RESURRECTING AN OLD WAR AT EXPENSE OF CURRENT WAR
Susan Hanley
BlueRidgeNow.com, NC
Oct 29 2007
Raise your hand if you understand why it is important for the
U.S. Congress to pass a resolution condemning the slaughter and
displacement of a million and a half Armenians by Turkey almost a
century ago, and to do it now.
Right now. Assuming that the average American understands the entire
history of the fall of the Ottoman Empire, isn’t it always noble to
condemn the atrocities of war and conquest? If nothing else, shouldn’t
we stand up for justice and fight ideologies that lead to the pain,
suffering and death of millions of innocent people? The answer,
of course, is yes. For the most part. But whenever international
relationships are involved, it’s always wise to dig a little deeper
and try to figure out, Why this? Why now? And most important of
all, who’s behind all of this? It’s not as if we haven’t had time
to think this whole matter over. The genocide of the Armenians by
Turkey occurred in the last years of the Ottoman Empire, from 1915
to 1919. If these actions meet the Geneva Convention’s definition
of genocide — acts "committed with intent to destroy, in whole
or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group" —
why haven’t we taken this important action much sooner? Certainly,
if ever there were a moment to underline our hatred of anything that
even smelled like genocide, it was in the dark hours that followed
World War II, when a shocked world uncovered the mass graves of
millions of Jews, gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political dissenters,
homosexuals and the mentally ill — the concentration camp casualties
of Hitler’s tortured vision of an ethnically pure world. Then there
was Cambodia. And Somalia. And Rwanda. And Bosnia. Not to mention
the world’s current killing field, Darfur. So why the Armenians,
and why now? A historian I am not. Neither am I a scholar. But I am
an average American with average intelligence. This is one moment
in a long, twisted campaign season when I am painfully aware of the
familiar scent of politics. Everyone knows that grand gestures are
part and parcel of the science of politics. Presidential campaigns
are wallpapered with promises impossible to keep, ideals too lofty
to attain and scathing denunciations of the sins of the past (and,
of course, of their opponent). So who in Washington is spearheading
the campaign to call Turkey to task for the mistreatment of Armenians
92 years ago? Who might benefit from this divisive scuffle at this
point in the campaign season? It’s a fair question. One of the first
things a reporter is taught is to always question the source. Why
is this person telling me this? What do they hope to gain from
it? Right now, we are in the midst of a very unpopular war in
Iraq. The chain of events that led us to engage the Iraqis has been
clouded over by arguments over weapons of mass destruction, which
nations are funding the terrorists and who is supplying money and
technological information to Muslim terrorists. It’s hard for even
the best informed among us to keep the issues straight. But one issue
is ringingly clear. The American people want out of Iraq. Those who
see the point of staying in a sectarian war that has changed shape
and location throughout the entire Middle East for centuries are few
and far between. Capitalizing on the unrest and dissatisfaction of
the American people are a long line of presidential hopefuls in both
parties as well as their partisan backers. With their Speaker, Nancy
Pelosi, acting as their front woman, the Democratic Party has chosen
now to come forward with a resolution to condemn the actions of the
now defunct Ottoman Empire in the Turkey of almost a century ago.
This is not an accident of timing or intention. It is a calculated
gesture carefully planned to elicit a response. Next question: What
response are they (whoever is behind the resolution) hoping for? The
answer to that question is another question. What does anyone have
to gain by alienating Turkey, our most powerful Muslim ally and most
important base of operations in the Middle East? It is, after all,
Turkey which has provided America with a safe base of operations
right next door to the war. "We need the Incirlik Air Force Base in
southeastern Turkey, and passage through the Habur Gate on the Iraq
border to supply our forces in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Mortimer
Zuckerman in the current issue of U.S.News & World Report (page 60).
The Democratic Party is pushing hard for a speedy withdrawal from
Iraq. If this is the will of the American people, and polls show that
for many Americans it is, then the Democrats are right to push for
the safe withdrawal of American troops. The critical word in this
entire strategy is safe. Not only is it unethical and underhanded to
resurrect a crime committed by the defunct government of a country that
is now one of our strongest allies in the war zone, it is dangerous
and stupid. We cannot and must not allow politicians to scrap for
votes at the expense of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
However we choose to exit this war, we must do it safely. We need an
ally and a safe base of operations for so many, many reasons. Without
Turkey, we are sitting ducks. The Democrats have preened themselves
as the party of concern and responsibility for our troops in Iraq.
Putting those troops in this kind of jeopardy just to gain votes
is reprehensible. With North Korea, China and Russia such powerful
and unpredictable forces on the world stage right now, we need every
legitimate ally we can get. It almost makes you wonder if the person
behind this isn’t really a Republican. The ramifications are so deadly
if this resolution passes, that it would be enough to sway a lot of
serious voters to reconsider voting for Democrats who are capable of
being so reckless and short sighted. Whoever is playing this game in
Washington at the expense of our troops needs to stop. Now.
Susan Hanley Lane, a Times-News community
columnist, lives in Naples. Her Web site is
.com/article/20071029/NEWS/710290306/1015/OPINION0 2/NEWS/Resurrecting_an_old_war_at_expense_of_curre nt_war
www.susanhanleylane.com.http://www.blueridgenow