This week the House of Representatives approved a measure that would require our government to acknowledge that the Turkish government committed genocide against Armenians between 1915 and 1923. In this instance, genocide has a very specific definition and it's not just killing a lot of people during a war.
The president, who wants to tell the truth, except when it's inconvenient, is asking the Senate to not approve the legislation. Is this because due to his deep historical research he doesn't believe that what happened is truly genocide? Umb...no. It's because he doesn't want to upset the Turkish government and potentially jeopardize the military's ability to fly materiel into Iraq. And there are several other former diplomats who are against the measure. Again, not because it's historically inaccurate, but because they think we should sweep away the truth to make nice with Turkey.
First off, Turkey might get into a huff about this, but they aren't going to do anything extreme. Why? Because they want to get into NATO and most of the other European countries think their actions were genocide as well. They won't look kindly on such a denial of what they believe to be the truth.
Second, since when is it good policy for our government to ignore the truth? We don't go around doing that with Japan and Germany of their behavior in WWII. It's not as if the resolution says that the current Turkish government is responsible for it. I also think it's important to let Turkey know that the international community is watching them so they don't pull any more shit with the Kurds in Turkey and northern Iraq.
So, while Congress is gutless regarding Iraq, it can redeem itself by passing this legislation.
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