US to debate Turkey genocide bill

[wm]

The BBC describes yet another attempt by the US Congress to put a large caliber hole in the nation's collective foot here. Are these so-called national leaders of America ever going to "get it"? Turks are already torn by the calls of Western secular culture and those of their Islamic "brethern." The EU delays over admission have given the Turks pause when considering who their friends really are. Let's just give them another reason to join up with the Islamists.

A key US congressional committee is to debate whether to classify as genocide the deaths of 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians between 1915 and 1917.
Turkey - which strongly denies Armenian claims that the killings amounted to genocide - has warned of "serious consequences" if the bill is passed.

Ankara has threatened to restrict US access to a key military base used for its operations in Iraq.

[Ken White]

The BBC describes yet another attempt by the US Congress to put a large caliber hole in the nation's collective foot ... Are these so-called national leaders of America ever going to "get it"? ...
. . .

My Wife and I keep threatening to buy 535 T-Shirts with "Beware of Stupid People in Large Groups" imprinted and mailing them to D.C.

[Granite_State]

Agreed. From what little I know of it, it was definitely genocide, but meaningless words at a time like this...

[Jedburgh]

BBC, 11 Jul 07: Turkey Recalls Ambassador to US

Ankara is recalling its ambassador to Washington for consultations amid anger at a vote in Congress labelling the mass killing of Armenians as genocide. The passing of the resolution by a House committee on Wednesday despite appeals by the Bush administration was denounced by President Abdullah Gul.

Turkey accepts there were mass killings in 1915-17 but denies genocide. Turkey's foreign ministry said the ambassador would return to Turkey for a stay of "a week or 10 days". "We are not withdrawing our ambassador," said ministry spokesman Levent Bilman....

[Wildcat]

I think Bush was actually pressing for the prudent move in this situation by asking Congress not to go through with that resolution. It certainly was genocide, but by getting in a tizzy over a little 8-letter word, we've jeopardized an important strategic partnership. We've sparked a few protests (no big deal there, really), but we've also caused the Turks to withdraw their ambassador, and at a time when they're making overtures about military incursions into northern Iraq in order to smack down the Kurdish fighters who are harassing their border. Granted, Turkey would not be very important to us if it weren't for its alignment with NATO and its proximity to the greater Middle East, but given the missions we're trying to conduct in a region where we have few true allies, it seems silly to risk it.

[LawVol]

Is it possible that the potential reactions to this resolution are intended? Maybe I'm way off base here, but this would sure seem to fit into a plan to end the Iraq phase of the war on terror. I'm also not sure of the party breakdown in the committee vote, so maybe I'm wrong.

However, the democrats want to end the war, but do not want to withdraw funding since it will merely expose their traditionally weakest point: foreign affairs. They've tried and failed to establish deadlines and such, so they are severely short of options (especially with the good news coming out of Iraq). My understanding is that the bulk of our supplies come through Turkey. Turning off that supply route would probably overload the Kuwait port and might force an earlier drawdown. Thoughts?

[Rex Brynen]

If the Germans--another key NATO ally--grew sensitive about calling the Holocaust a genocide, should we avoid the term in speaking of that case too so as to promote immediate foreign policy interests? Try changing the words of HR 106 to "Jewish Holocaust" and try to imagine any serious objection to its passage.

I suppose I've become wary of not naming genocides and other mass killings in the name of realpolitik, something that the West did with regard to Rwanda, Saddam's Anfal campaign, Indonesian occupation of East Timor, etc. Moreover, I think its probably good for Turkey in the long run if it faces up to this (much as other societies have had to face up to past brutality in their own histories).

I do agree that one can question how much Congress should engage in symbolic position-taking, how far back in history one would want to go, selective memory (why not Belgian rule in the Congo?), and so forth. But that seems to me to be a different issue than speaking the truth on genocide vs promoting foreign policy interests.

OK, that having been said, I'll head back to the major international genocide conference across the street!

[wm]

Most folks view the Congressional committee's action as giving in to pressure from Armenian-Americans. But why are they giving in just now? This is not a new lobbying effort.

Here's an off-the-wall variant for everyone's consideration. The action potentially unravels sustainability for continued US operations in Iraq--without Turkey as a pass-through point and interim log/staging base/activity, sustainment of the troops in IZ gets harder. I believe that a whole lot of our base ops support (like Class I, II, and VII) pass through Turkey. I also think a lot of the FMS equipment used to equip the IA follows that path. (BTW, we already have precedent with regard to getting 4ID into the fight in 2003.)

Is the opposition to America's continued presence in IZ trying to use the genocide resolution as a way to sabotage Turkish-American relations and, consequently, a backdoor attempt to get the troops out of IZ?


(Let me specify up front that I do not really believe that this can be what's happening, not because it is too devious an idea, but because it represents too creative a thought process for those in the opposition camp )

(Edit As I read this thread after my posting, it appears that LawVol and I had about the same thought at about the same time. Separated at birth ???? )

[wm]

Al Jazeera film documents Armenian massacre of Turks

An interesting headline from Hurriyet online. The story's here