Author: Emil Lazarian

TURKEY IN LAST-DITCH APPEAL FOR FRANCE TO DROP ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL
Agence France Presse — English
October 11, 2006 Wednesday 4:31 PM GMT
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul Wednesday launched a last-ditch
appeal to France to drop a bill on the World War I massacres of
Armenians which has threatened to poison bilateral ties.
“I hope France, the homeland of freedom where everyone is able to
express their opinions freely, will not turn into a country where
people are jailed for expressing their opinions and publishing
documents,” Gul told reporters here.
“If the bill is adopted, Turkey will not lose anything, but France
will lose not only Turkey, but something of itself as well.”
The French national assembly is scheduled to vote Thurday on the bill,
which provides for a year in prison and a 45,000-euro (57,000-dollar)
fine for denying that Armenians were the victims of genocide between
1915 and 1917 under the Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s predecessor.
If the bill passes through the assembly, it will have to be approved
by the Senate and the president before it becomes law in what is
expected to be a lenghty process.
Ankara has warned that bilateral ties will suffer a serious blow and
French companies will be barred from economic projects if the bill
is adopted.
Turkish officials largely see the draft law as a gesture to France’s
large Armenian community before legislative elections next year.
The French government has described the bill as unnecessary, while
the ruling UMP party bloc has distanced itself from the draft, which
was tabled by the Socialist opposition.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917.
Turkey rejects the genocide label, arguing that 300,000 Armenians
and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took
up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading
Russian troops as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENCH ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL THREATENS TO SCUPPER TRADE WITH TURKEY
by Hande Culpan
Agence France Presse — English
October 11, 2006 Wednesday
France risks losing an important economic partner in Turkey and being
left out of major projects ranging from the defense sector to energy
if it adopts a controversial bill on the World War I-era massacres
of Armenians.
The French national assembly is scheduled to vote Thurday on the bill,
which provides one year in prison and a 45,000-euro (57,000-dollar)
fine for denying that Armenians were the victims of genocide between
1915 and 1917 under the Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s predecessor.
If the bill passes through the assembly, it will have to be approved
by the Senate and the President before it becomes law in what is
largely expected to be a lenghty process.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has already warned that French
companies should expect to be barred from major tenders and several
civic groups have threatend to boycott French goods if the bill
is approved.
This would be a repetition of what happened in 2001, when France
officialy recognised the Armenian massacress as genocide, but French
businessmen here feel the repercussions of the new bill could be
more severe.
“In 2001, Turkey went though a huge economic crisis and the boycott
of French goods was forgotten. But I do not think it will be the same
this time round,” Raphael Esposito, director of the French-Turkish
Chamber of Commerce, told AFP. “The wound will be deeper and will
not heal as quickly.”
Analysts say Turkey cannot cancel projects already awarded to French
companies, but could easily bar them from future tenders.
One project France is interested in is the planned construction of
the country’s first nuclear power plant, which calls for an initial
investment of four billion dollars (about 3.1 billion euros).
The government plans to build three nuclear power plants with a total
capacity of about 5,000 megawatts, to be operational in 2012, in hopes
of preventing a possible energy shortage and reducing dependence on
foreign supplies, mainly from Russia and Iran.
Nuclear Power International (NPI), a subsidiary of Germany’s Siemens
and France’s Framatome, had previously bid in a now-defunct tender
to build a nuclear plant on Turkey’s southern Mediterranean coast.
Another area that could be adversely affected by the French bill is
the defence industry.
Eurocopter, the fruit of a Franco-German merger, is among four foreign
companies to submit bids for the purchase of 52 general-purpose
search-and-rescue helicopters for military and civilian use, a project
said to be worth several million dollars.
French companies are also keen to participate in several transport
and infrastructure projects in major Turkish cities, such as the
extension of Istanbul’s underground railway system.
Analysts, however, say Turkey could keep planned economic sanctions on
a strict bilateral level and not move against multinational companies
that may include France.
The French bill, if approved, is also likely to hit some 250 French
firms already present in Turkey and active in sectors ranging from food
and the automobile industry to banking and insurance, and providing
employment for about 65,000 people.
“All this is very tiring,” Esref Hamacioglu, the director in Turkey
of Sodexho, a French food voucher company.
He said his firm lost about one million euros (1.25 million dollars)
in 2001, during a two-week boycott triggered by France’s recognition
of the Armenian massacres as genocide.
Bilateral trade between the two countries totalled 8.2 billion euros
(10 billion dolars) in 2005.
France also plays a leading role in foreign direct investment in
Turkey with 2.1 billion dollars (1.6 billion euros) last year and 328
million dollars (260 million euros) in the first seven months of 2006.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENCH MPS TO DEBATE ARMENIA ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL, ANGERING TURKEY
by Marc Burleigh
Agence France Presse — English
October 11, 2006 Wednesday
French MPs are set to debate Thursday a bill on the 1915-1917 massacres
of Armenians by the Ottomans which, if passed into law, could gravely
threaten France’s economic relations with Turkey.
Tabled by the left-wing opposition, the draft law would make it a
crime in France to deny that the massacres constituted genocide,
hitting violators with a prison term of up to one year and a fine of
up to 45,000 euros (57,000 dollars).
Turkey, the modern state which emerged from a sprawling Ottoman Empire
that included Armenia, contests the term “genocide” for the killings
and strongly opposes the bill’s provisions.
It says 300,000 Armenians, and at least as many Turks, died in civil
strife when Armenians took up arms for independence and sided with
invading Russian troops as the Ottoman Empire fell apart during World
War I.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their ancestors were slaughtered
in orchestrated killings.
Around 400,000 people of Armenian origin are estimated to live in
France, the most famous being the singer Charles Aznavour, born
Chahnour Varinag Aznavourian to immigrant parents.
In 2001 France adopted a law calling the massacres a genocide,
but the new bill would, in addition, make it illegal to deny that
genocide took place, much in the way denial of the Holocaust during
World War II is a crime.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned that
passage of the bill would be a mistake bearing serious consequences
for French investors in Turkey.
“We expect Paris to avoid this blunder, this political accident that
will harm Turkish-French relations,” he told members of his party.
Erdogan claimed the criminalisation of those who challenged the
use of “genocide” for the Armenian killings ran counter to freedom
of expression in the European Union, which Turkey itself is under
pressure to respect as it seeks membership.
Ankara has warned France that its companies will be barred from
potentially lucrative economic projects in Turkey, including a planned
nuclear power plant, if the bill is adopted.
The Ankara Chamber of Commerce, which groups some 3,200 businesses,
has also threatened to boycott French goods.
At stake is bilateral trade that totalled 8.2 billion euros (10
billion dollars) in 2005.
But observers warned that any economic retaliation could prove worse
for Turkey than for France.
France plays a leading role in foreign direct investment in Turkey,
with 2.1 billion dollars (1.7 billion euros) last year and 328 million
dollars in the first seven months of this year. About 250 French firms
are active in Turkey, providing employment for about 65,000 people.
Nevertheless, Chirac’s ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party
has been unsettled by the intensity of the Turkish backlash over the
proposed law, which was entered by the opposition Socialist Party.
On Tuesday, French foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei
told reporters that the bill “does not implicate the government” and
“in our view, it is not necessary”.
The head of the UMP majority in parliament, Bernard Accoyer, said
a “large number” of the party’s MPs would abstain from voting on
the bill.
“The law is not the best tool to write history,” he said.
The furore also plays out against the context of Turkey’s EU membership
bid, and France’s key role in deciding its fate.
Chirac has championed Turkey’s ambition to join the European Union,
but domestic opposition — including within the UMP — has since
prompted him to add conditions and qualifications.
On a recent trip to Armenia, he said Turkey should recognise the
Armenian killings as a genocide before being allowed to join the EU.
But he also called the opposition bill “deliberately controversial”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ROYAL SAYS TURKEY MUST RECOGNISE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Kerstin Gehmlich
Reuters, UK
Oct 11 2006
PARIS, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Turkey has to recognise Armenians suffered
genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks if it wants to enter the
European Union, French Socialist presidential frontrunner Segolene
Royal said on Wednesday.
Royal, who heads opinion polls to become the leftist party’s candidate
for next year’s presidential poll, did not say whether she personally
supported Turkey’s EU membership, saying the French people would
decide the issue in a referendum.
“If Turkey should one day confirm its candidacy and enter Europe,
it is obvious that it must recognise the Armenian genocide,” Royal
told a press conference.
Royal was speaking just a day before the French parliament was to
vote on a bill that will impose prison terms on anyone who denies
the 1915 genocide of Armenians took place.
The bill, proposed by Royal’s Socialist party, has strained relations
between Paris and Ankara, with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
telling France to examine its own colonial past.
Ankara denies that some 1.5 million Armenians perished in a systematic
genocide last century, saying large numbers of both Christian Armenians
and Muslim Turks died in a partisan conflict raging at that time.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said he hoped France, “a country
of freedoms”, would not become “a country where people are jailed
for expressing views and releasing documents”.
“If this bill is passed, Turkey will not lose anything but France
will lose Turkey and it will no longer remain as France that boasts
the values I mentioned,” Gul told reporters.
The European Commission has criticised the French bill, saying it
undermines its efforts to persuade Turkey to increase freedom of
expression by scrapping article 301 of the penal code used against
Turkish intellectuals and writers.
NO LECTURING
Turkey began EU entry talks last October and France is especially
cool on taking in the large, mainly Muslim nation.
Royal said France had also found it painful to deal with darker
chapters of its past.
“It’s not easy for certain countries to recognise a number of actions
or episodes that are totally counter to the respect of human dignity,”
she said.
Asked whether she personally supported Turkey’s entry into the EU,
Royal said the French people would decide this issue in a referendum.
Royal’s likely conservative competitor for the 2007 poll, Interior
Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, is a long-standing opponent of Turkey’s
EU entry.
Some deputies in Sarkozy’s UMP party say there is no need for the
controversial bill, but the mood has toughened since President Jacques
Chirac visited Armenia last month and said Turkey should recognise
the genocide before joining the EU.
UMP party officials expect around 60 of their 362 parliamentarians
to back the motion, with most of the rest likely to skip the debate,
handing victory to the Socialists.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SARKISIAN SEEKS CLOSER MILITARY TIES WITH BRITAIN
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 11 2006
Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian called for the deepening of defense
and security ties between Armenia and Britain during talks with a
visiting senior British official on Wednesday.
Meeting with British Minister for Europe Geoff Hoon, Sarkisian
suggested that the two countries draw up “long-term programs of
military cooperation.” A statement by the Armenian Defense Ministry
cited him as saying that such programs are needed for achieving
“tangible results” in the ongoing bilateral activities in the areas
of international peace-keeping, military training and defense reforms.
The statement said Hoon, who served as Britain’s defense secretary
from 1999-2005, welcomed the idea and expressed his readiness to help
to solve “problems arising during the deepening of [British-Armenian]
cooperation.” It did not give further details, saying only that the
two men also discussed the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and
other challenges to regional security.
Hoon arrived in Yerevan on Tuesday and left it later on Wednesday as
part of his tour of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The low-key visit
involved no talks with President Robert Kocharian, with Hoon meeting
only with Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian. The latter’s
press office did not immediately release any statements on the meeting.
Sarkisian’s calls for closer British-Armenian military ties came amid
Yerevan’s growing cooperation with NATO and the U.S. military in
particular under an “individual partnership action plan” which was
launched late last year. Sarkisian has repeatedly stated that that
cooperation is now an increasingly important elements of Armenia’s
national security doctrine that continues to be anchored in a military
alliance with Russia.

“DAYS OF ARMENIA IN SIBERIA” OPENED IN KRASNOYARSK
Siberian News Online, Russia
Oct 10 2006
“Days of Armenia in Siberia” opened in Krasnoyarsk in International
Exhibition Business Center “Siberia” today.
Vyacheslav Rychkov, a deputy-mayor, the head of the department of
food policy, commerce and services, Valery Sergienko, a State Duma
deputy, Sarkis Muradyan, the chairman of the Board of Directors of
CJSC Sibagropromstroy, participated in the exhibition opening.
Armenian delegation was headed by Arsen Grigoryan, the governor of
Gegarkunik Region of the Republic of Armenia.
On behalf of Armenian government Arsen Grigoryan thanked the exhibition
organizers and residents of Krasnoyarsk Territory for an opportunity
of holding the presentation.
‘Krasnoyarsk Territory governor Alexander Khloponin expressed his
confidence in his letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharyan
that the exhibition would help to enlarge commercial and economic
cooperation between Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of
Armenia. Our countries take special places in the world society, and
fact prove that Armenia and Russia are interested in cooperation:
trade turnover between Armenia and Russia constituted $107 million
in 2000, and it increased up to $353 million by the end of 2005,’
Grigoryan said.
After the opening visitors were able to see an exhibition of Armenian
food and industrial goods. The expositions showed decorative goods,
national souvenirs made of stone and ceramics, shoes, textile,
equipment, a wide range of beverages, including alcohol.
It is worth reminding that Armenian businessmen are going to have
meetings with the regional businessmen, participate in a panel
discussion with members of Central Siberian Commerce and Industrial
Chamber, The Union of Industrialists and Businessmen of Krasnoyarsk
Territory and the Union of Commodity Manufacturers and Consumers.
Apart from that, Krasnoyarsk audience will enjoy a cultural program
prepared by the guests from Armenia. Famous Armenian singers and
musicians will give two concerts, one in IEBS Siberia, the second one –
in the Big Concert Hall of the philharmonic society.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NKR DEPUTY FM: AZERI PARTY’S GOAL IS TO UNDERMINE NKR’S FOOD SECURITY
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2006
October 9 the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Deputy FM Masis Mailyan
received the members of the OSCE Mission on the estimation of the
ecological situation in the bordering zone between Nagorno-Karabakh
and Azerbaijan.
According to the information DE FACTO got at the NKR MFA Press Service,
welcoming the commission’s members Masis Mailyan underscored the
NKR leadership was always open for the international cooperation
and did its best for the OSCE monitoring to be held. In his turn,
the Mission’s Head, Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental
Activities Bernard Snoy (Belgium) expressed his gratitude to the
Nagorno-Karabakh authorities for the substantial support of their
plans’ implementation, having noted the Karabakh experts participating
in the monitoring had contributed to the Mission’s work on Azerbaijan’s
territory. Mr. Snoy expressed satisfaction that the Karabakh leadership
had allowed the Azerbaijan’s representatives to participate in the
monitoring on the Nagorno-Karabakh’s territory.
“Our goal is to come to the conclusions based on the consensus. The
mission’s task is to strengthen confidence between the parties, which
will promote the conflict’s settlement in the future”, noted the
OSCE Coordinator. In his words, the experts will estimate the fires’
short-term and long-term influence on the environment and prepare
recommendations on the actions to be undertaken again fires.
On the request of the Mission’s members Masis Mailyan presented the
situation connected with the fires. In part, he noted the fires had
begun early June, mainly because of the unprecedented dry weather.
He noted Baku politicized the problem, in part, the Azeri mass media
charged the Karabakh party with the fires’ organization. “In June we
sent a letter to the OSCE urging to hold a crisis-monitoring to refute
Baku’s ungrounded accusations. The first monitoring was held June 28,
then 3 more monitorings were held July 3, 4, 5. On the outcomes of the
monitoring the OSCE Chair-in-Office’s Personal Representative Andrzey
Kasprzyk prepared a report. However, Azerbaijan led the issue to the
U. N., and we are dissatisfied over the fact”, Masis Mailyan said.
The NKR Deputy FM voiced discontent that the discussions in Vienna
on the fires had been conducted without the representatives of the
Nagorno-Karabakh – the most concerned party.
He mentioned the main reasons for the fires on the fields in the
bordering zone: unprecedented drought, Azerbaijan’s hostile actions –
the Azeri servicemen set fire to the dry grass on the neutral territory
and used tracer bullets while shooting. “The Azeri party’s goal is
to undermine the NKR’s food security. As a result of the fires the
Nagorno-Karabakh’s interests were prejudiced for 3, 5 milliard drams”,
Masis Mailyan said.
He spoke up for the necessity of the joint activities to be undertaken
by the Karabakh and Azeri structures, having noted as early as in
2001 the NKR leadership had offered a complex of measures on the
establishment of trust to Azerbaijan (over 20 proposals), one of which
presumed elaboration of the preventive measures on the pastures’
fires. “However, Baku rejected the Karabakh party’s proposals,
and the mediators did not promote them properly. If our proposals
were accepted, the current situation would not be like this. Today
we are also ready to cooperate with Azerbaijan, but, unfortunately,
Baku does not get in touch with the Karabakh party even on the issues
of mutual interest”, Masis Mailyan stated.
The Deputy FM answered numerous questions of the Mission’s members
who thanked him for the thorough information.
The officials from the NKR MFA, MOD, the Ministry of the Production
Infrastructures and Territorial Management, the State Department of
Ecology participated in the meeting as well.
The representatives of the U. S., Germany, Macedonia, Switzerland,
Italy, France, Moldova and Estonia are in the OSCE Mission. In
Nagorno-Karabakh the Mission will hold monitoring of the zone adjacent
to Azerbaijan for 3 days. To remind, October 5-7 the OSCE Mission held
a similar monitoring from the Azeri party with the Karabakh experts’
participation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DAYS OF ARMENIA: EXCISE WAREHOUSE OF ALCOHOL MADE IN ARMENIA TO APPEAR IN KRASNOYARSK
Siberian News Online, Russia
Oct 11 2006
An excise warehouse of Armenian alcohol will appear in Krasnoyarsk,
as Vazgen Safaryan, the chairman of Armenian Union of Commodity
Manufacturers, stated at the panel discussion “Commerce and
Industrial Chamber, the Union of Commodity Manufacturers, the Union
of Industrialists with representatives of Armenian business” at
“Days of Armenia in Siberia” on October, 11.
‘We are going to deliver environmentally friendly spirits only to the
Russian market. There are a lot of counterfeits among alcohol made in
Armenia, in particular, cognac. We are not only interested in economic
profit from sales of our products but also in the health of Russian
citizens,’ Safaryan explained. This project will be implemented
by Sarkis Muradyan, the chairman of the Board of Directors of CJSC
Sibagropromstroy, the director of International Exhibition Business
Center “Siberia”.
‘The price policy of goods made in Armenia is favorable, and it can
be said that prices for real Armenian alcohol will not be higher than
counterfeits in Krasnoyarsk. We are working at design of a warehouse
construction now. Moreover, this project has been approved of by
Central Siberian Commerce and Industrial Chamber.
It is worth reminding that Armenian businessmen are going to have
meetings with the regional businessmen, participate in a panel
discussion with members of Central Siberian Commerce and Industrial
Chamber, The Union of Industrialists and Businessmen of Krasnoyarsk
Territory and the Union of Commodity Manufacturers and Consumers.
Apart from that, Krasnoyarsk audience will enjoy a cultural program
prepared by the guests from Armenia. Famous Armenian singers and
musicians will give two concerts, one in IEBS Siberia, the second one –
in the Big Concert Hall of the philharmonic society.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MISSION OF MOSCOW DEPARTMENT OF ACADEMY OF TEUTSCHES’ IDEAL-METHOD TO VISIT YEREVAN ON OCTOBER 15-18
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2006
YEREVAN, October 10. /ARKA/. Mission of Moscow department of the
Academy of Teutsches’ Ideal-method is coming to Yerevan on October
15-18.
“Armenia will become one of the countries, where the Academy of
Teutsches’ Ideal-method will present its innovative scientific
approach towards the analysis of human behavior and state, as well as
towards the actions directed to elimination of problems and negative
phenomena”, according to the information provided by the Moscow
department of the Academy.
According to the source, a press-conference on Teutsches’ Ideal-method
will be held in the House of Journalists in Yerevan on October 17.
Boris and Tatyana Sorin are president and vice-president of the Moscow
department of the Academy – experienced experts in psychogenetic
behavior of human being.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LIFE BETWEEN THE COMMAS
Times Herald-Record, NY
Oct 11 2006
On the day The Washington Post carried a story about how President
Bush had characterized the present difficult period in Iraq as “just a
comma,” Matt Mendelsohn called me. He is a photographer who took the
pictures for a new book by his brother Daniel, “The Lost.” It is an
attempt to find out what happened to six members of the Mendelsohn
family who perished in the Holocaust – the family of great-uncle
Shmiel Jager, “killed by the Nazis,” of which almost nothing else was
known. There: You went right by it. Shmiel lived between the commas.
In between those commas, of course, is the life of a man. He was
scared and he was brave, he was proud and he was shamed, he headed a
family and ran a business and then hid from the Nazis until he, along
with four daughters and his wife, was betrayed and shot right on the
spot. Don’t think of the bullet as a period. It was, worse, a comma.
So Daniel Mendelsohn set out to expand the commas, to push them
open and let in a life. From what the reviewers say, he succeeded
brilliantly, so when someone says 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust
or if someone mentions Auschwitz, you can understand that it is not a
number that died, but a person who was murdered. I say that also about
Rwanda in 1994, or what happened to the Armenians in Turkey in 1915,
or what is happening in Darfur today.
Commas imprison us all. You see them in the headlines of obituaries:
Joseph Smith, accountant, 81; Mildred Jones, housewife, 87; Frank
Miller, longtime resident, dies. The brevity of it all, the compression
of a life into a clause, is appalling, yet an unalterable fact. This
is the way not just of newspapers, but of history, too.
You come across the mention of a war – the Crimean, the Civil, the
Vietnam, the Boer, the Algerian – and then, like a cemetery dangling
from two commas, comes a mention of the number of dead. They get the
same prominence – sometimes less – as the amount of ordnance used or
ships sunk or airplanes built.
Wars are fought with commas. They are essential. Here and there is
a world leader who does not care about human life, but most do. The
only way they can function is to plant commas around the misery they
cause, to subordinate the loss of life to a supposedly greater cause.
This is what Bush is doing. If he did not think he is on his way to
something grand, that he is doing immense good, then he could not
face what is between those two commas – almost 3,000 American lives
and immense suffering. He is not a man given to introspection. Still,
he could not live without the succor of cliches: breaking eggs to
make an omelet and all of that. In between his commas are all those
broken eggs. As yet, there is no omelet.
Not too long ago, I embraced the commas myself. I favored this idiotic
war because I thought that the deaths of some would improve – even
save – the lives of many. I likened the about-to-die soldiers to
firemen or cops, the people we summon to risk or lose their lives
in the common good. I had the common good in mind when I supported
the war and I did not expect much space between the commas. Now, the
space expands and expands, one comma marching away from the other. It
seems we will need room for all of Iraq.
When he was alive, I didn’t much care for Menachem Begin, the
hard-line Israeli prime minister. But when he retired after the 1982
war in Lebanon and showed his grief, my view of him changed. He was
despondent over all the lives wasted, and he went into seclusion. For
Begin, somehow, the commas evaporated and the immensity of his mistake
pitched him into a depression relieved only by death. Other world
leaders, in similar circumstances, join consulting firms. The bigger
their mistakes, it appears, the higher their fees.
Most of us yearn to escape our commas, to become something more than a
profession (longtime lawyer) or resident (Washington native), to make
our mark on the world. A president who has ineptly waged a foolish
war instead seeks the solace of commas. It is not so much where he
has deposited the wounded and dead, but where he hopes he can hide
from history. It can’t be done, though: George W. Bush comma – and
then his failure in Iraq. The comma is his epitaph.
Richard Cohen is a syndicated columnist. His e-mail address is
[email protected].