I have been reading about the passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution which has made news. It has caused riots, worldwide debate, the recalling of an ambassador, and anger throughout Turkey. And it was just a committee that passed this resolution, not even the entire house. I think that the house should pass this, and the senate should do the same. It is true that it could cause serious diplomatic damage and strain relations with Turkey. But it is time that this country started doing what once made it loved throughout the world: standing up for people who can't stand up for themselves. We have to stand on principle, even if we could suffer short-term damage to our own standing because of it.
In the last 7 years, this country has committed numerous atrocities and betrayals of our own principles and values. We have tortured, kidnapped innocents off the street and held them indefinitely without trail or even habeas corpus rights, we have murdered, killed children (and dismissed their deaths as "stuff happens"), waged illegal warfare and committed war crimes gleefully. Nothing will ever undo that. And nothing will repair the damage inflicted on the constitution or our reputation by the dictator president. What we have done has been of a similar morality as what the Nazis did during WW2. We have made Saddam Hussein look liberal and human.
But there was a time, before the reign of King Bush, where we had principles and values. During this time, we stood by those principles, even if it was incontinent or counter-productive. Ultimately, standing by those principles more than paid for whatever damage they may have caused in the short term. We have a chance to begin putting this country back on that road again, with the Armenian genocide resolution.
The Armenian genocide, which occured between 1915 and 1923, was a precursor of things to come. Rarely in human history had so many innocents (1.5 million by current estimates) been killed in such a systemic, short-term fashion. It was a warning of what was coming later in the century. And WW2 wasn't the only other time that the 20th century saw genocide on that scale.
When I first heard of this, I was wondering if a non-binding resolution really mattered. I didn't know if it was worth alienating Turkey over. But then I heard about the story from the perspective of the Armenians. Armenia is a small, insignificant country close to Turkey. It has little, if any power, in the region. They have no relations with Turkey, and their citizens have suffered badly because of it. Little trade occurs (which hurts Armenia far more than it hurts the much larger Turkey), and the Armenians are hated throughout Turkey.
There is another, more quiet side, to this debate. It is the side of the Armenians. They still feel and remember this genocide. It causes them pain even to this day. They are suffering. And it is a key American principle to stand up for subject nations, too defenseless to stand up for themselves.