CNN International
Oct 12 2007
Timing of genocide resolution questioned
WASHINGTON (CNN) — With tensions rising between the United States
and Turkey over a resolution that labels the World War I-era massacre
of Armenians by Turkish forces "genocide," many are asking why the
House is debating the resolution now.
Rep. Tom Lantos says passage of the genocide resolution would help
restore America’s moral authority.
The House Foreign Affairs committee voted 27-21 Wednesday to approve
the nonbinding resolution, which declares that the deportation of
nearly 2 million Armenians from the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and
1923 — resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million — was "systematic"
and "deliberate," amounting to "genocide."
The Democratic leadership has not scheduled a final vote.
Administration officials have lobbied against the resolution, saying
good U.S-Turkish relations are vital to U.S. forces in Iraq. The
Pentagon says 70 percent of the military’s cargo heading into Iraq
either flies into or over Turkey.
But House Democrats view the resolution as part of their mandate to
restore America’s moral authority around the world.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday said arguments that Turkey is too
vital an ally to alienate has delayed the resolution for too long.
Watch Speaker Pelosi defend the timing of the debate »
"I’ve been in Congress for 20 years. And for 20 years, people have
been saying the same thing." Pelosi said Thursday. "There’s never a
good time. And all of us in the Democratic leadership have
supported… reiterating the Americans’ acknowledgement of a
genocide."
"As long as there is genocide, there is need to speak out against
it," she added.
An one of the chief supporters of the resolution, House Foreign
Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos, D-California, was unmoved by the
administration’s arguments that Turkey would block the use of U.S.
airbases on Turkish soil.
"The Turkish government will not act against the United States
because that would be against their own interests," he told CNN. "I’m
convinced of this."
Lantos, the only member of the House who is a Holocaust survivor,
says passage of the resolution would also help to bring a moral
dimension back to U.S. foreign policy.
"One of the problems we have diplomatically globally is that we have
lost our moral authority which we used to have in great abundance,"
Lantos said. "People around the globe who are familiar with these
events will appreciate the fact that the United States is speaking
out against a historic injustice. This would be like sweeping slavery
under the rug and saying slavery never occurred."
But Democrats are not united behind the measure, Armed Services
Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, has sent a letter to
Pelosi on Thursday opposing the resolution, saying the resulting
backlash threatened by Turkey could disrupt "America’s ability to
redeploy U.S. military forces from Iraq," a top Democratic priority.
And the top Republican in the House, Minority Leader John Boehner,
R-Ohio, said Thursday that bringing the resolution up for a final
vote would be "totally irresponsible."
"The fact is that Turkey is a very good ally of the United States.
They are critical to our security, not only her to but our troops
oversees," Boehner said. "Let the historians decide what happened 90
years ago."
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