Congress, Turkey and Iraq
MichaelW on Oct 15 2007 at 9:27 pm | Filed under: Around the Web
McQ derides Congress for pushing a vote regarding Armenian genocide during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire (see his first take here).
“This will not do one positive thing for anyone. What it will do is set off a possible chain of events that could severely hurt our ability to support the troops in Iraq, and yes, actually lead to some lives lost.”
Needless to say, I think McQ is spot on in his assessment.
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Muslims Against Sharia commend House Democrats and Speaker Pelosi for pressing ahead with an Armenian genocide bill. Republican opposition to the bill is pure manifestation of moral relativism.
Muslims Against Sharia condemn Turkish government for refusing to acknowledge Armenian genocide and recalling its US ambassador in response to the bill.
Source: AFP
Post
Well, this would make more sense if it was the Turkish government that had been responsible for the Armenian tragedy. Instead, it was the Ottoman Empire.
The only reason this is being brought up for a vote now is to undermine the war effort. It’s a pretty sick and utterly repugnant reason to lambaste a close ally at this time. Not to mention how traitorous it is to our own country for the Democrats to actively hurt our ability to prosecute this war.
are you sure you know what moral relativism means? Or do I have too narrow of a definition?
MichaelW,
“Well, this would make more sense if it was the Turkish government that had been responsible for the Armenian tragedy.”
We don’t know what the final text of the bill is, but is is safe to bet that the Tutkish government isn’t blamed. It is quite possible that the Congress is doing the right thing for the wrong reason. But does it matter? If every Islamic terrorist blew himself up (away from people) with intention of pissing me off, it would be fine by me.
It does if the result will be losing our privileges at Incirlik Airport, from which we fly vital supply missions.
Agreed, but that’s not the problem we’re talking about. It’s the issue of pushing a non-binding and completely irrelevant resolution whose only result, and indeed sole purpose, will be to sabotage the war effort.
The Armenian genocide has been called out as such before by the American government (e.g. Reagan in ‘81). Doing so now simply to piss off the Turks is an underhanded and slimy way for the Democrats to salvage defeat from the jaws of (potential) victory.
“It’s the issue of pushing a non-binding and completely irrelevant resolution whose only result, and indeed sole purpose, will be to sabotage the war effort.”
I didn’t hear sabotage complaints when Turkey refused to allow the coalition to deploy ground troops from its territory in 2003. Passing a genocide resolution is an act of taking moral high ground, which is never bad. Besides, Turks have a lot more to lose from worsened relationship with the US and they are not that stupid.
Why would there have been? That decision by Turkey had nothing to do with a Congressional resolution.
Maybe not in the movies, but in the real world things are rarely that black and white. In this case, there are likely to be grave consequences that greatly outweigh whatever moral high ground might actually be obtained. Those direct consquences (e.g. losing Incirlik) will lead to even worse consequences (e.g. more strain on the American military) and may even lead to disasterous results (e.g. a Turkish invasion of Northern Iraq).
We’ll see. Keep in mind that actions taken out of emotion are rarely, if ever, rational. The Turks have a lot invested in not being tagged as genocidal maniacs. They are threatening to pull what little support we are getting from them in the War in Iraq. So far, their threats have proven to be valid.
“in the real world things are rarely that black and white.”
They are when we are talking about genocide.
“The Turks have a lot invested in not being tagged as genocidal maniacs.”
They have a lot more invested in getting into EU.
I am pretty much opposed to empty gestures that claim the moral high ground. Stopping genocide is the kind of thing that gets my juices flowing on that score. This is just a way for people who don’t really want to do anything concrete about genocide to feel like they are taking a stand. Actually there are other motivations, but I won’t claim they apply to anyone in particular since they are rather unsavory.
As has been pointed out, we have several times condemned and recognized the Armenian atrocities. The only reason to do it now is because we want to rub present day Turks noses in it. Why doing it yet again and rubbing said noses is important right now goes beyond simple attempts to get the high ground.
Really? Then you weren’t paying attention. Do a search. Heck, just read what was said on Instapundit. It’ll keep you busy for a while.
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