simply a racist if you suggest that an Islamic regime applied sharia law and inititated a genocide. Simply mentioning Abdul Hamid II, the alledged leader of the Ottoman Empire at the time of the alledged 'massacres', would not be politicall correct and furthermore would single-out an Islamic, and worse yet a 'brown person', and reinforce the 'stereotype' of violent Islam. Bush is right to bow to the world of political correctness lest the people begin to see the truth behind the 'religion of peace'. After all we wouldn't want to make our friends in AEU, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc mad!!

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It took us decades to start to use the word genocide. It took us decades to sign the UN Resolution against genocide. We didn't want to piss of any of our "allies". Forget about the millions of people in the 20th century who were the victims of genocide. We are allowing another genocide in Darfur because the Sudanese government has oil we might get our hands on. It is one of our national disgraces. Read Samantha Power's book, "The Problem From Hell" for an incredible accounting of America's failure to address genocide.

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Why is Congress interested in passing this resolution right now?

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... President of Iran denies genocide against the jews.
... President of the US denies genocide against Armenians.

hmmm....

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...He and his spin doctors absolutely Excell at redefining even the most vile and abhorent of crimes in terms they can stomach...

I sure will be glad when this Gang of Criminals are Gone!

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I haven't seen evidence that he's denied this was a genocide. My understanding (admittedly limited) is that Bush opposes this resolution because it's going to damage our relationship with Turkey. And he's right (for once in his blighted life): it will.

The Turkish government is evil and insane in its denial of this genocide, and we shouldn't be complicit in that denial. But I don't understand why this resolution is on the front burner now, at a moment when Turkey is starting to militarily cross the border into Iraq. We need a good diplomatic relationship if we're going to have any hope of convincing them to back off and not widen our damn fool war.

Let me know if I'm reading this thing wrong--it feels so icky to side with W.

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The problem with defining what happened to minority groups in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War is that damned near anybody who has any interest in the problem starts out with their minds already made up. Objectivity is not easily found.
Personally I would be opposed to H. Res. 106 because it would seem to perpetuate the myth that the Armenians were singled out for harsh treatment because 1.5 million died. Everyone seems to have forgotten that in the same time period 1 million Hellenes (Greek Christian inhabitants) and 750,000 Assyrians (another Christian community) died in similiar deportations and massacres.
If there was genocide it was not just an Armenian Genocide, but also a Hellenic and an Assyrian Genocide.
William L. Cleveland, in "A History of the Modern Middle East" 3rd Ed., (2004) p.154 & 218 writes of the cruelty of Jamal Pasha who earned the nickname al-Saffah, the Blood Shedder, in Syria. ”A recent study has concluded that over 600,000 inhabitants of Greater Syria lost their lives in the years 1915 to 1918, a figure that comprises roughly 18 percent of the pre-war population.” No one claims that a genocide took place in Syria, it was the result of ineptness and ruthlessness in time of war.
Armenians had revolted before and during WWI were joining the Russian army to fight the Turks.
The history of the previous century gave the Turks reason to be suspicious of possible revolts. They had suffered the loss of most of their European and North African lands to European expansion and independence movements. This had the effect of increasing the percentage of Turks in the Ottoman Empire. This in turn strengthened the power of those advocating Pan Turkism against Ottomanism. The desire for Armenian independence was actually fostered by the Young Turks leading to the 1909 Armenian massacre. This echoes the assertion of Clarence Ussher, in "An American Physician in Turkey" p. 70, that “as far back as 1908, Ali Bey, then governor of Van, 'used every means in his power to incite Armenians to revolt in order to have a pretext for massacring them.'” The post-war Treaty of Sevres would seem to confirm the validity of Turkish fears. The treaty gave large areas of Anatolia to the Kurdish, Greek and Armenian ethnic minorities, areas which the Turks regained with armed struggle.
But the Turkish government today, the inheritors of Kemal Ataturk, instead of acknowledging the abuses of the government that they overthrew, continues to deny them and defend the perpetraters!

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so, our brave governmental leaders are willing to admit that someone ELSE committed genocide nearly a century ago.

when are they going to be willing to admit that WE are now committing genocide in Iraq?

Ummmm...that'll no doubt take at least 200 years.

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Any wonder that his Lies about War and the Mass Murder of Innocent People, er, "Collateral Damage", can attempt to disguise Genocide as "Historic Mass Killings"? Is he buttering up the public dialog and press for future Trials concerning his own Historic Mass Killings in Iraq and Afghanistan and Texas?

Ignorance and Lies only go so far, then they really piss me off!

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I suspect that Theodore Herzel and his gang undermined the Ottoman empire purposely to destroy her and dice her up like they did. I also think they worked with the Americans, French and the tzar.

I even think that the war was about screwing the Ottoman Empire rather than about Germany and I believe that France and England purposely invaded Belgium in order to tie down German armies while they went off and destroyed the Ottoman Empire for the zionist pigs.

This Armenian thing was a patent smear and the zionists are still at work trying to destroy all of the middle east. They want the entire middle-east for themselves.

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Bush did not DEFEND the genocide of Armenians in Turkey. He's following the Turkish government's line that while millions were killed it wasn't a genocide because he doesn't want to offend an ally. This is not admirable but it is understandable in the terms of international foreign policy.

Has Congress passed a resolution condemning Russia for the 20 million or so citizens of the USSR that were killed or starved to death or who died in gulags? And what about the 30 million Chinese citizens who died in the Great Leap Forward? Has Congress officially denounced China? Genocide is a terrible crime but human beings aren't more dead because a government tried to kill off a particular ethnic/religious/tribal etc etc group than because a government let millions of its own citizens die for reasons of power, stupidity, and depraved indifference to human life.

Recent estimates of the number of Iraqis who have died one way or another because of the sanctions we imposed and the invasion we undertook is a million or more. Is that a genocide? Who is going to say?

What is the Congressional resolution about the Armenians intended to achieve?

I oppose Bush with every cell of my body but to headline this story saying that he "defends the genocide of the Armenians" is beyond the pale.

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I have to admit that at this time with a new much more religious fundamentalist president of Turkey being elected and also their growing religious fundamental zeal and irritation towards the west if not aggression..

We and the Armenians may have been better served by doing something for the Armenian people who are a great people of much heart and culture than to re-hash and act in such a self serving manner Turkey who is or was no doubt guilty of Genocide in regard to the Armenian people of whom I have had a number of friends among them the writer Barry Nazzarian who lost family members in this genocide..

The Turks have always been brutal for any that opposed them throughout history..

If they join with Iran in the coming war Bush will start soon enough and then Russia joins this block as an enemy of Israel we have Armageddon as this would clear the way for a Russian invasion of the region when Bush has terribly weakened American forces and assets and much of the world has also turned against us..

America will not fight a nuclear war with Russia for the sake of Saudi Arabia and the Russians can put up to 1 million men in the region in a week or less as all Russian soldiers jump or are used as paratroopers not to mention their easier road access in the region..

If you do not see Armageddon looming over us due to this terrible administration and worthless spineless Congress and Nancy Pelosi acting as a co-conspirator with Bush et all then you had better wake up to what is really happening due to this the worst Congress in American history..

Simple as that..

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All empires committ atrocities and it is usually to do with the empire thing, not the particular religious affiliations involved. Why, even the great USA was based on something very close to genocide. And the list of atrocities committed under the aegis of the British Empire is long but often still not considered a polite subject for discussion.

However, why is Congress choosing now to make its moral stand - the same Congress that has assented to the whittling away of American freedom and an illegal war - is beyond me. Turkey and its people are increasingly being killed by terrorists/insurgents/freedom fighters based in Iraqi Kurdistan and the USA expects them to do nothing about it. Yes, the USA, who set out to trash whole countries in retaliation for one terrorist attack, thinks the Turks should turn the other cheek rather than cross the border in pursuit of their attackers.

So am I being cynical is considering Congress' uncharacteristic devotion to morality to be little more than a smokescreen? Perhaps they will sanction the bombing of Turkey once that country's leaders feel they have to retaliate if they are not to lose their jobs. Worse, if the army just takes over the government in order to do what it wants. Just for now, would it not be intelligent for your political leaders to turn their minds to finding a way of avoiding an expansion of the chaos in the region. Armenians were massacred in the past and it was terrible and the people of Turkey should face their history. On the other hand, before we lecture others shouldn't we face our own histories? But Iraqis are being massacred and dispossessed now, and Congress and the rest of the Western nations are long practiced in ignoring the agony of the Palestinians. God knows how many will die if America/Israel bomb Iran: do we really want to make Turkey another hate object? Because America's hate objects tend to be bombed into the dark ages.

Congress' most important function should be to prevent its nation participating in today's massacres. After your legislators have tackled that problem, then perhaps the UN could organise a conference of all the nations who have committed major atrocities so that they can compare notes before donning sackcloth and ashes. One thing's for sure, all the permanant members of the Security Council will be there.

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"Hmmm, look what I found in the men's room at the MN airpost."

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Whoops! Let's not be "stupidly honest" here. Foreign Affairs Magazine a few years back, had an article about what helped lead Yugoslavians in the three main areas of that country into hating one another again. It was labeled "Palanka Thinking" a backwoods form of tight tribal reasoning--if one can call it that--where each of the ethnic groups starts lying to themselves.

They each start saying such things to other members of their ethnic group things such as, 1) "We are the persecuted group!" Then they add, 2) "Our ethnic group has
never hurt anyone else!" And finally, they say to their fellows, 3) "We have the moral high ground!" Ya, and it takes two to tango! Lies heaped upon lies!

Well, I don't want to see the U.S. House of Representatives passing resolutions that in effect are going to start another round of crazy thinking that will ultimately lead down the road to another round of ethnic cleansing, this time in the country of Turkey.

The folks pushing for this amendment show their ignorance of how the human mind works. They may be inclined to have sensitive empathy with the Armenians, because of their own ethnic background...however, that doesn't equate to being "stupidly honest & naive" to feign support while also starting the whole cycle of ethnic hatred up all over again in another country.

We have no business sticking our noses in this matter. And sixty or seventy years ago these Armenians were given restitution to the tune of $115 milliion. Now they
want to "shake us down again" at a time when we need Turkey as an essential allie.
No Way!

Let Yugoslavia be an example of what The Palanka Tought Processes can do on the way to a nation's self-destruction! House Resolution 106 should not have even been let out of the Foreign Relations Committee. Those on the committee who voted for this really show how truly ignorant they are!

And Democrats are in Charge of this? Maybe I need to change my party affiliation!

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and W knows genocide. If it involves oil, he's all for it! He's even brazen enough to tell people who recognize it to go F**K themselves. Turkey ABSOLUTELY committed horrible acts of genocide against Armenians, in particular, and all Christians in their empire in general. My Dad's sister was married (happily for 50+ years) to a man who escaped Turkey's murderous policies in Greece at the age of thirteen. The USA wasn't there for ANY of these people just like it isn't there for the Burmese and the people of Darfur today and wasn't there for European Jews in the 1930's and '40's. The reason: There are profits to be made by IGNORING these horrible massacres of innocent men, women, and children. If this government had ANY MORALS at all, we should insist that any country who commits such acts meets at least the following minimal demands before we give them diplomatic recognition and access to American trade:1. Acknowledgement of past misdeeds through formal apologies to the governments of these nations or the peoples involved, including allowing these people to reclaim land and other property stolen from them through such barbaric acts, and 2. Financial restitution to all injured parties in these acts of brutality. (Trust me, you would be shocked at just how LARGE Armenia would suddenly become if this ever happened!)

And, yes, we owe innocent Iraquis more than just a smile and a promise to FIX the mess we have made of their country! In addition, when a government turns its guns on its own people as has happened in Burma, we should spare no expense to bring the perpetrators of such deeds to swift and final justice.

This is HOW a true superpower (and the UN, for that matter) should behave. The bunch we have now just sees the $$$$$ they can gain by turning their backs on innocent people and their rights. There is OIL: A LOT OF IT, in the waters off Burma (or Myanmar, as its facist government calls it ). That's all the Bushies care about anywhere. It's immoral and disgusting that these acts still go ignored.

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when Iraq breaks up and Turkey moves to 'cleanse' Kurdistan?

then we'll see how they spin it.

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I take issue with referring to Turkey as an ally. What kind of an ally imposes a gag‐rule on OUR Congress by threatening the safety of our men and women in uniform? Turkey has made it clear that they will pursue their own interests regardless of US policy. In 2004, when the US wanted to go into Iraq, Turkey did not allow the use of their airspace. The US also asked them (pleaded with them) not to enter Iraq to fight the Kurds, and they did anyway.

As Americans, we should be ashamed of allowing a foreign government to decide (with money and threats) (did I mention money?), what OUR representatives stand up for. We are letting generals from the other side of the world dictate our policies.

Congressman Albio Sires from NJ has said in the past few days: ʺI feel like I have a Turkish sword over my head somehow if I vote the wrong way here. And I donʹt like that feeling.ʺ How dare we condone that!

In regards to the timing of this issue: This is not something that has come out of the blue, coincidentally during a sensitive time. This bill has been introduced to Congress EVERY year. In fact the passing of this bill is 92 years too late. Every year, when it comes time for the FR Committee to vote on the resolution, it's a "sensitive time." It's interesting what Pelosi said: "When I came to Congress 20 years ago, it wasn’t the right time because of the Soviet Union. Then that fell, and then it wasn’t the right time because of the Gulf War One. And then it wasn’t the right time because of overflights of Iraq. And now it’s not the right time because of Gulf War Two." What Turkey is REALLY saying, is that NEVER is the right time.

The last few survivors of the genocide are dying, and Turkey is banking on this, so that in a few years, when this comes up again, they can say "where are these survivors? Why don't they tell us what happened? Oh they're not here..." This the perfect time for this resolution to finally pass.

I guess we are ok with sending the world a strong message that says "if we can use your bases, we'll make sure you look good in the history books." Genocide denial can not be a perk of a friendship with our country. As citizens, we should not stand for that.

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