In an administration that has never cared much for truth to begin with, this should come as no surprise. The only shocking thing about the current President's stance on the Armenian Genocide is that he's actually coming out and delivering the news himself. I didn't think he had the energy, what with shredding the Constitution, destroying American prestige around the world, and waging ill-advised wars in Iraq. But make no mistake, this crime, and it is a crime, that he is committing today is ever bit as egregious as any other that he and his coterie of thugs and liars has committed.
The Armenian Genocide is a FACT. It happened. And up until now, the US government, despite overwhelming evidence, has refused to at least acknowledge what happened to the Armenians during WWI. The reason? Our military ties with Turkey prohibit us from telling the truth about what actually happened, because it's inconvenient. That's all. It's not because we don't know it happened. It's not because there's a National Security risk of revealing information that could damage an ongoing investigation. None of that. It's just inconvenient. To wit, here is Secretary of State Condo-lies-a-lot Rice giving the administration explanation:
"We recognize the feelings of those who want to express their concern and their disdain for what happened many years ago," Rice said. "But the passage of this resolution at this time would, indeed, be very problematic for everything that we're trying to do in the Middle East because we are very dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally to help with our efforts."
See that? It's just not convenient right now for us to tell the truth, because doing so would hurt our relationship with Turkey. Apparently, they can't handle the idea that they participated in this, even though it's pretty well established that they did.
Bush tries to walk a tightrope with this mess, almost as though he understands that he's screwing up, but he wants to have some sort of escape hatch prepared:
"We all deeply regret the tragic suffering of the Armenian people that began in 1915. This resolution is not the right response to those historic mass killings," Bush said at the White House.
Well what would be the right response, exactly? I mean we're not talking about sanctions against Turkey, or prosecuting war criminals, or even a further investigation. This is just a NON-BINDING RESOLUTION that acknowledges WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!!!
Some of my students asked me today why it even matters. Why do we care about what happened so long ago? I responded by asking them about the case of Emmett Till. Till's murder, after all, was several decades ago. Why should we still pursue his murderer and try to bring that person to justice? Imagine for a moment that you were related to one of the Armenians. Wouldn't you want, just for one moment, for the guilty parties to have to accept some responsibility for their actions? To have history validate the suffering of you and your family?
This issue brings into sharp relief the fact that this administration cannot seem to wrap it's mind around the reality that real people died in a real genocide campaign during WWI. Just like they cannot wrap their minds around the reality that real people are dying in the sands of Iraq in a real war that they caused for no reason other than greed and hubris.
To deny the suffering of others is to blind one's soul. In my signature line, I try to always remind people that denial of history is the way that horrible people take power and do horrible things to other people. There is a real danger in failing to acknowledge the mistakes of history. No less a monster than Adolph Hitler, when asked by one of his subordinates about whether the world would sit back and watch while they massacred thousands of untermenschen, responded that nobody remembered now what happened to the Armenians. Now it is happening again. Please call your congressperson(s) today and urge them to vote for the NON-BINDING RESOLUTION that acknowledges the reality of the Armenian Genocide.
For more information on the Armenian Genocide, please refer to the excellent book "The Burning Tigris". Really good explanation of what was going on.