ASTARJIAN: SHAME ON YOU HILLARY!
Dr. Henry Astarjian
Armenian Weekly
Mon, Apr 12 2010
Shame on you Hillary. Shame on you! If this is too harsh or impolite,
it is not unprecedented in politically correct situations. You used
it to highlight a lie or distortion of facts by the Obama camp during
the recent Democratic primaries. In doing so, you set an example
for us ordinary human beings who revolt against lies, distorted
facts, cover-ups, or obstructions of justice. That much to justify
my outburst, to which my late mother would have objected; she would
have told me, "Shame on you for being impolite and for daring people
in government."
But thank the almighty God we live in these United States, not
in Turkey where, until this moment, a comment like that would have
subjected one to the tenets of Article 301, justifying criminal trial
for "insulting Turkishness."
Shame on you Hillary for reneging on your promise to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide as genocide and not some "tragic events of World
War I".
Shame on you for exploiting the memory of one and a half million
martyrs. You knew that signing the pledge to recognize the genocide
was essential in winning the Armenian vote, so you signed it.
Shame on you for cheating a million Armenian Americans, your fellow
citizens, with false promises you made during your campaign. When you
made that iron clad promise to recognize the genocide, you knew, or
you should have known, the situation with your NATO ally Turkey. You
knew or you should have known from your husband’s tenure that it is a
sensitive subject to deal with. You knew from your husband’s tenure
how he blocked a scheduled Congressional vote one minute before
Speaker Dennis Hastert was to put the issue to vote.
If you knew then what you know now, then you have a credibility
problem. If you did not know, then you were ignorant. You should have
known as a potential world leader, and you should not have made the
false promise.
I believe that you knew then, what you know now. I believe that in
your heart and mind, there was no doubt that your election stance was
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. You know that
Ottoman Turkey, the precursor of present-day Turkey, systematically
executed a plan to ethnically cleanse Turkey of all Armenians, not
sparing the Assyrians and other Christian populations, either.
I believe that you know but rationalize based on advice you have
received from your State Department, that if you accept the truth you
believe in, it would offend Turkey. And Turkey would then react with
unforeseeable retaliation with untold consequences. Your decision to
fight vigorously to block the vote in Congress is motivated by fear,
not interests of the United States. If you feel that by siding with
Turkey on the genocide you will win them over, then think again;
you will be huddling a porcupine!
If you have not seen or read reports about it, I can send you excerpts
of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s speech, where he proudly announces
that present-day Turkey is the inheritor of Ottoman Turkey (except,
of course, when it pertains to the genocide). Turkey is not only a
Muslim country, but a fanatical Islamic country (Middle East Quarterly,
Winter 2009) that is making inroads in solidifying its position in
the Islamic world.
Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) just launched a complete TV station
in Arabic to spread the Caliphate Islamic doctrine. Turkey also just
struck a $5 billion energy deal with Iran, and Erdogan recently stated
Turkey’s refusal to participate in blocking Iran, should the United
States and its allies impose sanctions.
In this week’s visit to Germany, Erdogan demanded the establishment
of a Turkish high school in Germany. In a YouTube video, Erdogan
is seen in a religious rally in Munich accompanied by his mentor,
Necmettin Erbakan, and Turkish President Abdullah Gul supporting
the Naqshbandi Sheikh Qubrusi, who after exciting the hot audience
with religious fervor and promising a struggle for Islamic victories
"everywhere," exclaimed "Who needs America"? Kemal Ataturk’s doctrine
of democratic secular Turkey is on its last breath. Kemalism is almost
dead, and is being replaced by fanatical Islam.
Erdogan’s government has arrested both the retired and active-duty top
brass of the military for plotting to overthrow his government. And
his anger against Israel is public now, and reflects a deeper feeling
of being humiliated by Israeli border authorities that made him wait
for 20 minutes. Had that happened in Turkey, they would have been
tried for "insulting Turkishness." Of course Erdogan’s opposition to
Israel is also to side with the Arabs.
So what is Washington afraid of? How did Turkey retaliate against
France, when France, 1 of 30 some countries, accepted the genocide?
Turkey withdrew its ambassador for a few weeks, and then returned him.
Is that a dear price to pay for holding a high moral ground?
President Obama, our 4/24 is your and our 9/11. You have sent our
loved ones thousands of miles away in harms way to seek justice
and punish the criminals of al-Qaeda; is our peaceful, disciplined,
political request from our own government to recognize the genocide
more stringent than that? Why not let a democratic process take its
course in Congress? Why block an up and down vote in Congress to
resolve this matter once and for all?
Mr. President, I am not Elie Wiesel. I do not have his noble mission,
nor do I intend to elicit sympathy. Like him and you, the intent is
to implement justice. Your and Hillary’s blocking of the genocide
recognition vote in Congress does not serve justice. I reject the
notion that in politics there are only interests, not justice. It is
easy when both meet, but it is difficult when they are separated. But
we have to do what is right.
I believed in you, Mr. President, and I still do. Even during the hotly
contested primaries when Dr. Rice debated Hillary’s representative
in Manchester’s Saint Anselm College, I autographed my book for you,
addressing you as "Mr. President." My request of you, Mr. President,
is to be true to your intellect, true to your conscience, true to your
promise, which you made during the campaign in a concrete statement,
and with true belief. I believe you have not changed your conviction
as you have reaffirmed it unofficially several times.
You may rationalize by saying, "What can I do? It is not in the United
States’ interest to alienate Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. We need
Turkey’s cooperation in implementing our policies in the region. We
can’t offend them. The genocide happened almost a century ago." Mr.
President, that is a stark deviation from the moral high ground you
believe in. Turkey is a weak, untrustworthy ally if it does not face
its criminal past.
In pursuit of your agenda, Mr. President, you argued that depriving
some 46 million people of basic healthcare "is not right." Letting
al-Qaeda commit its crimes and remain unpunished is not right.
Now I say, Mr. President, that blocking a vote in Congress to recognize
the Armenian Genocide is not right. Please let it come to the floor.