOT front in Iraq. Not one Dem wants victory. They relish in the death and wounding of brave American warriors for their own political agenda. The Dems have implied time and again that Iraqi (Arab) lives are not worth the same as American lives. They are freaking racists and traitors.
Go ahead schmucks, sue me!
These Dems speak of the Common Man until it comes time for their precious darlings to serve.
Remember this, oh ye patriots! A protest vote not cast or cast some ideologue who cannot win IS A VOTE FOR THE DEMOCRATS - the party of sedition, and defeatism.
A good friend of my son who went through school with him enlisted in the Army about the same time as my son in the 80's. My son (Inf) went to Germany and his friend (Arty) went to Turkey. He spoke highly of the Turks when he got home, just as you have.
What the dems are doing with this resolution is criminal, IMO. There can be absolutely no gain and terrible losses from it. It is mind boggling that they are doing this.
Call these back-stabbing Liberals, who support the troops, and tell them that they’re traitors.
The evil party is right.
This is politically stupid for the Dems. If it succeeds the Turks have to respond with some severity that is bound to harm operational effectiveness in Iraq. So the Dems get the blame. If the Turks invade Iraqi Kurdistan, they get the blame. Stupid.
It’s treason and it won’t ever be forgotten.
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