Author: Varosian Antranik

MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS: US ROLE IN SEEKING WORKABLE SOLUTIONS TO PROTRACTED CONFLICTS GREATER THAN EVER

armradio.am
30.10.2007 12:25

The US role in and contribution to the OSCE is as vital to the
Organization as ever, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign
Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, said after talks with US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice.

"Whether considering the future role of the OSCE in Kosovo and ways
to aid Afghanistan, supporting our work on economic and human aspects
of security or helping to seek workable solutions to the protracted
conflicts over South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transdniestria,
the United States plays a crucial role more important than ever,"
the Minister said.

"I am convinced the United States will play, as usual, a constructive,
high-level part at next month’s Ministerial Council in Madrid,"
said the Chairman-in-Office.

Kurdish Aspect, CO
Oct 28 2007

Turkish-American Relations

Kurdishaspect.com – By Amed Demirhan

In the post cold war environment, Turkish – American relations have
increasingly deteriorated as this author has been arguing since 1997.
The two countries’ policies on major regional issues – Cyprus,
Armenia, the Kurdish issue both in Turkey and in Iraq, Syria, Iran,
and Palestine – have increasingly come into conflict. The rigid Turkish
political system with its root in the 1920s-1930s is not able to
respond to current domestic and regional political developments in a
rational manner. Therefore, this relationship is increasingly
becoming a burden for USA, and the current crisis of Armenian
genocide legislation in the US Congress and the corresponding Turkish
threat to invade the Kurdistan Federal Region of Iraq is only the
latest problem that has boiled up. Recently, the Turkish regime has
been experiencing extreme political crises. For example, in last
three years several que de etats have been aborted and just a few
months ago many Turks feared yet another one.

Turkey increasingly blames the USA for its own short-comings and
domestic problems; consequently, Turks holds the `championship’ of
Anti-Americanism in the Middle East, even more than Palestinians,
Iranians, and Sunni Arabs in Iraq. The 2003 war against the Saddam
regime Turkey not only refused to assist American as an `ally’ to
open second front against the Saddam regime, it also strongly limited
the Coalition Forces’ capacity to fully use the Kurdish Peshmarge
against Saddam. After the war Turkey has been leading regional
opposition to the liberation of the Iraqi people from a dictatorship
by organizing regional countries, particularly Syria and Iran,
against a free Iraq and the Coalition Forces. The purpose of the
current Turkish threat to invade the Federal Region of Kurdistan is
to stop any US success in Iraq, and it is a direct challenge to US
policy in the region.

In September 24, 2007, the Turkish Land Forces Commander, General
Ilker Basbug, in a speech to military students stated: `It may be
claimed that Turkey does not have enough power to control the
development in Iraq by itself under the current conditions but they
can not say it [Turkey] could not hinder the progress and increase
the cost of the war in Iraq.’ In September 27, 2007, the veteran and
Turkish Army insider columnist Fikret Bila wrote in the daily
`Milliyet’ about Turkish Armed Forces expectation from the USA and
their understanding of the threat in regards to Iraq, he said that
the number one issue is an Independent Kurdistan in Northern Iraq,
number two the inclusion of Kirkuk in Kurdistan Federal Region (KRG),
and number three is the PKK. Therefore, the current threat of
Turkish invasion to Iraqis not about the PKK; rather, it is about the
success of the US and KRG. As such, it clearly is a direct challenge
to the US and Iraq governments and has practically nothing to do with
the actions of the `Worker Party of Kurdistan’ (PKK- Kurdish
acronym).

The USA and Iraqi government should be frank and straightforward with
Turkey. The Kurdish problem in Turkey has been in existence for
centuries and since the foundation of Turkish Republic in 1923 as
former President Sulayman Demirel stated many times the PKK is the
29th and longest Kurdish uprising against the Turkish regime.
Furthermore, since 1984 Turkey has made 24 incursions in Iraq against
the PKK and mostly with help of USA, Iraq, and Kurdish political
parties in Iraq, but they have never managed to solve the PKK or
Kurdish issue in Turkey by force. The US with help of Israel
arrested/kidnapped Mr. Abdullah Ocalan the founder and the president
of the PKK in February 1999 in Kenya, perhaps in violation of
International Law, and handed him over to the Turkish government.
But instead of appreciation for their assistance the former Turkish
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit (who got credit for the arrest of
President Ocalan and with that recognition he was re-elected Prime
Minister) later declared that he didn’t understand why the USA turned
Mr. Ocalan over to Turkey and in fact claimed it was an American
conspiracy against Turkey. This has been their response when the US
helped them against the PKK. Now, interestingly in the current clash
Turkey is again demanding that the USA and Iraqi governments arrest
the PKK leadership and send them to Turkey. Given their past
response to such assistance it can only mean that Turkey is really
only using the PKK difficulty to destabilize Iraq and defeat the US
in Iraq.

It is well known fact that the Turkish army has not been happy with
the `democratic progress’ in Turkey or for improving relations with
the European Union or the success of civilian government in recent
years. Before the last elections the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF)
introduced a new threat concept to the elected civilian
government – the `e-threat’ [in Turkish e-Muhtira] – on their website.
They couldn’t stop the early election in July 22 of this year and
consequently election of President Abdullah Gul, so now they are
pressing for an invasion of Iraq simply to strengthen their own
political position. This is a common tactic used by many
authoritarian regimes, for example, the military junta of Greece in
the 1974 Cyprus provocation and in 1982 the Argentinean juntas’
Falkland Island invasion. In both cases the defeat of the military
led to greater democracy and civilian rule. Perhaps, the US should
let Turkey invade Iraq in order to be defeated by the Peshmarge and
Iraqi Coalition Forces and thereby help Turkeys’ democratization.
After all, a democratic pluralistic Turkey will be a better partner
for the US and more respectful to its citizens and neighbors.

Amed Demirhan

Demirhan is University Librarian and a free lance writer on the
Middle East issues. e-mail: [email protected]

Peninsula On-line, Qatar
Oct 27 2007

>From Baghdad to NY to Hollywood (LAT-WP)

By Robert W Welkos

Ask Mardik Martin how tall he is, and the white-haired,
barrel-chested University of Southern California screenwriting
professor replies good-naturedly: `5 feet 4. I used to be 5 feet 6
but had back surgery and they shortened me. I’m not joking. I lost a
couple of spine rings, or whatever they call them. Look,’ he pauses,
`short isn’t exactly the end of the world.’ Nor, one might add, loss
of fame, fortune and having your name on the credits of big Hollywood
movies.

It’s been decades since he wrote `Raging Bull’ (sharing screenplay
credit with Paul Schrader). Yet today, while virtually everyone knows
that Martin Scorsese directed the classic 1980 boxing movie starring
Robert De Niro, few outside of a certain generation in Hollywood or
in the rarefied world of academic cineastes have heard of Mardik, the
name he is affectionately called by his students and friends.

Now 70 and light years from the era when he and New York University
film school buddy Scorsese collaborated on `Mean Streets,’ `New York,
New York’ and `Raging Bull,’ Martin is not bitter seeing the great
heights to which Scorsese has ascended in the intervening years. In
fact, watching Scorsese finally win the Academy Award for best
director for `The Departed’ this year made Martin very happy. `He has
kind of been waiting for it for years,’ Martin said.
`He’s still a good friend. Unfortunately, he’s in New York most of
the time. I’m not too crazy about New York, so I don’t go there that
often. But I think Marty is great. I think, visually, he’s without
peer.’

On October 19, Martin received his own moment in the spotlight when a
new documentary titled `Mardik: From Baghdad to Hollywood’ was
screened at the ArcLight in Hollywood as part of the Hollywood Film
Festival.

The 82-minute film by producer-directors Ramy Katrib and Evan York
and producer Jeff Orsa chronicles what the filmmakers note is
Martin’s unlikely journey from Iraq to NYU film school, from busboy
to writing `Raging Bull,’ from being the hottest writer in New York
to losing it all in Los Angeles, and from forsaking his craft to
becoming a favourite screenwriting teacher at USC. The film features
interviews with Scorsese, director Amy Heckerling, producers Irwin
Winkler and Gene Kirkwood, author Peter Biskind and others.

`We couldn’t believe that this man who was living in this normal
apartment (in Studio City) was the writer of `Raging Bull,’ ` said
Katrib, founder and CEO of DigitalFilm Tree, a Hollywood production
and post-production company. `We would just go to his house and hang
out. He was a wealth of information. He would usually start by
screaming at us saying, `That was a dumb question!’ He wouldn’t
terrorize us, but he’d say, `Just get to the point!’ Most teachers
tend to be flat. He was dynamic. He would always use a real-life
story to illustrate a point.’ Raised in Baghdad in an Armenian
family, Martin said his love of film was inspired by American movies.

`You have to understand,’ he said, `Baghdad, even then, was filthy,
dirty, disgusting, with dust and sand. Then you see Betty Grable in
unbelievable Technicolor and the beautiful scenery in the background.
It’s like another dimension, it’s like finding paradise.’

At 18, he was sent to America by his father so he wouldn’t have to
join the Iraqi army and also to get an American education. But not
long afterward, his father lost his business when revolution swept
Iraq in 1958. Martin supported his schooling by working as a busboy
and then as a waiter at Toots Shor’s famous restaurant in Manhattan.
It was at NYU that he met Scorsese. `We spent a lot of time together
aside from writing,’ he noted. `We had like 15 ideas, a lot of ideas.
`Let’s do this, let’s do that’. Everything (Scorsese) did coming out
of NYU is basically Marty and Mardik,’ Katrib said. `They were like a
team.’ They made a documentary about Scorsese’s parents called
`Italianamerican.’ Martin did the pre-production interviews. `I put
the answers down on paper,’ he recalled. `You don’t ask questions if
you don’t know the answers already.’
But it was 1973’s `Mean Streets’ that catapulted their careers.

Audiences marveled at the gritty dialogue. `They think it’s all made
up on the screen, which is untrue,’ Martin said, noting that he
achieved the realistic dialogue by reading what he had written into a
tape recorder until the lines were just as he envisioned the actors
doing them. `Mean Streets’ changed not only their careers but also
those of the movie’s stars, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel.

`The whole situation became suddenly a different world for us,’
Martin said. `I stopped teaching and moved to L.A. I got a couple of
jobs, did some documentary-style writing for some people. I signed
with Chartoff/Winkler’ (the producers of `Rocky’).

He re teamed with Scorsese on `New York, New York’ and recalled how
`they had to shoot whether the script was ready or not. That was the
problem.’ But he adds: `Right now, I think it works better than it
did then. Years have done justice to it.’

Still, it is `Raging Bull’ that he will be most remembered for. He
spent a year and a half researching the life of boxer Jake LaMotta.
`De Niro wanted to make `Raging Bull,’ but Marty didn’t (because) he
hated boxing and sports,’ Martin said.

`Bob and I sat down and watched every boxing movie ever made – not to
copy, just the opposite, not to do what other people had done,’
Martin recalled. They convinced Scorsese there was a movie in it by
having him visualise scenes, like fighters’ blood spraying the crowd.
But Hollywood was changing. `Star Wars’ and `E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial’ highlighted the new world of computer wizardry in
films. `I can’t write that kind of stuff,’ Martin said. His scripts
were, after all, rooted in realism, not fantasy.

As is so common in Hollywood, he found himself unable to get his
projects up and going. `He was the original writer on `Carlito’s Way’
and then he made fun of one of Al Pacino’s movies and ended up losing
the account,’ Katrib said. `He was nitpicking `Scarface.’ When he
talked to us about it, he said … he didn’t think it was a good
story.’

There was another project he hoped to make about a famous
photojournalist of the 1930s known as Weegee , but somebody else beat
him to the punch with a similar movie. `When it bombed, nobody would
touch my story.’ Along the way, Martin had become hooked on cocaine.
He used the drug, he said, not to party but `only to keep me up’ at
night so he could keep writing.

`He speaks out about it to his students,’ Katrib said. `What teacher
says, `Hey, kid, don’t do that’?’ Martin eventually lost his house
and his personal belongings. One of the movie’s poignant scenes has
Martin expressing regret that he never fathered any children. He was
married for six years, he said, but writers and marriage do not make
for stable relationships.

He is in his 11th year of writing a book about screenwriting. He said
he likely will have to take time off from teaching to finish the
work. On November 4, Martin will be honored with a lifetime
achievement award at the 10th annual ARPA International Film Festival
at its gala awards banquet at the Sheraton Universal Hotel.

featuredetail.asp?file=octoberfeatures162007.xml

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

THE PARTICIPATION OF THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA IN THE CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM
YOUTH CONFERENCE IN JORDAN

The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) organized the seventh
Christian-Muslim youth conference in Amman on October 17-21. Rev. Mesrob
Sarkissian (Spiritual Adviser to the Armenian Church University Students’
Association- ACUSA) represented the Catholicosate of Cilicia in the
conference.

Over 40 young representatives from various Christian and Muslim communities
were given the opportunity to get closely acquainted with the MECC and its
important activities. They also talked about their communities and discussed
plans for potential cooperation.

The main issues on the agenda of the conference were:

1. The Arab culture, the changes it has undergone and the approach of the
youth

2. The dangers of globalization and their impact on the youth

3. The role of the youth in establishing peace in the region.

##
View the photo here:
tos/Photos47.htm#3
*****
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

GEVORG DANIELYAN PARTICIPATES IN THE CONFERENCE OF COE JUSTICE MINISTERS

armradio.am
25.10.2007 17:36

October 25-26 RA Minister of Justice Gevorg Danielyan is participating
in the 28th conference of the Council of Europe Ministers of Justice
held in the Spanish city of Lanzarote. Press Secretary of the Ministry
of Justice Lana Mshetsyan told Noyyan Tapan that the conference is
dedicated to the rights of migrants, refugees and persons seeking
shelter.

RA Minister of Justice, who has been elected the Vice-President of the
conference, will come forth with a report dedicated to the optimal ways
of ensuring the rights of persons of the above-mentioned categories.

OSKANIAN DOWNPLAYS AHMADINEJAD VISIT RUMPUS
By Anna Saghabalian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 25 2007

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian insisted on Thursday that Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s official visit to Armenia was a
success despite the confusion caused by its sudden end.

Ahmadinejad, who arrived in Yerevan on Monday, unexpectedly flew
back to Tehran the next morning after canceling planned visits to the
genocide memorial in the Armenian capital and the National Assembly.

Armenian officials said he told President Robert Kocharian that needs
to return home earlier than expected for "urgent reasons" which they
refused to specify.

However, the Iranian president claimed upon his return to Tehran that
he did not cut short the trip and that it actually "took longer than
what was scheduled before."

Oskanian was reluctant to comment on the contradictory explanations
given by the Armenian and Iranian sides, urging the media focus
instead on the substantive aspect of the visit which he described as
"brilliant." He said Ahmadinejad’s talks with Kocharian went ahead as
planned and paved the way for a further deepening of Armenian-Iranian
ties.

Oskanian insisted that "there is nothing serious" behind Ahmadinejad’s
decision to leave Yerevan earlier than expected. He denied speculation
that the Iranian leader, who has earned worldwide notoriety for his
denial of the Jewish Holocaust, found an excuse to avoid laying a
wreath at the Yerevan monument to the Armenian genocide victims.

"Relations between the two countries are so friendly that I don’t
think such protocol issues are a problem," Oskanian told journalists.

"What Mr. Ahmadinejad and the Iranian side said is correct and what
we said is correct. We just shouldn’t create a problem."

Speaking at a joint news conference on Monday, Ahmadinejad and
Kocharian said they agreed to give new impetus to bilateral economic
ties centering on the energy sector. Kocharian said the two sides
reaffirmed their strong interest in the construction of a large
oil refinery in southeastern Armenia as well as an Armenian-Iranian
railway.

They also plan to start next year work on a major hydro-electric plant
on the Ara River marking the Armenian-Iranian border. In addition,
Armenia has pledged to complete by the end of 2008 the ongoing
construction of the second and final Armenian section of a natural
gas pipeline from Iran.

The United States, which accuses Iran of sponsoring international
terrorism and seeking to develop nuclear weapons, reaffirmed on
Tuesday its opposition to the Armenian-Iranian economic projects. "We
have counseled the Armenians, as we have counseled others who have
entertained entering into these sort of oil and gas agreements with
Iran against doing so," a spokesman for the U.S. State Department,
Sean McCormack, said. "We don’t think the time is right to even be
entertaining the idea of concluding these kinds of agreements."

McCormack warned that Yerevan should be careful not to breach U.S. and
international sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic. "If there
are any applicable laws that are triggered by any actions taken by
any entities, we will take a look at the agreements with respect to
U.S. law," he told a daily news briefing in Washington.

Incidentally, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian was also in Washington
on Tuesday, holding talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
at the end of his week-long visit to the U.S. Sarkisian met U.S.

Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Robert Gates late
last week.

Speaking at his news conference, Oskanian confirmed that his talks in
New York earlier this month with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
were largely fruitless. "There is no major change in Turkey’s policy
towards Armenia at the moment," he said. "Turkey remains interested
only in processes, while we want results. We have no common ground
there yet."

Turkey makes normalization of its relations with Armenia conditional
on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and an end to the
Armenian campaign for international recognition of the 1915 genocide.

Ankara seems even more unlikely to drop these preconditions now that
the U.S. Congress is considering adopting a landmark resolution that
describes the slaughter of more than one million Armenians in Ottoman
Turkey as genocide.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza told RFE/RL
on Wednesday that he will visit Turkey on Friday to again "explore
the possibility" of improving Turkish-Armenian relations.

US SECRETARY OF STATE RECEIVES VISITING ARMENIAN PREMIER

Public TV
Oct 24 2007
Armenia

[Presenter] The opening of the Armenian-Turkish border will contribute
not only to the Armenian-Turkish relations but also to the regional
cooperation, the US secretary of state said at the meeting with
Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan in Washington.

Condoleezza Rice also said that her country will provide technical
assistance to Armenia in the 2008 presidential election. Afterwards
Serzh Sargsyan met the US Deputy Secretary of State on economic issues
and took part in the session of the US-Armenian intergovernmental
economic cooperation council. Artak Aleksanyan will report details
on the last day of the Armenian prime minister’s visit to the USA.

[Correspondent speaking over video the meeting] Armenian Prime Minister
Serzh Sargsyan wrapped up his visit to the USA after a meeting with US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The sides discussed Armenian-US
political and military cooperation, and possible perspectives of
deepening and extending them. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman
Kirakosyan, who was present at the private meeting, says that Rice
asked about the current stage of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
settlement and Armenia’s stance.

[Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan speaking] Prime
Minister Serzh Sargsyan answered at this point that we want to settle
the issue in a peaceful way and only that way and the format of the
OSCE Minsk Group can lead to the settlement of the issue.

[Correspondent] During the conversation Serzh Sargsyan and Rice
touched upon the Armenian-Turkish relations. Rice said that the
opening of the Armenian-Turkish border will contribute not only to
the Armenian-Turkish relations but also to the regional cooperation.

The officials also discussed deepening of bilateral cooperation in
the security sphere. Before meeting Rice, the prime minister met
US Deputy Secretary of State on [Economic Issues] Ruben Jeffrey and
attended a session of the Armenian-US working group with the deputy
secretary of state.

[Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan] Starting from
2000 we have bi-annual sessions of the Armenian-US group. This was
the first time when the prime minister opened the session. This means
that Armenian government attaches importance to these meetings, to the
work of the intergovernmental committee and the Armenian-US relations.

[Correspondent] In the session of the Armenian-US working group,
Jeffrey attached importance to the economic stability in our country
and a tendency to decrease poverty in rural areas. In his turn, the
prime minister said that the government’s top priority is to decrease
poverty in rural areas and support land owners for which both US funds
and all other possible resources are used. During this session [US
State Secretariat Coordinator for Aid to Eurasia and Europe Thomas
Adams] and Armenian Economy Minister Vardan Khachatryan signed an
aviation agreement, which will provide an opportunity to cooperate
in securing and holding joint operations in the sphere of the civil
aviation.

[Arman Kirakosyan] We will also soon sign a big framework agreement
on aviation cooperation and this one [the agreement] was its part,
which related to the implementation of securing flights.

ARMENIANS, ASSYRIANS IN ENGLAND JOIN FORCES FOR GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

Assyrian International News Agency
Oct 23 2007

London — Sunday 21st October marked a step forward for the Assyrians
fighting for genocide recognition committed almost one-hundred years
ago in Turkey . The Armenian community, who have the genocide of
their people officially recognised in 19 countries, pledged to work
with the Assyrians to also gain genocide recognition, for the very
least within the UK.

The event which was organised by CRAG (Campaign for the Recognition of
Armenian Genocide), saw scholar Sabri Atman discuss issues surrounding
the Genocide of the Assyrians and Armenians, proposing questions for
thought and challenging controversial differences between the two
communities to inevitably bring them together.

The event, held at the Assyrian House, Ealing, brought together both
members of the Assyrian and Armenian community. It was here that
representatives from CRAG and the Armenian Solidarity offered to
unite with the Assyrian community in equal footing and on all levels,
to achieve recognition of the Assyrian and Armenian.

The Genocide of the Assyrians and Armenians took place during the
rule of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey . The focus of the Empire was
to ethnically cleanse the nation, in a bid to create a Pan-Turkish
state with one Flag, one race and one religion. This resulted in the
brutal murders of millions and an equal deportation of others.

The objective of the lecture was to discuss the possibility of Turkey
joining the EU (European Union), and whether this should be allowed
while their Government still accept no responsibility for their
past crimes.

Campaigning organisation for the Genocide, Seyfo Centre UK, who were
also in attendance and co-hosted the event, would like to extend
a warm heartfelt thanks to CRAG for organising the event, and for
officially pledging, together with Armenian Solidarity, to work with
the Assyrian people in achieving recognition.

Mr. Nineb Lamassu of Seyfo Centre UK said, "This is of course a
positive step forward and this would be empowering not only for the
Assyrians but the Armenians too. For from now on we can speak in one
united voice and demand what is just from our governments. We are
positive these pledges — from both the Armenians and Assyrians –
were not rhetorical and we should see them manifested in the very
near future".

ARMENIAN OPPOSITIONISTS DETAINED WHEN PROPAGANDIZING PARTICIPATION IN RALLIES

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.10.2007 13:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On October 23 evening, editor-in-chief of Haykakan
Zhamanak opposition newspaper, leader of Impeachment bloc, Nikol
Pashinyan, Democtratic Fatherland party leader Petros Makeyan and
Conservative Party leader Mikael Hayrapetyan, editor-in-chief of
Fourth Power opposition newspaper Shoher Matevosyan and some other
activists were detained in the center of Yerevan.

The oppositionists were detained when delivering leaflets calling
for participation in rallies in support of Armenia’s first President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

At night the oppositionists were released after they gave a written
undertaking not to leave the place, IA Regnum reports.

During an authorized rally scheduled for October 26, Levon
Ter-Petrosyan is expected to deliver an hour speech.

On the same day the Republican Party of Armenia is organizing a free
concert for the population. Besides, a highway connecting Iran and
Armenia will be put into operation.

PELOSI SCORES ON LEADERSHIP — MOSTLY
By Renee Schoof

Miami Herald, FL
McClatchy News Service
Oct 21 2007

Political pundits give House Speaker Nancy Pelosi high marks for
holding House Democrats together and getting things done. But she’s
also made some slip-ups.

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi found herself in a tight spot
last week over her support for a resolution condemning the Ottoman
Turks’ slaughter of Armenians more than 90 years ago.

Pelosi didn’t take President Bush’s advice that the resolution would
alienate Turkey, a NATO ally that plays a key support role in the
war in Iraq. About 70 percent of the U.S. military air cargo entering
Iraq goes through Turkey, as do an estimated 3,000 trucks each day.

Turkey, one of America’s closest Muslim allies, responded to the
resolution by recalling its ambassador to the United States —
a stern diplomatic signal — and threatening to chill cooperation
with America in the region.

SUPPORT WITHDRAWN

The result: Many House members found Bush’s argument persuasive
and withdrew their support for the resolution. It started with 226
co-sponsors and a solid majority, but so many dropped off that it’s
now unlikely that Pelosi will even bring it up for a vote.

The drama was an unusual public slip-up for the nation’s first female
speaker, and it’s raised questions about her judgment and priorities.

Still, expert Congress watchers say it doesn’t outweigh her overall
success in holding House Democrats together and getting things done.

But the incident sheds light on how House Democrats operate and the
difficulties that lie ahead for them.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said she has long supported a resolution on the
Armenian genocide. The resolution declared that 1.5 million Armenians
were killed in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. Turkish
leaders acknowledge that many died but deny that there was genocide —
the intentional destruction of an entire people.

Pelosi’s spokesman, Brendan Daly, said she didn’t try to persuade
Democrats to vote for it but left it to each member to decide.

Norman J. Ornstein, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise
Institute, said he doesn’t fault Pelosi. She didn’t orchestrate
the vote but agreed to it after the House Foreign Affairs Committee
passed it. And, Ornstein said, she was listening to Armenian-American
constituents who’ve pressed the resolution for years.

Still, Ornstein conceded, in the end, strong intervention by Bush
and Defense Secretary Robert Gates averted "a major foreign policy
disaster."

Nevertheless, he and other scholars said that generally speaking,
Pelosi has maintained unity among often fractious House Democrats.

The result has been "some pretty responsible legislation," he said,
including ethics and lobbying reform, housing finance reform and a
reduction in interest rates on many student loans.

MINIMUM WAGE HIKE

Pelosi also helped get a minimum wage increase, a high priority for
Democrats, signed into law over opposition from Bush and his fellow
Republicans.

But Pelosi also must consider how much pressure she can put on
politically vulnerable Democrats. Some are freshmen elected largely
on opposition to the Iraq War from districts that otherwise lean
Republican.

"These people are comfortable with the antiwar debates, but when
it shifts to other topics, they might not find their districts as
receptive," said Michael Franc of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Franc said Pelosi could be more inclusive if she’d reach out more
for the views of low-ranking Democrats and tell committee chairmen
to do the same. But that’s not so easy. Pelosi and Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer, D-Md., must deal with committee chairmen who previously
held powerful positions when Democrats were the majority, and ‘the
speaker can’t easily say, `You won’t be as powerful now,’ " he said.

Still, Pelosi and Hoyer have some power over the chairmen, because
the two top Democrats control which bills get to the House floor.

But that’s complicated, too.

Pelosi wanted her ally, John Murtha, D-Pa., as majority leader,
but House Democrats chose Hoyer. Both Pelosi and Hoyer have their
own loyalists.

EAVESDROPPING BILL

Franc said it was "almost unforgivable" to get so far along on a
bill and then pull it. But that was different, he said, than what
happened with a bill to set rules for government eavesdropping,
which also went missing in action last week.

Republicans used a procedural maneuver to block a vote on the
eavesdropping bill, so Democrats pulled it. The result is likely to
be a week’s delay.

Asked if she saw the two developments as setbacks, Pelosi said:
"No. This is the legislative process."

She predicted that House Democrats have enough votes to prevail on
the eavesdropping bill, which updates the 1978 Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act. On the Armenia resolution, she said, "Congress will
work its will on that."

Rep. David Price, D-N.C., a subcommittee chairman on the Appropriations
Committee and a former political science professor at Duke University,
said Pelosi has good discipline and decisionmaking skills, and that
she’s listened to all.

"She has charm and a winsome manner, but nobody should mistake that
for a lack of toughness," he said.

On Iraq, Pelosi has gotten "plenty of free advice" from the large
Out of Iraq caucus and from moderate Democrats as well, Price said.

The House has passed measures containing a timetable for withdrawal
from Iraq, only to face a veto from President Bush and a failure by
Senate Democrats to muster the 60 votes needed under a procedural rule.

Pelosi has said that Democrats won’t give up trying to end the war.

Price said Democratic leaders would consider attaching conditions
to a war-spending bill and other measures on Iraq that have broad
support and, taken together, could steer policy in a new direction.

Donald Wolfensberger, director of the Congress Project at the Wilson
Center, a Washington research organization, said Pelosi has probably
angered her natural allies in the Out of Iraq Caucus even as she’s
adroitly juggled different factions in her party.

But Wolfensberger said she hasn’t followed through on promises to be
more fair and open than her Republican predecessors were.

Ornstein agreed that Democrats haven’t been as open as they should
be. There have been too many "closed rules" (a procedure for not
allowing amendments, so the House must accept or reject a bill "as is")
and too many bills coming up with little advance notice, he said.

HONEYMOON TIME

Bill Frenzel of the centrist Brookings Institution, a former Republican
congressman from Minnesota, said all speakers do better in their first
year, when members of their party give them special support. Later,
committee chairmen flex their muscles, and the rank and file feel
more independent, especially as elections near.

Things also could change when Democrats take up more controversial
matters, he said.

"So far the speaker has done well," Frenzel said, "but the job is
getting harder every day."