More than 60 years ago, Polish-Jewish scholar Ralph Lemkin coined the term “genocide” precisely to describe the scale and brutality of the systematic slaughter of 1.5 million Christian Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.
The assertions Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates made arguing against Congress passing HR 106/SR 106, which calls on our government to recognize the historical truth of the Armenian Genocide, are outright lies: That loss of access to Turkish land and air supply routes will imperil coalition forces in Iraq, and that that Turkey is an indispensable ally. Unfortunately, these lies were enough to sway one co-sponsor of the bill, Jane Harman (D-CA), to withdraw her support.
The truth: Turkey is irresolute as an Iraq War ally and irrelevant as a NATO ally.
If Turkey makes good on its threats to deny the U.S. access to Incirlik Air Base – through which 70 percent of military cargo sent to Iraq is flown – and closes the Turkish-Iraq border to trucks that deliver 30 percent of the fuel used by the U.S. military, there is a Plan B. “Turkey has been a tremendous hub for us, and if we didn’t have it that would increase time lines and distances. But it would be a short-term impact,” a senior military officer involved in logistical planning and operations tells The New York Times. Armored vehicles and other equipment flown to Iraq over Turkish airspace can also be rerouted, if necessary.
The day the Berlin Wall fell was the day Turkey ceased to matter as a NATO member. Here, highlights of a “Note to the Turkish government” Hugh Fitzgerald posted on Dhimmi Watch that are germane to the focus of this post:
The Cold War, or at least the First Cold War, is over. It is no longer 1950, or 1960. There is no longer a need for Turkey’s help in confronting Russia, which, while it has reverted to unpleasantness and despotism, is not the menace it once was. And Turkey is not quite so important a place for listening-posts and other bases. …
Turkey has not fulfilled, as it seems to think, its duties to its American “ally.” It did not permit the use of Incirlik airbase. Three rather than four divisions, therefore, had to take over Iraq. There was no invasion force from the north that might have made a difference in Anbar. …
Turkey is a member of NATO. The Turks apparently think they will remain in NATO no matter how outrageously they behave. But why should NATO continue to tolerate an Islamic country? What conceivable good can come of having privy to NATO circles a government like that now in power in Istanbul, given that the great threat to the other countries of NATO, and to the Western alliance, comes now from the forces of Jihad? …
It may be that Bush thinks that the large-scale murders of Christian Armenians by Muslim Turks began in 1915, when it began twenty years before, with no “wartime conditions” to blame … [Emphasis, The Stiletto’s.]
[T]he E.U. does not need Turkey, does not want Turkey. … NATO, and the Americans, do not need Turkey, a recalcitrant Turkey, a difficult Turkey, a Turkey that makes demands for the rewriting or the ignoring of history. … [T]he Turkish army will not be ordered to collaborate with Infidels against other Muslims – and it will not be, not by the current government – then what good is Turkey to NATO?
Fitzgerald’s piece also details what a back-stabbing “friend” Turkey has been to the U.S. and punctures Turkey’s denialist claims, parroted by our government – as well as by John Fund and Turkey’s other shills at The Wall Street Journal.
Here’s what’s really going on: Turkey is using HR 106 as a pretext to carry out its long-planned excursion into Northern Iraq to kill as many Kurds as possible – along with any ambitions they might have of joining their brethren on the Turkish side of the border to form an independent country. The real prize is the potentially huge untapped oil reserves now under the control of the Kurdish Regional Government.
The “insult” of passing the Armenian Genocide Resolution gives Turkey the cover it needs to further it’s geopolitical interests and to undermine the U.S. mission in Iraq once again – just as a “neutral” Turkey undermined the Allies in WWII by secretly supplying Hitler with chromite. (Another historical truth that Shimon Peres and Abe Foxman must deny along with the Armenian Genocide so that Israel can maintain its “friendship” with Turkey.)
Conservatives who argue that the Armenian Genocide happened, but it’s “inconvenient” to say so right now, should know better than anyone that doing the right thing is never “convenient.” It’s convenient to steal a car, not to save up money to buy one; to rape a woman a man is sexually attracted to, not to woo and marry her; and to abort a baby, not to feed, clothe and raise him. But in each of these cases – as with passing the Armenian Genocide Resolution – the convenient thing is not the right thing.
On “Fox News Sunday,” Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told Brit Hume that he supported the U.S. government’s official recognition of the Armenian Genocide for 25 years – and that there never seemed to be “a right time” as far as the Turks were concerned:
Hume: … Just on the strength of the committee action, the Turks recalled their ambassador, which is a — you know, it’s more than a mild form of protest about this. If it’s that sensitive at this moment, why do it now?
Hoyer: OK, Brit. That’s a good question. I’ve been in the Congress 26 years. I’ve been for this resolution for 25 years. I’ve talked to the Turkish ambassadors, Turkish government, Turkish parliamentarians, over a quarter of a century. Never once in that quarter of a century has anybody in the Turkish government said to me, “OK, this is the right time.” In other words, there would be no right time. …
Hume: I mean, do you think it’s an urgent issue, something that happened between Turks and Armenians in World War I?
Hoyer: Brit, do I think it’s an urgent issue? I think the issue of genocide is a very urgent and present issue. It’s happening in Darfur now. It happened in Bosnia not too long ago. And the world sat by and watched. Yes, I think it’s an urgent issue.
Hume: Well, but nobody’s arguing that it wasn’t a mass killing or even a massacre.
Hoyer: No, it was a genocide. And I understand some people are arguing that well, let historians look at it. Historians have looked at it. Nobel writers have looked at it. And there is a conclusion that, in fact, this was a conscious effort to eliminate a race of people.
Hume: … [D]o you think it’s worth making this expression of this at this time, all these years later, at the expense of souring relations with a country who has helped us, is vital in the Mideast and in Iraq in particular?
Hoyer: Well, I think Turkey’s help to us is vital. More vital is the United States’ help to Turkey, Brit. Over the last half a century, the relationship between the United States and Turkey has far more advantage to Turkey than it has the United States. Are we both advantageous to one another? We are. [Emphasis, The Stiletto’s.]
It’s an added irony that some of the very same conservatives who decry the harassment of Christians in this country by the ACLU, the killings of Christians in Muslim countries and in communist China and the twin threats of Sharia-creep and Islamofascism are siding with Turkey against Armenians, who were victims of the first Muslim jihad against Christians in modern times.
As with the furor over the Danish cartoons and the flying Imams, Turkey’s hysterical reaction to a historical fact is yet another case of manufactured Muslim outrage.
Unlike some Christians who advocate worshipping Allah (hey, what’s the diff?), HR 106/SR 106 gives Christians a way to express our outrage over the centuries of dhimmitude that continue to this day in Turkey and throughout the Middle East; to express our outrage over the Ottoman Turks not only annihilating the Armenians but replicating their murderous MO to drive out and slaughter Christians in the Assyrian and Greek communities; and to express our outrage that the price two-timing Turkey is extracting for its toxic friendship is that Americans dirty our hands with the blood of Christian martyrs, instead of cleansing our souls by belatedly joining the 22 other civilized nations worldwide that have acknowledged the Armenian Genocide.
Note: The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The Stiletto Blog.
7 users commented in " People Died And The Bush Administration Lied "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackLet’s remember some history lessons:
Ottoman Turks were in power in the Middle East for 800 years. All nations kept in peace with the “millet” system, which is very familiar to Sephardic Jews. Arabs and Jews as well as Armenians and Kurds lived next to each other. All nations including Armenians in the Empire kept their religious beliefs and cultural values… Who were the Armenians? For Turks, they were the traitors of Antioch defense in 1080, who sold Turks to crusaders. Ottomans still let Armenians live in the Empire in peace knowing they had betrayed their ancestors many times in history. Then Armenians teamed up with Russians from 1870 to 1915 and were punished for their killings and betrayal. Now, Turks are accused by their number one ally with an unfair political prosecution. As a Turkish-American, I have things to say: First, I am proud of my first homeland and her history. Second, this resolution has nothing to do with American people. People of the U.S. do not have any idea what is going on in the U.S. Congress. They just know that their president is playing a war game, which has already cost 4,000 American lives as well as that of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Neither the U.S. Administration nor Congress are doing their job like providing healthcare to all people and good education to youth. Americans do not know more than this. They just know Turkey is the name of a bird and a good ally. Third, if each one of the Congressman and Congresswoman asked their constituents about the bill all they would hear is: “It is not our business.” Last, Americans love the country of Turkey and would like to visit it at least once. Therefore, Turks should not get more frustrated with Americans and see the real animosity here. It is Armenian-Americans who are pressuring their representatives for their claims against their historic neighbors, the Turks. What they only care about is their revenge without considering Turkish war losses. Do they care for American national interests? No. Do they care for the well being of other Americans? Certainly not. Since Armenian-Americans and Armenians are the ones who want to hurt Turks, they, not Americans, should be seen as real troublemakers. Actually, House Resolution 106 does not make much sense for Armenians themselves. What if Turks say “Okay, we understand Armenian animosity here; we accept the challenge. We are ending all diplomatic relations with Armenia and canceling all flights for Armenians in and out of Turkey and over Turkey. No more use of Turkish ports until Armenia demolishes all genocide statues in Armenia?” What will Armenian-Americans do to stop Turkey? Ask Congress to stop giving billions of dollars as foreign aid, which does not exist? What else could Turks do? How about deporting all 70,000 illegal Armenian workers from Turkey? Who are they going to blame for loosing their jobs? How about the other 10 percent of Armenia’s population depending on this income from Turkey? Are they going to love Armenian-Americans who enjoy the high living standards of Western civilization with their Mercedes Benz and Gucci while Armenians in Armenia live in poverty and chew endlessly on genocide gum on an empty stomach? Armenian-Americans had one shot only and they fired it. Who is going to be hit is unknown now. If Turks make sure it is Armenians to be hit, that shot will be the one Armenian-Americans fired in their own foot.
Firstly, a little bit of news for you Kandemir, there are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia. The border is closed, but yes, as you say, there are flights between their respective capitals…what a wonderful token gesture, no? With all this in mind, Turkey has been at worst an openly hostile neighbor, and at best, an indifferent one to Armenia.
Secondly, Blame Armenians and Armenian-Americans as much as you wish, but some historic wounds won’t heal without at least some measure of acknowledgment and discussion from the historically “guilty” party. Turks can classify Armenian obstinance as the result of this that or the other, blame others, dodge the core issue, but I assure you, this “Armenian question” is not going away anytime soon. And rightly so.
I’ll rephrase…this issue is NEVER GOING AWAY.
Well over 1.5 million people died and to this day, the Turkish government justifies these murders as “casualties of war”. As the official argument goes, the Armenian Christians joined the allies so they were massacred as traitors. What about the 750,000 Assyrian Christians that were massacred during the same time? Over 1 million Assyrian Christians lived in the Hakkari region in South East Turkey 80 years ago, now there are only 2000 left. I guess they were traitors too. And I guess the 250,000 Greeks that were murdered were also a result of the war and not deliberate ethnic cleansing. I find it too convenient that all the massacred groups that were deemed as ‘traitors’ during WWI were Christians? Ironically, the world seems to be heading in the same direction again. Intolerance of other religions is still status quo in the middle east. We need more dialog, Turkey should abolishe Article 301 which makes it a crime to “insult Turkishness” and own up to its past.
http://www.assyrianlife.com
“Ottomans still let Armenians live in the Empire in peace knowing they had betrayed their ancestors many times in history. Then Armenians teamed up with Russians from 1870 to 1915 and were punished for their killings and betrayal.”
If anybody wants to see what Turks really think, read that passage again. Armenians deserved it according to this fool, I guess just like the Jews deserved what they got for going against Nazi’s, right? See, this is the same type of langauge that the Ottomans used to convince its people to kill innocent men, women, and children and the current Republic of Turkey continues the genocide by denying it and using this same type of speech to even justrify it. But you know what, I cant blame him, he is a victim of state sponsored brainwashing and historical revisionism. It is still sad though, God be with you John Kandemir, no one else is.
As to John Kandemir’s comment it is obvious thar he is not denying the Genocide but trying to justify it. To wipe out a whole race because of the guilt of a few among them is very bestial and worst than the animals to. To kill the majority of the innocent ones because of the guilty minority is the biggest crime before God. The lessons of life the Turks teach are from the pit of hell and they do not belong to the human race or to planet earth unless they recognize the Genocide and make amends otherwise when their cup is full they have to drink from its bitterness and be no more.
Reviewing the responses to JK’s post, it is funny that all replies are attacking JK for alluding that he is justifying the genocide and yet can not counter any of the specific he is outlining. He basically is saying that the resolution is a creation of the American-Armenians and has nothing to do with the US interest nor does it do any good to Armenia…and he is right. So – what the people above are saying is that what Armanians did prior to the so called genocide by killing Turks, burning their villages down in efforts to scare them our of East Turkey, and revolting against the government at the time using terrorism was completely acceptable and does not qualify as a “formal genocide” since Armenia did not have a formal government….and yet when the Ottoman government responded by forced relocation of the Armenians using forceful tactics including killing of civillians – this constitutes as Genocide?
How is this different than Israel bombing a school knowing there are innocent civillians inside?
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