Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

TURKISH BORDERS WITH ARMENIA WILL REMAIN CLOSED PENDING KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
April 22, 2009 Wednesday
Russia

The previous week was a week of visits, summits, and frustrated
hopes for Armenia. Political scientists expected the long-awaited
agreement to open the Armenian-Turkish border from the meeting of the
Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization in Yerevan (some even said it would happen on April 16)
but their hopes proved to be vain. Not even the pressing agenda or
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan’s presence in Yerevan helped.

As a matter of fact, that these optimistic forecasts would be
frustrated had been clear even since before Babacan’s visit to
Armenia. Flying to Yerevan, foreign minister of the country that
had closed its border with Armenia in 1993 said that he was counting
on a comprehensive settlement of the relations with Armenia and on
their normalization. He added, however, that normalization of the
relations between Ankara and Yerevan should proceed simultaneously
with the Azerbaijani-Armenian negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh.
From: Baghdasarian

OBAMA STATEMENT ON ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY

Fox News
2009/04/24/raw-data-obama-statement-armenian-remem brance-day/
April 24 2009

President Obama releases his statement on Armenian Remembrance Day.

The following is President Obama’s statement on Armenian Remembrance
Day:

Ninety four years ago, one of the great atrocities of the 20th century
began. Each year, we pause to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who
were subsequently massacred or marched to their death in the final days
of the Ottoman Empire. The Meds Yeghern must live on in our memories,
just as it lives on in the hearts of the Armenian people.

History, unresolved, can be a heavy weight. Just as the terrible
events of 1915 remind us of the dark prospect of man’s inhumanity
to man, reckoning with the past holds out the powerful promise of
reconciliation. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred
in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. My interest
remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of
the facts.

The best way to advance that goal right now is for the Armenian and
Turkish people to address the facts of the past as a part of their
efforts to move forward. I strongly support efforts by the Turkish and
Armenian people to work through this painful history in a way that is
honest, open, and constructive. To that end, there has been courageous
and important dialogue among Armenians and Turks, and within Turkey
itself. I also strongly support the efforts by Turkey and Armenia to
normalize their bilateral relations. Under Swiss auspices, the two
governments have agreed on a framework and roadmap for normalization. I
commend this progress, and urge them to fulfill its promise.

Together, Armenia and Turkey can forge a relationship that is peaceful,
productive and prosperous. And together, the Armenian and Turkish
people will be stronger as they acknowledge their common history and
recognize their common humanity.

Nothing can bring back those who were lost in the Meds Yeghern. But
the contributions that Armenians have made over the last ninety-four
years stand as a testament to the talent, dynamism and resilience
of the Armenian people, and as the ultimate rebuke to those who
tried to destroy them. The United States of America is a far richer
country because of the many Americans of Armenian descent who have
contributed to our society, many of whom immigrated to this country
in the aftermath of 1915. Today, I stand with them and with Armenians
everywhere with a sense of friendship, solidarity, and deep respect.
From: Baghdasarian

15,000 ENJOY NIGHT WITH HIGH-ENERGY MUSICIANSOLIVIA OLARTE

Khaleej Times
.asp?xfile=/data/theuae/2009/April/theuae_April597 .xml&section=theuae
April 25 2009
UAE

ABU DHABI – The first night of WOMAD Abu Dhabi was a huge success
with over 15,000 spectators in attendance.

The long stretch of beach ground at the Corniche in Abu Dhabi became
abuzz with activities from 6pm with eager school children and parents
joining the workshops hosted by Malarky and Ranbir Kaur. Eager little
faces and hands were all excited to show off their talents on various
craft creation.

The Dubai Drums workshop received a good following from children who
aspire of becoming musicians. They learned how to play drums and
tambourines and later on presented their newly-acquired skills in
front of a large audience, including proud parents.

When the much-awaited Zimbabwean group Siyaya came on stage, the
crowd was instantly won over by this high-energy group of musicians,
percussionists, vocalists and dancers.

Their rendition of Amazing Grace, led by a student from British School
Al Khubairat fused with African effect, evoked a heartfelt sing-along
fromâ~@¨the audience.

Jordanian Oud player and composer Kamal Mussalam with the Emirati
band, Sokoor Al Magabeel followed next and easily enticed the crowd
to sway along with their rendition of Arabic rock.

Both two stages on the North and South comprise two wide cinema
screens on each side to ensure good viewing even at a distance.

As was the usual custom in big events in Abu Dhabi, firecrackers
were launched and enlivened the sky with flash of lights during the
10-minute break. Candle balloons were also a captivating sight during
the course ofâ~@¨the evening. An unexpected and pleasant surprise for
the night was when the Siyaya group donned aprons in lieu of their
costumes and made an impromptu cooking in front of large followers. And
while waiting for their traditional dish to cook, they entertained the
pack of new fans to a second act of vibrant moves, drums and vocals.

All throughout the evening, throngs of people continue to file in. A
large gathering of Indian and Pakistani nationals arrived later in
the evening to particularly see the Pakistani artist, Rizwan-Muaazam
Qawwal. But it wasn’t before midnight when a mass of Arab nationals
came in droves to see the Algerian superstar and ‘King ofâ~@¨Raï’,
Khaled.

Exactly at midnight Khaled’s enthusiastic fans gathered on the North
stage to wait for his appearance. The last performance was buzzing with
excited anticipation. When he finally came on stage, screaming fans
could be heardâ~@¨a mile away. During Khaled’s first song, someone
from the audience hurled an Algerian flag which he wrapped lovingly
around him. Khaled’s repertoires included some of his famous songs
to which his fans unabashedly sung along. As soon as he came to his
last piece, Khaled indulged the audience further to an encore. The
famous singer-songwriter describes his music as having no limit, it
transcends boundaries as "my music is an inter-marriage between my
Arab heritage and the many countries I’ve visited," he said. "I would
like to believe that I am an ambassador of Arab music to the world,
a conveyor of message of love and freedom."

Jordanian national Ibrahim Ali and his wife Amani came to WOMAD to see
Khaled perform and they were not disappointed. "We are very impressed
with his performance, we’re glad we came" he said.

Milagros Orendain, a Filipino national visiting Abu Dhabi for the
first time said although she didn’t understand the Arabic language,
she liked Khaled’s music and voice. "I like Siyaya as well, they are
vibrant and full of life," she added.

Other group performers for the first night included Souad Massi
from Algeria who has started off with an acoustic guitar and wowed
the audience with her rendition of soulful music. Brazilian singer
Márcio Local teased the crowd with his rock music, samba and rap.

Armenian musical legend Jivan Gasparyan stirred everyone’s emotions
with his haunting and meditative instrumental using his traditional
Armenian woodwind instrument, duduk.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIANS SEEK OBAMA AFFIRMATION
John Ellis

Fresno Bee
Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2009

As a presidential candidate last year, Barack Obama declared that the
Armenian people were victims of genocide. Now, local Armenians are
expecting Obama, as president, to stand by that statement. They’ll
likely find out Friday. Armenians consider Martyrs Day the day the
genocide began in 1915, and U.S. presidents typically issue a statement
about the mass killings — without calling them genocide.

Past presidents, unwilling to create a diplomatic rift, have
disappointed the Armenian community on Martyrs Day. Campaigning in
2000, George W. Bush referred to a "genocidal campaign" against
the Armenians, only to drop any reference to genocide after his
election. His father did the same.

But Barlow Der Mugrdechian, coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program
at California State University, Fresno, thinks Obama will finally be
the president to use the word genocide. "I think he’s going to surprise
people and do something really positive," Der Mugrdechian said.

Varoujan Der Simonian, executive director of the Armenian Technology
Group, a Fresno-based nonprofit group that provides support for
Armenian farmers, agreed. "If he doesn’t, will I be disappointed? A
lot of people will, I think," he said.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians died between 1915 and 1923
while living in lands that were part of the Turkish Ottoman
Empire. Armenian-Americans and many scholars say it was genocide,
but the modern Turkish republic contends that wasn’t the case. The
secular Muslim democracy has worked to have the U.S. avoid using the
term genocide.

Turkey is a critical U.S. ally that hosts the American air force at
the Incirlik Air Base, borders both Iraq and Iran, holds a strategic
position on the Black Sea and has played a vital role in efforts to
strike a peace deal between Israel and Syria.

Obama visited the country this month and did not use the word
"genocide" in referring to the mass killings of Armenians. Some
local Armenians were disappointed, but others were encouraged by what
they heard.

Der Simonian felt Obama "prepared the groundwork" by telling Turkey
to "face reality and deal with its neighbors." And Der Mugrdechian
liked that Obama drew a parallel with the slavery issue in the United
States. "Acknowledge it and get past it," he said of Obama’s underlying
message. "It was there. It was a very clear subtext."

Rich Sanikian, a member of the Armenian National Committee,
said Obama was "in the middle of 80 million people, most of
whom oppose the genocide issue. I would be cautious as well in my
terminology." Sanikian said Obama appears to be more knowledgeable on
the issue than past presidents. And, Sanikian added, he has Samantha
Power as a National Security Council staffer. Power, who wrote a
book on genocide in general, filmed an Obama campaign video aimed at
Armenian-American voters.

"He’s got people around him that know the issue pretty well and I’m
sure are talking to him on the inside as well," Sanikian said.

The key day, however, is Friday.

Locally, there will be a Walk for Remembrance from the David of Sassoun
statue at Tulare and M streets to Fresno’s City Hall, where the annual
flag raising will take place. During the day, however, the local
Armenian community will be looking to Washington and waiting for Obama
to use the word genocide in a message commemorating the mass slaughter.

"We’re always hopeful," said Hygo Ohannessian, who chairs the local
chapter of the Armenian National Committee of America.

"There is always hope. Never give up on hope."
From: Baghdasarian

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:

April 22, 2009

ACNIS Holds Seminar on "Armenian-Turkish Diplomacy: An Update"

Yerevan, April 22, 2009–Just two days before the annual April 24
commemoration of the Armenian genocide, the Armenian Center for National and
International Studies (ACNIS) convened a special roundtable seminar
discussion today entitled "Armenian-Turkish Diplomacy: An Update," providing
the latest information regarding the outlook for the current effort to reach
a new "normalization" of Armenian-Turkish relations.

Welcoming the participants and attendees, ACNIS Director Richard Giragosian
introduced the speakers and guests, and noted the presence of noted
prominent Armenian-American historian and scholar Richard G. Hovannisian,
Professor of Armenian and Near Eastern History at the University of
California, Los Angeles. Giragosian also noted that this month’s seminar,
devoted to Armenian-Turkish diplomacy and the outlook for the normalization
of relations, reflected one of the most pressing issues in Armenian foreign
policy.

For his part, ACNIS Founder Raffi K. Hovannisian also welcomed the
participants and presented an overview of the issue in broader terms of
regional development, citing the fact that Armenia has always pursued a
policy toward Turkey with no preconditions, but not failing to acknowledge
the burden and legacy of genocide. He further dismissed the recent attempts
by Turkey to artificially link the Karabagh issue to its position toward
Armenia and hailed the irresponsibility of recent Turkish threats to label
Armenia as guilty of occupation of Azerbaijani lands within the United
Nations Security Council.

The discussion featured four main presentations, with ACNIS Director Richard
Giragosian offering an update from his recent visit to Turkey and an
assessment of the current stage of Armenian-Turkish negotiations, Professor
David Hovannisyan, the Director of the Center for Civilization and Cultural
Studies at Yerevan State University, presenting "An Overview of
Armenian-Turkish Relations," Ms. Vercihan Ziflioglu, a reporter with the
Istanbul-based "Hurriyet Daily News," offering her unique perspective on
"Armenian-Turkish Relations: The View from Istanbul," and Ashot Soghomonyan
of Yerevan State University, who offered a concluding "Overview of the
Challenge of Armenian-Turkish Relations."

ACNIS Director Richard Giragosian explained that there was a "prevailing
sense of skepticism" after repeated announcements by Turkish officials
trying to link the Karabagh issue to the Turkish-Armenian normalization
process. He defined this as rooted in the "asymmetry of power" between
Turkey and Armenia and also explained that it seems likely that Turkey had
"changed the course of its policy" toward Armenia, away from its earlier
engagement and has possibly "surrendered to Azerbaijani pressure."

Giragosian went on to say that while "there is still a chance for
normalization, the window of opportunity was narrower than before, with a
possible breakthrough agreement only likely between September and November
of this year." After which, he said, "if the process remains unresolved
into next year, any real chance for normalization would be more vulnerable
to new complications and renewed pressure." He stressed that there were
"three important lessons from the process: the fact that an opening of the
closed border should not be misinterpreted as any kind of reward or gift to
Armenia, as it represents merely the basic minimum of what is expected of
Turkey. Second, there is "no linkage between the normalization process and
the Karabagh issue, and, in fact, Turkey can not and should not have any
direct role in the Karabagh issue or in the OSCE Minsk Group’s mediation
effort." Third, Giragosian noted that Armenia has already gained in terms
of a weakening of the earlier Turkish-Azerbaijani policy of "one nation, two
states," and from the deterioration in relations between Ankara and Baku.

Professor David Hovannisyan, a retired senior Armenian diplomat and former
Armenian Ambassador to the Syrian Arab Republic, reflected on his experience
as a member of the former Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC),
adding that although he remains optimistic over the long term, he was also
pessimistic in the short term. He also stressed three main factors
explaining the timing of the normalization process: the war in Georgia in
August, which speeded up the process; a shift in Turkish policy away from
the Balkans to the Caucasus as a priority, as well as a new impetus in
Turkish-Russian relations; and the election of US President Obama, as a new
catalyst for US policy in support of normalized relations between Armenia
and Turkey.

As an Armenian from Istanbul, Ms. Ziflioglu noted that as a journalist she
expected the borders to be opened, arguing that the world now expected
Turkey to fulfill expectations of progress with Armenia. She also spoke of
her experience as an Armenian growing up in Istanbul, noting the differences
she felt compared to her Turkish classmates and friends. She also called
for a "change in mentality beyond simply opening borders."

Finally, Yerevan State University Professor Ashot Soghomonyan then closed
the seminar by comparing the competing stereotypes held by each side. He
stated that the Armenian perception of the Turk is as "murderer and as a
nation guilty of genocide," while most Turks perceived Armenia in three
different ways: in terms of the terrorism of ASALA in the 1980s, second,
within the context of the ARF, as nationalists, and third, reflecting their
perception of the "dangerous diaspora" that Turkey sees as threatening
Turkey with territorial demands and compensation for the genocide.

Closing the session, parliamentarian and Heritage Party member Stepan
Safarian and ACNIS Senior Analyst Manvel Sargsian then provided concluding
comments, which were then followed by a series of questions and answers, as
well as a lively exchange among many leading Armenian analysts, experts and
journalists.

———————————- ———————————–

The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS) is a
leading independent strategic research center located in Yerevan, Armenia.
As an independent, objective institution committed to conducting
professional policy research and analysis, ACNIS strives to raise the level
of public debate and seeks to broaden public engagement in the public policy
process, as well as fostering greater and more inclusive public knowledge.
Founded in 1994, ACNIS is the institutional initiative of Raffi K.
Hovannisian, Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs. Over the past
fifteen years, ACNIS has acquired a prominent reputation as a primary source
of professional independent research and analysis covering a wide range of
national and international policy issues.

For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax
(37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected]; or visit

From: Baghdasarian

DEBATES ON TURKISH-ARMENIAN BORDER OPENING TO BE HELD IN IZMIR ON 23-25 APRIL

Azerbaijan Business Center
April 22 2009

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Public discussion "Common problems of Turkey and
Azerbaijan: Armenia (Why should borders with Armenia be opened?)" will
take place in Turkish city Izmir from 23 to 25 April.

Milli Majlis (Azerbaijani parliament) informs that the debates will
involve country’s MPs Akram Abdullayev and Aydin Abbasov and Turkish
foreign policy experts and scientists. The polemics is aimed at
keeping brotherly relationships between Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Turkey’s plan on opening of the border with Armenia accusing it
in genocide of Armenians almost 100 years ago and occupying 20%
of Azerbaijan territory caused vehement protests in Baku.

Official Ankara’s pretext that only technical preparation for the
border opening is being conducted did not mislead anybody. Tough
reaction touched all layers of the society in Azerbaijan. The
Azerbaijani President cancelled his visit to Turkey for an
international conference, while Milli Majlis held a special session
on the occasion and local TV channels started broadcasting speeches in
Turkish language with subtitles in Azerbaijani language. As a result,
the Turkish Embassy in Baku was forced to state that principle "2
countries (Turkey and Azerbaijan)" was not removed from the agenda.
From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATIVE EVENTS

-commemorative-events-2/
Apr 20 2009 by Divan of the Western Diocese

April 21 – Upon the invitation of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike
Antonovich the Primate will attend the weekly meeting of the Board
of Supervisors on April 21st. A proclamation recognizing April 24th
as the "Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923"
will be announced during the meeting;

April 21 – Fr. Vazken will be speaking at Glendale City College
Auditorium 12-1PM; Topic: "Genocide: The Next Step"

April 22 – Special Genocide podcast available at

April 23 – The Primate will attend a commemorative event at the
California State Legislature in Sacramento;

April 23 – Fr. Avedis will be visiting AGBU High School in Pasadena;

April 23 – Fr. Vazken will be speaking at Calabasas High School
10:00AM; Topic: Armenia, Rwanda and Darfur: A Century of Genocide;

April 23 – Fr. Hovel will attend a commemorative event at the UC-Santa
Barbara, organized by UC-Santa Barbara ASA;

April 24 – His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate, will
attend the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and commemorative event
at the site of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Monument in Montebello
and will deliver the sermon;

April 24 – at 10:00 AM, the Very Rev. Fr. Baret Dz. V. Yardemian,
accompanied by Diocesan clergy will attend the Armenian Genocide
March in Little Armenia, Hollywood;

April 24 – The Primate will attend a commemorative event in honor of
the victims of the Armenian Genocide at the Alex Theatre in Glendale,
California, organized by the City of Glendale;

April 24 – Genocide Commemoration at University of Southern California
12-1PM; at Tommy Trojan, University Park;

April 24 – Ecumenical Service commemorating the Armenian Genocide,
under the auspices Archbishop Hovnan Derderian and Bishop Jon Bruno,
sponsored by the St. Peter Armenian Church Youth Ministries’ Center
and the St. Mark Episcopal Church, Glendale. 7:00PM. Prayers, hymns
and message. 1020 North Brand Blvd., Glendale, California 91202;

April 24 – Noon-1:00 PM, a commemorative event will be held at Tommy
Trojan, University Park;

April 25 – All Day Prayer and Fast for world hunger and children of
Genocide in Darfur, under the direction of Fr. Vazken. Get details
at ;

April 26 – Holy Divine Liturgy celebrating the accomplishments of
Armenian youth, and breaking the fast for world hunger.
From: Baghdasarian

LOCAL RESIDENTS OF VAN VILAYET OF TURKEY ARE TRYING TO HINDER SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AT THE PLACE OF AN OLD ARMENIAN CEMETERY

Arminfo
2009-04-21 15:54:00

Local residents of Van vilayet of Turkey are trying to hinder school
construction at the place of an old Armenian cemetery.

As Turkish ‘Radical’ newspaper says, construction of a school in
Aydinojak village of Gevash region of Van vilayet started 3 days
ago. Numerous human remains were found at the place of the future
school, which were thrown at the nearby pit. According to the local
residents, Armenian cemetery was located at the place of the future
school. The village residents think it is incorrect to build a school
at the place of the cemetery, saying that despite the religion of
the people buried, this is disrespect to them and the history. They
think new school may be built at the place of the old one. The head
of the village administration Gevash Tahsin Aksu said that though
there is no document regarding the Armenian cemetery located here,
nevertheless he promised to take relevant steps of a cemetery was
really located at the place of the future school.
From: Baghdasarian

SECRET CHARM OF INVENTIVENESS
Hakob Badalyan

LRAGIR.AM
16:44:06 – 20/04/2009

The Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, in his interview with the
Russian TV, presented the version of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue
settlement which is now being negotiated. Considering the fact, that
Aliyev presented it right after the discussion with Medevdev, in other
words still in Moscow where the discussion took place, we may note
that what Aliyev presented is in fact agreed with Medvedev, moreover,
Medvedev’s statements after his meeting with Aliyev prove it too.

Merely, Aliyev, being a party of the conflict, thought of having all
the rights to loud the present version of the settlement, because in
case the mediators presented it with much detail, it would be evident
that they propose a unilateral compromise version to the sides. But,
when it is Aliyev to state it, the Armenian side is able to say that
Aliyev just exaggerates or lies in order to calm his society down. It
is evident that in this case when Aliyev states that the question
on the Nagorno-Karabakh status will be imprecisely prolonged, and
they will cede Lachin to the Armenians but the Armenian forces must
withdraw from the other territories and the Azerbaijani people should
return to Karabakh and Nagorno-Karabakh can never legally separate from
Azerbaijan, the Armenian government will insist that Ilham Aliyev’s
proposal must not be believed and Nagorno-Karabakh will never make
a part of the independent Azerbaijan.

In other words, like in case of the Armenian and Turkish relations,
in this case too, the Armenian side says what lacks but what exists
is kept secret again. This seems to become a diplomatic style, if it
has not already become. While, such a style is in logic contradiction
with the initiative and active foreign policy which Armenia undertook
after Serge Sargsyan presidency. How it is possible to be active and
initiative and keep this inventiveness and activeness secret at the
same time.

The Armenian side has not to reveal all the nuances and details
of the negotiations, but when everyone reveals something – Bryza,
Fassier, Medvedev, Gyul, Erdogan, Babacan, Aliyev, the Armenian side
is surprising by not revealing anything. Sure, the society, should
first of all believe its own government. But what it has to believe
if the government says almost nothing, except that the others should
not be believed.

The point is that even if we assume that our public loves and respects
our government very much, at least the 52 percent of the society,
it is all the same, our society may hardly be imagined to idolize the
government and believe without seeing. So, the government has to show
the public not only whom to believe but also what to believe.
From: Baghdasarian

DUCKING AMERICA’S TORTURE DISGRACE
Melvin A. Goodman

Consortium News
ml
April 17 2009

The release of four Justice Department memos detailing and justifying
specific abusive interrogation techniques in George W. Bush’s "war on
terror" adds further evidence to the obvious conclusion that torture
and other crimes were committed.

But President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder
accompanied the document release on Thursday with assurances that the
CIA interrogators would not be prosecuted, and Obama went further,
saying "nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying
blame for the past."

Former CIA analyst Melvin A. Goodman disagrees, noting that official
crimes, when not addressed honestly, can eat away at a nation’s moral
and legal foundations:

Some countries never acknowledge their crimes.

It has been 95 years since the Turkish genocide against its Armenian
population, but the Turkish government will not confess to any role
in crimes that were committed. The Japanese have never admitted the
terrible crimes committed throughout Northeast and Southeast Asia
during World War II.

And Israel has refused to acknowledge its numerous crimes against the
Palestinians, most recently in Gaza, where Israeli soldiers committed
grave violations of international law by deliberately attacking
civilian targets and failing to protect the civilian population.

We know that the United States has committed crimes that violated
the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution against "cruel and unusual
punishments;" the War Crimes Act of 1996; the Convention Against
Torture of 1984 (the United States is a signatory); and of course
Common Article Three of the Geneva Conventions.

President Obama’s handling of the war crimes of the United States in
facilities in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Iraq, and Afghanistan
is particularly troubling because his administration has admitted that
crimes were committed. He has condemned torture and abuse, closed CIA
secret prisons, and ordered the closing of Guantanamo within the year.

Attorney General Eric Holder stated bluntly in his confirmation
hearings that "waterboarding is torture." CIA Director Leon Panetta has
done the same, and the CIA has conducted no extraordinary renditions
since Panetta replaced General Michael Hayden as CIA director.

Extraordinary renditions amount to enforced disappearance, which is
also a violation of international law. Panetta also has announced that
the CIA will no longer use contractors to conduct interrogations and
has proposed a plan to decommission the remaining black sites.

We have paid a terrible price for these crimes according to General
officers who have served in Iraq; they believe that U.S. use of
torture and abuse is the major incentive in the recruitment of
Arab fighters to Iraq in order to conduct their own acts of terror,
including suicide bombings.

But the President has stated that the United States "must look forward,
and not backward," and CIA Director Panetta has proclaimed that
CIA officers who conducted torture and abuse in CIA secret prisons
"should not be investigated, let alone punished."

The deputy director of the National Security Agency and a former CIA
senior officer, John Brennan, lobbied aggressively at the Justice
Department and the CIA against any release of documents that deal with
CIA’s interrogation program and its policy of extraordinary renditions.

Brennan was President Obama’s first choice to be CIA director, until
the appearance of numerous articles that traced Brennan’s role as a
cheerleader for "enhanced interrogation techniques" and extraordinary
renditions.

Finally, CIA has taken no action against CIA officers responsible
for the willful destruction of nearly 100 tapes of torture and abuse
against terrorist suspects, and Panetta has retained as his deputy
director, Stephen Kappes, who was the ideological driver for the
worst of CIA’s techniques and programs.

The CIA’s crimes are no secret, having been fully documented by Mark
Danner in the New York Review of Books, Jane Mayer and Sy Hersh in
The New Yorker, and Dana Priest and Barton Gellman in the Washington
Post. We learned about CIA’s "black sites" in 2002; the torture and
abuse at Abu Ghraib in 2004; and FBI protests against CIA torture
and abuse in 2006.

We know that President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary of
Defense Rumsfeld, and CIA Director George Tenet endorsed and encouraged
these measures.

Numerous reports, including the Taguba Report in 2004, the report of
the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the forthcoming
report of the Senate Armed Forces Committee have fully documented
the crimes.

The recent Spanish preparation of a case against six lawyers with
the Bush administration, including former Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales, will lead to more revelations as will the inquiries taking
place in Britain and Poland.

The stature of international law is diminished when a nation violates
it with impunity. The stature of a nation is diminished when it commits
crimes against humanity. And the national leadership is diminished
when it ignores the need for accountability and explicit repudiation.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, has called for a "truth commission"
to gather information on U.S. detention and interrogation programs.

Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and Christopher Bond, R-Missouri,
have endorsed a similar investigation of CIA programs as well as an
"evaluation of intelligence information gained through the use of
enhanced and standard interrogation techniques."

This would represent a good start, but only President Obama can
restore our moral compass on the crimes of the post-9/11 era. The
judgment of history will be harsh if he chooses not to do so.

Melvin A. Goodman, a regular contributor to The Public Record
where this essay first appeared, is senior fellow at the Center for
International Policy and adjunct professor of government at Johns
Hopkins University. He spent more than 42 years in the U.S. Army,
the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of Defense. His
most recent book is Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of
the CIA.
From: Baghdasarian