It was, after all, a perfect strategy in all ways. First, they can effectively force early withdrawal for the US military in Iraq by cutting off their supply lines thru Turkey ground and air space. And all done under the moral banner of identifying "genocide".
Secondly, no one came accuse them of this coming out of the blue, thereby eliminating the accusation of timing in order to accuse them of a back handed Iraq withdrawal pan. They've attempted to get this resolution thru on previous occasions. Once, in 2000, it was stopped by Bill Clinton himself, with an appeal to a Republican Congress to prioritize current relations with Turkey over actions by a now defunct government almost 100 years ago.
At that time, the Republic Congress listened. But the Dem led Congress today? Pelosi's made the talking heads Sunday rounds, and insists she's sticking to her guns. And they have the chutzpah to call Bush stubborn and without compromise?
As it is a non binding resolution, there is no Presidential veto power. They vote it in, despite objections of the WH, and the deed and damage is done. No going back.
This resurrection of the genocide bill concerned me as I wasn't sure if anyone with the power of the pen or the microphone would recognized the sleazy, back door withdrawal strategy. And unless it was brought to the attention of the American citizens, how would they connect the dots?
In today's New York Post (but appearing on the Internet Sunday) is Ralph Peters "Playing Politics with Genocide".
Last Wednesday, the Democrat-controlled House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution formally declaring the Armenian tragedy what it was: genocide. Speaker Nancy Pelosi intends to bring the resolution to a vote on the floor, after which it would go to the Senate.
We need to stop it. It's a travesty and a betrayal. Of Armenian-Americans. And of our troops.
Make no mistake: I'm on the Armenian side in the court of history. When the same resolution came up in years past, I supported it. The Armenian survivors - their descendants, at this point - deserve justice.
snip
Despite all that, we've got to kill this resolution. It's not the wording - but the timing.
Legislation similar to this has come up repeatedly in Congress, yet it's always been defeated - in 2000, because of pressure from the Clinton administration. But if the resolution passes the House and Senate now, the Turks plan to evict us from Incirlik airbase in southeastern Turkey, to halt our military over-flight privileges and to shut down the supply routes into northern Iraq.
That's what the Democrats are aiming at. This resolution isn't about justice for the Armenians. Not this time. It's a stunningly devious attempt to impede our war effort in Iraq and force premature troop withdrawals.
The Dems calculate that, without those flights and convoys, we won't be able to keep our troops adequately supplied. Key intelligence and strike missions would disappear.
Today a second print journalist picked up on the suspicious timing and desired results. Jed Babbin's column in Human Events, "Pelosi's Most Dangerous Ploy" follows the same argument for "slow bleed", but with different words.
Congressional Democrats anxious to force a withdrawal of American forces from Iraq are frustrated by their inability to muster a veto-proof majority for legislation that would establish a firm date for retreat. But what they cannot do directly they are now working hard to do indirectly.
snip
On October 11, Pelosi said, “While that may have been a long time ago, genocide is taking place now in Darfur, it did within recent memory in Rwanda, so as long as there is genocide there is need to speak out against it.”
But the resolution is gratuitous and Democrats’ timing suspicious. It’s gratuitous because, in 1981, President Reagan referred to the Armenian massacre as genocide in a proclamation commemorating the Nazi Holocaust.
Why, if Pelosi is so committed to ending genocide, aren’t she and Senate Democrat leaders doing something about the ongoing genocide in Darfur or the massacres of protesters in Burma?
Speaker Pelosi said, “This isn't about the Erdogan government. This is about the Ottoman Empire." Baloney.
The Democrat leadership could write and pass legislation insisting the UN intervene to save the living instead of using the memory of the dead to score political points. In neither case should we intervene militarily. But the lack of concern for ongoing mass murder proves the Democrats’ only purpose is to enrage the Turkish government and end their cooperation on Iraq.
Babbin suggests that Congress shows it's poker hand and real agenda because it doesn't address current genocides happening with effective action. Congress did pass a resolution in July 2004, labeling the action in Darfur genocide. That and a dime won't even get you a cup of coffee today, let alone intervention from the UN. So the key words here are "effective action".
And it is the lack of tangible and actionable results from a resolution condemning Turkey that is the biggest piece of evidence that this is just not about placating Armenians around the world.
Hopefully more MSM and radio talk show hosts will jump on the bandwagon to inform those who actually believe Congress gives a whit about Armenians... other than those in their voting district. Because, as we can tell with this resolution, they sure don't care about supplying our troops in the field.
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