What’s in the ‘Genocide’ Name?

Author: Stan Nodvik | Category: Education, Foreign, History, Politics | 10-12-07
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Our cheerful Condi Rice.
Photo by AP.

Gertrude Stein might say, “A Genocide is a Genocide is a Genocide.” Congress wants to label the Armenian massacre as a “genocide.” Why not? Democrats call a spade a spade. For Republicans like President Bush, it’s NO WAY!

Here’s the caption to a photo of Rice and Gates together: “Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, accompanied by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington Wednesday following a meeting with President Bush. The Bush administration urged Congress Wednesday to reject legislation that would declare the World War I-era killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians a genocide.”

Background:
“Tensions stemming from the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire are a bitter point of contention, with the Armenian state decrying the killings as genocide; the modern Turkish state denies that a genocide of Armenians occurred in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. Merely to speak of the Armenian Genocide in modern Turkey is to risk “insulting Turkishness”, a criminal offense for which various Turkish intelligentsia have been brought to trial.

“While the lingering bitterness of the 1915 killings underlies much of the tension between the modern states, several key factors have served to exacerbate relations between the nations over the course of the ensuing century.”
— Wikipedia

It is not tens of thousands, but 1.5 million Armenians who were slaughtered by the Turks.

William Saroyan is the most famous Armenian American writer who was popular during the Great Depression and wrote stories and plays about Armenian immigrants. The Daring Young Man On The Flying Trapeze (1934), The Human Comedy (1943), Places Where I’ve Done Time 1972….

So what’s the squealing about? Most of our air bases are in Turkey and used by the U.S. to fly in men and supplies. Turkey abuts Iraq and Iran. Recognizing the massacre as a “genocide” would be a slap in the face to Turkey who //by Gawk, would throw us out of their country// out of their country which would eliminate our base of operations into Iraq. Nancy somehow came up with this recognition idea. She has the gonadal grip on Bush on this one.

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  • The Shat Just Hit the Fan -- Buy today’s newspaper, hit an online newspaper, check the radio, check out the news on TV.

    In case you haven’t heard yet, Turkey’s top general issued warnings to the U.S. about their close ties, which ain’t close anymore. Why? Read my above post. Ties will be irreversible cut if Congress insists on calling a genocide a genocide. No more major cargo jump-offs from Turkey to Iraq and to Afghanistan. If this does pull the rug out from Bush and Bush’s people and topples their supposed “democracy” as government in Iraq //which it won’t but you never know// and cuts the war in Iraq, and brings home the troops, then 1.5 million Armenians weren’t slaughtered 92 years ago in vain by the Turks.

    Right now, it’s difficult to walk the halls of congress because the lobbyists’ money is two-feet deep. Bush knows he has to stop the house from passing this non-binding “genocide” resolution. The senate already has passed it. Hey, you congressmen, don’t slip on all that free money and fall, you might break your neck.

    They didn’t print one-million dollar bills, until, by Gawk, now.
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  • Well, secret, it sure is taking up a lot of news air time today. No country, especially now with all this uproar, no country wants to be called Nazi Turkey. I agree the bottom line is much ado about nothing that's important after 100 years. The real problem, as I see it, is the rewriting of history. That's always a problem afterwards when the books aren't throw into the proverbal fire. And I agree with you that this is something that should be forgetten, but that's not the point. The Senate passed the bill, it's now in the House. This is a slight of hand way to help end the war by cutting off Turkey as a base. I applaud the idea. I think it was brilliant!

    Oh, Turkey's embrass-ador was called home to Turkey. Now that's important!
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  • Eh, I'm pretty sure we can strong arm the Turkish into letting us have what we want.

    Anyway, I can actually see the Bush administration's point on this. 'Labeling' something that happened almost a hundred years ago isn't going to anyone any good, or change anything.
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