Author: Hunanian Jack

IS AMERICA READY FOR AN INTELLIGENT LEADER?
By Robert Bridge

Moscow News, Russia
Oct 18 2007

I am not exactly sure when the tradition began, but we Americans have
a natural fondness for folksy, down-to-earth, unsophisticated men to
lead us to wherever the hell we are going. Our commander-in-chief
should be a man of the people, unpretentious, preferably male and
chummy. We want to feel that it would be almost natural to toss back
beers with him at the bar while discussing last night’s college
football game. A Ulysses S. Grant type of guy: whisky, whiskers,
cigars, the full nine yards. A real man’s man.

Americans like straight talk, like the terse verse of a used-car
salesmen, or a loaded John Wayne with the safety off. Unlike the
loquacious Brits, our Atlantic cousins, Americans don’t care to
have their tongues twisted around a verbose vernacular. Oh, drat it
tarnations, I’ll just spit it out: Americans like stupid presidents.

Yessir we do. Yee-haw! Why? Well, whenever our semi-literate
politicians are forced to speak extemporaneously, they remind us that
had we too been born rich and indifferent to our college grades, we too
could have been blotching speeches at the podium during major summits.

It seems that America’s romance with power dolts began with the late
Ronald Reagan (rest in peace, sir, together with America’s national
healthcare), the former Hollywood star who could smile and wave to a
crowd in such a manner that the stock market would instantly rocket
50 percent. Even the Soviets, not to mention the Berlin Wall, fell
for Reagan’s guffaw and silly Star-Wars-may-the force-be-with-you
wisecracks.

Reagan paved the way for a whole lineup of court jesters, starting
with his vice president, George Herbert Walker Bush, whose Curriculum
Vitae includes U.S. Intelligence Overlord (it’s politically suspicious
for Russian presidents to feature the underworld on their resume,
you see, but perfectly alright if you are a righteous U.S.

citizen), Skull and Bones secret society member, complete with secret
handshake, secret initiation rites, and probably even secret decoder
rings, and Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity president.

If anybody had any doubts what sort of future president H.W. would
make, they were offered a peek preview when ‘the Gipper’ went under
for an operation to have polyps removed from his posterior. Bush the
Elder wasted no time jumping into the presidential briefs and spent
his eight hours as the most powerful man on the planet returning
volleys on the tennis court. Better than bombing some third world
country for eight hours, I suppose.

Although George H.W. Bush may not have been outwardly stupid per se,
he was nevertheless detached from the American heartland to such
a degree that during one disastrous photo op to a supermarket he
expressed amazement that his cashier was employing laser technology
against an innocent jar of Grey Poupon (My God, men, arrest these
women, they’re all armed!). Forget the economy; it’s the hi-tech
price checker, stupid!

Moving right along and none too soon, America eventually got the
president it deserved with William Jefferson Clinton. Slick Willy, the
42nd president of the United States, who is said to be able to solve
The New York Times Sunday Crossword with non-erasable ink when not
engaged in other extracurricular affairs, was certainly not stupid. But
just because you are not stupid does not necessarily mean that you are
capable of making prudent decisions at regular intervals. After all,
even the lowest breed of dog can learn cool tricks. And the one trick
that Clinton mastered – besides how to hold a telephone conversation
with the Senate while teaching a young female intern the ropes –
was how to profess to being a Democrat (‘New Democrat’ to be exact)
while behaving no better than a full-blown rabid Republican.

It has been crudely estimated that in the eight years that Clinton
played charades in the White House, he was only really a Democrat for
the last 42.5 minutes of his reign. This is roughly the time it took
for Wild Bill to ram through thousands of pages of before-the-buzzer
legislation to protect 95 million acres of endangered wildlife,
increase the minimum wage, pardon convicted cronies (on his last day
in office, Clinton issued 141 pardons and 36 commutations) and bomb
a Sudanese pill plant the day before a verdict was to be handed down
regarding obstruction of justice charges in the Monica Lewinsky case.

In the end, Clinton’s last-minute moves only sparked a nasty reaction
from the Republicans, who immediately reversed much of this legislation
once they came to power. Can this sort of behavior be described as
intelligent leadership? You be the judge.

But the Clinton era, despite the liberal White House sleepovers and
sleep arounds, seems like a Gilded Age when compared to what was
hurling down the sewer pipe at 600 miles per hour.

In 2000, the tectonic plates of U.S. politics suddenly shifted,
the rainforests belched sulfur, and a whole new species of political
carnivore known as Neoconservative S. Crewus acquired the ability to
stand upright on two legs and even make speeches. As history and nasty
fate would have it, these fine young cannibals, under the tortured
leadership of George W. Bush, found themselves wielding the club of
superpower on 9/11/2001. Since then, and never before in the history
of politics – American or otherwise – has the world experienced a
more blatant display of brutal and unreserved Stupidity. Indeed,
the level of stupidity is so off-the-charts stupid that they can
only be described as acts of premeditated stupidity, underwritten by
America’s supposed preference for stupid leaders.

As for being gosh-golly-gee-did-I-destroy-another-village stupid,
it is the perfect defense for unforgivably stupid political behavior.

How can we admonish a man, after all, who has nothing more than the
stupid pretensions of launching democracy into the Middle East from a
stupid aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf? Gee whiz, he might have
failed, but that’s only because he is such an incredibly stupid guy.

All is forgiven. Allah forgives you!

A group of pimply teenagers in the basement of an Internet cafe in
Akron, Ohio could have micro-managed the War on Terror with fewer
mishaps than the Bush administration, which has violated every
military mantra ever written. What is the surest way to create a more
formidable enemy? Simple: Treat their prisoners of war as barbaric as
possible. Been there, done that in the sensory-deprived no-man’s land
of Guantanamo Bay, the Abu Ghraib Summer Love-in, and the not-so-secret
torture facilities in former Warsaw Bloc freedom pits.

Bush’s medieval motto: Torture only hurts if you are guilty.

Today, vendettas only promise to worsen between the warring tribes
now that it has been disclosed that corporate mercenaries on the
ground in Iraq gunned down two Armenian Christian women in Baghdad.

This comes on the heels of the Sept. 16 massacre in Baghdad’s Nisour
Square, where 17 Iraqis were killed by personnel from Blackwater USA,
a trigger-happy security agency that already has a long bloody history
of deadly screw-up’s in Iraq.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. And that is just the tip of the stupid iceberg
in this stupid reign of error.

Is there an intelligent leader on the horizon to restore America’s
basement-level standings? Personally, I believe the only man for the
task is ‘former president’ Al Gore, as much as the man annoys me to
tears. What if Gore had won the 2000 presidential elections… ?

Well, the world will never know, and the historians have no patience
for ‘What if’ scenarios. But it seems certain that had Gore been
elected (oops, sorry, he was) the U.S. would not be losing its global
standing, not to mention allies, by fighting yet another unwinnable
and unnecessary war.

Given Gore’s recent nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize for fighting
climate change, America could be leading the fight against the real
enemy of global warming, instead of the shadow of an enemy of our
own stupid design.

Is America ready for an intelligent leader?

WATCH OUT IN THE MINEFIELD ANAHIT DANIELYAN

KarabakhOpen
19-10-2007 12:29:56

After the presidential election a positive "line" appeared in the
style of work of certain agencies: high ranking officials are now
more responsible regarding their statements.

It became known that the reason is not that they have become more
honest or responsible but they found themselves in the middle of a
minefield where a careless move will cause an explosion.

When asked to express their opinion or to comment on one issue or
another the officials are amazingly careful not to suddenly offend the
person overhead, even if a violation of the law is concerned. Sometimes
they nevertheless spell out their opinion but after a "warning" they
start paraphrasing their statements. After getting the warning others
prefer declining comment to stepping on a mine.

Both are in a minefield. Deminers do not walk in this field because
they are also afraid of "warnings". There are two ways: look for a safe
path or cross out democracy, enlarge the gap between the government
and people and make the public believe they make no decisions and
have no right to learn what decisions are made. Is this exactly what
Karabakh needs?

US HOUSE SPEAKER: IT IS NOT KNOWN SO FAR IF RESOLUTION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE WILL BE PUT FOR VOTING

ArmInfo-RBC.
2007-10-18 12:06:00

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she was reconsidering
her pledge to force a vote on a resolution condemning as genocide
the mass killing of Armenians starting in 1915, as President Bush
intensified his push to derail the legislation.

Whether it will come up or not and what the action will be remains
to be seen," Ms. Pelosi said in light of the decline in support
for the proposal, which, though nonbinding, has angered Turkey and
raised fears that the Turkish government could reduce its strategic
cooperation with the United States, Reuters reports. The supporters
of the resolution have considerably decreased in number after the
House Foreign Relations Committee passed it last week. Turkey that
supports the USA in the war in Iraq warmed that the adoption of the
Resolution may greatly damage the two countries’ relations.

N. Pelosi said she had always supported this symbolic resolution and
will discuss the issue with the backers of the resolution to make
sure what they strive for. Legislators of the two leading political
parties of the USA have been erasing their names from the list of the
resolution supporters for the last few days, which was, undoubtedly,
a result of Turkey’s criticism of the document. The key figures of
the Republican and Democratic parties are coming out against the
resolution now. Turkey calls it insulting and, despite the support
of many western historians, denies Armenia’s stand that about 1.5
million people were subjected to genocide by Ottoman Turkey during the
WW I. USA considerably depends on the Turkish military base Injirlik
since about 70 percent of American military cargoes are transited to
Iraq via it.

KOCHARIAN SUMMARIZED HIS VISIT TO EUROPE IN INTERVIEW TO "NEW EUROPE"
By Marietta Khachatrian

AZG Armenian Daily
16/10/2007

On October 9-12 President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharian
was on an official visit to the center of the EU, Brussels. The visit
was aimed at discussing the implementation of European Neighborhood
Action Plan in Armenia, which has been running for already 3 months,
and the perspectives of enhancement Armenia-EU processes.

On October 11 President Kocharian gave an interview to the "New
Europe" newspaper. Answering the question whether the adoption of
Res.106 would increase the tension in South Caucasus, he answered
that establishment of justice and restoration of the historical truth
cannot cause any difficulties.

Commenting on the relations between Armenia and Turkey in general,
Robert Kocharian said, "We never addressed the EU with demands
to oppress Turkey. When we are asked what we need to improve
our relations with Turkey, we answer that first of all we need to
establish normal diplomatic relations and to open the border without
any precondition. Discussions of such kind were rather hot when the
question of Turkey’s membership in the EU just rose. At that time we
only demanded no preferences to be given to any country preparing to
enter the EU. That is all, we did not speak against Turkey."

The Armenian President also told the "New Europe" reporter that
after the ratification of Armenia-EU action plan, Armenia’s relations
with that European structure became more systematic and distinct. He
emphasized the economic and juristic reforms, improvement of trade
and simplification of visa regime, implied by the action plan. Robert
Kocharian confessed that there is till much to do in Armenia until
all those improvements can be fully put into practice. He added that
Armenia has overcome the first round of reforms and is now on the
way of steady development.

Commenting on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh Robert Kocharian
repeated his answer to Xavier Solana, "I see no perspective of
resolution of the conflict in the near future". He said that although
the peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan go on and certain
progress was maid on several points of the agreement, Azerbaijan’s
frankness is hard to believe, taking into consideration the processes
inside Azerbaijan and the hysteric anti-Armenian propaganda.

Orhan Pamuk: Armenian Genocide is a Moral Issue
By Khatchig Mouradian

The Armenian Weekly
Oct. 12, 2007

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (A.W.)’Answering a question from the audience during
his book reading organized by the Harvard Bookstore on Oct. 12,
Turkish novelist and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk said that the Armenian
genocide is a moral issue that needs to be discussed freely in Turkey.

The question read, `What do you think about the Armenian Genocide
Resolution in the U.S. Congress?’ Pamuk said, `I was expecting this
question.’ Interrupted by laughter from the audience, Pamuk continued,
`Don’t worry, I’ll get out of it.’

`For me, it’s a moral issue, it’s a personal issue,’ he went on to
say. `For me it’s an issue of free speech, which we don’t totally have
in Turkey. ¦ The Turkish people should be able to freely discuss [this
issue].’

Pamuk added, `I basically think it is upsetting that this issue is
getting to be an arm-twisting issue [between states] rather than a
moral or free speech issue in Turkey.’ Pamuk was in Cambridge to read
from his newly published book Other Colors: Essays and a Story (Alfred
A. Knopf, 2007). He is the winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in
Literature. In 2005, he was charged with `insulting Turkishness’ under
Turkey’s notorious Article 301 for saying in an interview with a Swiss
magazine that `Thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians were
killed in these lands and nobody dares to talk about it.’ The charges
were later dropped.

Bad time to bash Turkey over Armenian deaths

Jacobs: Genocide or no, House panel’s vote likely to hurt U.S. interests

COMMENTARY
By Jack Jacobs
Military analyst

MSNBC
Updated: 2:05 p.m. ET Oct 15, 2007

If you want freedom, select a republican democracy, like we have in
the United States. But be warned that it’s a very messy form of
government. Internal politics can be frustrating and verbose, and
candidates for public office will be much better at raising money than
governing. Most election days, if you participate at all, you will
cast your vote not for who you believe is the best candidate but for
the person you dislike the least.

And if you have the American structure of government, you will also
get several competing branches, each of which has its own opinion of
how things should be done. In the United Kingdom, by contrast, the
prime minister is the leader of the party that wins the most seats in
Parliament, so the objectives of the government and of the Parliament
are usually the same. Things get accomplished with startling speed and
efficiency.

Not so in the United States, and few things demonstrate the occasional
dysfunction and unrelenting dynamic tension of our system than the
impending House vote on the deaths of a huge number of Armenians in
1915.

Last week, the House Foreign Relations Committee voted to condemn the
killing of Armenians during World War I. By some estimates, more than
1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed in the waning days of
the Ottoman Empire. Turkey has steadfastly maintained that far fewer
died and that their deaths were the result of the war, not of an
organized genocide, but the majority of the rest of the world, and now
the House Foreign Relations Committee, believe otherwise.

At 27-21, the vote was not exactly unanimous, but soon the entire
House of Representatives will probably vote to label the tragedy a
genocide, too, despite the exhortations of the White House. Meanwhile,
the Turkish government has predictably responded with great anger.

Now, it’s not that the executive branch thinks that Armenians weren’t
murdered. Indeed, if there is anyone in the government who doesn’t
think that the killing was genocide, he has yet to step forward. But
right now the Bush administration doesn’t need another strategic
problem, particularly not one involving Turkey. The Turks have been
reliable allies of ours. They fought bravely on our side in Korea, for
example, and are extremely helpful in the war against terrorists in a
wide variety of ways, including giving us liberal basing rights from
which we support the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nevertheless, the Turks do plenty of things we don’t like, and a few
of them are antithetical to our strategic objectives in the region, if
not outright dangerous. For example, the Kurdish people in Iraq, Iran,
Turkey and Syria have long wanted to coalesce into one independent
state, and there is the real possibility that attempts to do so will
be met with massive violence across southwest Asia. Turkey is fighting
a restive, secessionist Kurdish minority, and there are some reports
that the Turks have fired artillery into Iraqi Kurdistan. That isn’t
very helpful to our goals in Iraq, and increased violence that
involves Kurds, Iraq and Turkey is liable to escalate out of control
very rapidly.

But the House committee vote taking Turkey to task for the slaughter
of Armenians has nothing to do with that; it’s really all about
domestic politics, not international relations. Its result is that the
Turks are liable, if not likely, to rescind our basing and overflight
rights in Turkey, and this will exacerbate American problems in the
region. Furthermore, if Turkey is already wary of our resolve, a
resolution by the full House to castigate the Turks won’t do anything
to increase our leverage with them, and destabilizing violence against
Kurds will probably increase.

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STATI UNITI: "ARMENI, FU GENOCIDIO"

La Stampa, Italia
11 ottobere 2007

Ma Ankara non ci sta: "Inaccettabile"

Il presidente turco replica al voto della Commissione Esteri Usa

ANKARA

I vertici turchi replicano con toni duri al voto della Commissione
Esteri della Camera statunitense che con una risoluzione ha
classificato come "genocidio" le stragi di armeni al tempo della Prima
guerra mondiale. "Sfortunatamente, alcuni politici negli Usa hanno
nuovamente sacrificato importanti questioni a piccoli interessi di
politica interna, malgrado gli appelli al buon senso", ha commentato il
presidente turco Abdullah Gul. "Impossibile accettare l’accusa di un
tale crimine, mai commesso dalla nazione turca", rincara, minaccioso,
un comunicato del governo.

Ankara, che nei giorni scorsi ha condotto un pressing diplomatico
senza precedenti contro la risoluzione, ha fatto aleggiare possibili
rappresaglie sul piano delle relazioni bilaterali, e soprattutto
nell’ambito della partnership Nato, a cominciare dal divieto di sorvolo
agli aerei americani diretti in Iraq. Ieri piccoli cortei di protesta
sono stati organizzati davanti alle sedi diplomatiche americane in
Turchia, a corredo dei moniti sul pericolo di "reazioni del popolo
turco difficili da controllare", paventato prima del voto.

Pesante anche la reazione della stampa. "La legge dell’odio", titola
oggi Hurriyet. "Ventisette pazzi americani", rilancia Vatan dalla
prima pagina, riferendosi ai 27 voti favorevoli alla classificazione
delle stragi come genocidio, che hanno battuto i voti contrari.

MediaNet Press Release Wire
October 12, 2007 Friday 9:01 AM AEST

Dr Gerard Chaliand, Irregular Warfare Expert and Author Speaks On

"Irregular Warfare: The Challenge for Western Armies"

At ASPI Defence and Security Luncheon

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute is hosting an annual
program of Defence and Security Luncheons. They provide a fascinating
insight from a variety of speakers on strategic issues. Our speaker
for October 2007 is Dr Gerard Chaliand, irregular warfare expert and
author.

Dr Grard Chaliand has spent several years as a participant observer
in many guerrillas and war zones (Afghanistan, Angola, Sri Lanka,
Kashmir, Philippines, Eritrea, North Vietnam, Burma,
Nagorno-Karabagh, Colombia, El Salvador, Peru, Guinea-Bissau, Iranian
Kurdistan, Iraq) He is also a specialist of Terrorism and has written
over 40 books on those subjects: History of Terrorism From antiquity
to al Qaida; Guerrilla Strategy, The Art of War in World History and
other.

Dr Chaliand has spent five years in USA teaching as a visiting
professor in Harvard University, UCLA and Berkeley University.

Dr Chaliand will be speaking about the difficulties that conventional
western defence forces have when dealing with terrorist groups or
insurgents.

WHEN: Tuesday 16 October 2007

1200-1400
1200 Registration
1300P resentation

WHERE: The Boathouse by the Lake
Grevillea Park
Menindee Drive
Barton ACT 2600

For further information or if you wish to register for the lunch
please call (02) 6270 5109

SOURCE: Australian Strategic Policy Institute

PRESS RELEASE
Saturday, October 12, 2007

The Paros Foundation
Contact Peter Abajian
(310) 400-9061 US Cell
(093) 99-80-99 Armenia Cell
Email: [email protected]
Web:

MANANA YOUTH CENTER RECEIVES SUBSTANTIAL GIFT FROM THE PAROS FOUNDATION
New Program Space and Cutting Edge Technology

Yerevan, Armenia – On Friday, October 12, the Manana Youth Center
celebrated its move into new program space with a Ribbon Cutting
Ceremony. The Manana Youth Center educates children 8 to 22, in an
after school environment, all the aspects of photography, journalism,
filmmaking and animation. Event attendees included the Manana staff,
guests from the Tufenkian Foundation, leadership and guests of the
Paros Foundation, and children who participate in the exciting and
innovative programs at the Center.

"We are very excited to move into this terrific space and to make use
of our new computer, software and display technology," said Ruzan
Baghdasarian, Chairwomen of the Manana Youth Center. "This facility
will allow us to conduct our programs in a beautiful, safe and
comfortable environment for the children. This gift from the Strauch
Kulhanjian Family and the Paros Foundation will inspire our children
to learn and produce at an ever increasing level of excellence."

"I am pleased on behalf of my family and the Paros Foundation to
initiate this inspiring relationship and to be able to provide this
level of support to the Manana Youth Center. This is the second time
we have used our model of purchasing quality office space and
providing it rent free to NGOs that focus on nurturing and harnessing
Armenian artistic talent." said Roger Strauch, Chairman of the Paros
Foundation. "Our goal is to help Manana and our other NGOs have the
resources to execute their missions at the highest possible level of
quality and to expand their benefactor base. My hope is that our
involvement in the Manana Youth Center will motivate other individuals
and organizations to support their projects."

Manana Youth Center is a registered NGO in the Republic of Armenia.
The Center was founded in 1995 and offers media communications
programs for 200 children. The students have won major awards and
acclaims in domestic and international competitions particularly in
film making. Manana Youth Center’s principle organizational sponsors
are the Tufenkian Foundation () and
the Paros Foundation ( ). More
information on Manana can be found at .

"Twelve years ago when we started the Manana Youth Center, we only
dreamed of a space like what we have today thanks to the Paros
Foundation and the Strauch Kulhanjian Family." said Ruzan
Baghdasaryan. "With the continued assistance of the Tufenkian and the
Paros Foundations, I am confident we can provide our kids with a high
quality educational experience and earn appropriate international
recognition and support for our efforts."

The Paros Foundation, Executive Director Peter Abajian, is a Berkeley,
California based foundation and was formed in 2006 to support
non-governmental organizations in the Republic of Armenia. Since its
inception, it has identified and supports several important
organizations including the Paros Chamber Choir, the UNISON
NGO-Supporting People with Special Needs, Manana Youth Center and the
Vanadzor Museum of Fine Arts. The Foundation was founded by the
Strauch Kulhanjian family and takes a special interest in
organizations that nurture and harness Armenian artistic talent. The
Paros Foundation hopes to serve as a beacon for people and
institutions who seek guidance towards exemplary innovative NGOs in
Armenia. More information about the Paros Foundation can be found at
or by contacting Peter Abajian, Executive
Director at (310) 400-9061 (in the US) or (093) 99-80-99 (in Armenia).

###

Reuters, UK
Oct 14 2007

Armenia genocide measure to advance: U.S. lawmakers

By Mark Felsenthal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top Democrat in the U.S. House of
Representatives on Sunday said she intends to press ahead on a
resolution calling the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
genocide, despite White House concerns it will damage relations with
Turkey, a key supporter of the Iraq war.

"I said if it passed the committee that we would bring it to the
floor," U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an
interview on ABC television’s "This Week."

Pelosi, of California, said her determination to bring the measure to
a vote has not wavered even though President George W. Bush and his
Cabinet have warned the measure could interfere with Turkey’s support
for U.S. troops in Iraq.

"Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values,"
Pelosi said. "I think that our troops are well-served when we declare
who we are as a country and increase the respect that people have for
us as a nation."

On Wednesday, a congressional committee approved the nonbinding
resolution, which was sponsored by a California lawmaker whose
district has a large Armenian-American constituency. The House of
Representatives is due to vote on the strictly symbolic measure by
mid-November. It is unclear if the Senate will consider a companion
bill.

Republicans called on Pelosi on Sunday to block the measure from
coming to a vote.

"Bringing this bill to the floor may be the most irresponsible thing
I’ve seen this new Congress do this year," House Minority Leader Jim
Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said on "Fox News Sunday."

The issue is highly sensitive in Turkey, where it is a crime to
describe those events as genocide. Turkey recalled its ambassador to
the United States after the committee vote.

Turkey’s military chief said on Sunday that ties between the United
States and Turkey would "never be the same again" if Congress
approves the resolution.

Pelosi said she has not been contacted directly about the resolution
by Bush, who voiced his concerns publicly last week.

"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass
killings, and its passage would do great harm to our relations with a
key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror," Bush said at the
White House.

The administration fears the resolution could undermine U.S.
influence as it urges Turkey to refrain from any major military
operations in Northern Iraq. The Turkish government is planning to
seek parliamentary approval for military operations against a
militant group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, based in the mountains
of northern Iraq.