For Once I Completely Agree With The White House.

Yes.

That's right.

Stop looking so shocked.

This:

Would You Like To Know More?

So yeah. The White House is right on this one. Congress HAS A LOT MORE URGENT THINGS TO BE DOING!!!!!

Armenians?? I thought that was a race from Babylon 5.

Part of me thinks that if the Turks faced up to what happened with the Armenians they'd get into the EU a lot quicker, and wishes they'd do it.

But I have to agree that Congress has far more important things to worry about...

You really have to wonder what motivates the U.S. Congress to slap the face of an ally in the War on Terror--a Muslem ally, no less--over events that happened almost 100 years ago and that are of absolutely no importance to the American people today. I mean, really, what's the urgency? Couldn't this have waited?

Edit: And in the "Nice going, Congress" department, Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the U.S. for "consultation" on the matter.

They were but they all died in the Shadow War.

Who even brought this shit up in Congress?! And why!?

I would imagine there are a few lawmakers of Armenian descent.

Governor of California before Wilson IIRC was Armenian.

The Ottoman Empire was a former and different regime of what is now Turkey. This is like passing a resolution against the FRG about the actions of the Third Reich. I suspect modern Germany would react equally strongly to such a thing.

Hmmm.

Wonder if it's a backhanded way to get us out of Iraq.

About 70% of the logistics goes through Turkey right now. Piss them off, and we have a serious issue with supporting the troops.

Other than that, it's totally inane.

Part of the problem is the member of Congress who is sponsoring and leading the charge on this one is also the representative for the City of Glendale, CA. Glendale has an extremely high number of Armenians. Registered Democrat Armenians to boot. They are a very vocal group with deep pockets. Basically they are caving into their constituents without considering the impact to our nation, its security and relationships with nations like Turkey.

I don't think the resolution condemns modern-day Turkey -- just states that the U.S. considers the actions of the Ottoman Turks to have been genocide, which goes against Turkey's official stance of denial.

But it still seems like a bizarre move. "Oh, by the way, we're going to pass a resolution condemning this thing that happened 100 years ago, because if we don't, we're basing our foreign policy on a lie." Of course, we'd only be basing our foreign policy on a lie if we said the genocide didn't happen as opposed to simply leaving the subject alone.

Next up, a resolution condemning Hannibal for his wanton acts of aggression against Rome.

Fuck the person who is responsible for this bill.

So's Greece.

It is good to see that the Democrats aren't letting us down. They really see no need to discuss much of anything that pertains to things happening today. Unless it is some sort of non-binding resolution of course.

Chris, didnt turks prosecute lot of people responsible for genocide as war criminals.

No they did not. They claim to this day that it was the Armenians who attacked and revolted. A little difficult to do when as a group all of your weapons have been seized and taken away by the government.

It's all about the dignity of the victims. One million corpses, and the Turks still deny that this genocide happened. It was one of the most horrible crimes of the 20th century. The victims deserve some respect. It would be enough if the Turks of today accepted that their fathers did something wrong. But in Turkey, even talking about it makes you a traitor. That's disgusting, and I hope that Turkey will not be allowed EU membership until it comes to terms with its past. It's all about the dignity of the victims, period.

That's the way I see it. This is more than likely the case reguardless of what mask they put on it. With the candidates for 08 talking about a continued presence in Iraq and whispers of slapping Iran around, tossing a sabo in the works makes more sense than anything.

I wonder, has the German government done something like this towards the Jewish people?

What, acknowledged the genocide?

Dude. Germans aren't allowed to forget it. They don't LET themselves forget it. Wifey freaked out a bit when everyone stood for the national anthem at a baseball game - she wasn't used to such a display of patriotism and her conditioning was such she found it a bit scary.

From what I've heard, however, the Japanese are suffering from a certain amount of amnesia from that time period, though...

Japanese fill they were saving Asia from Western Imperialism phantom.

I wasn't sure. The Japanese may have been who I was thinking of, there's been so much carnage for the last century it's hard to tell who's done and apologized for what.

It's not amnesia as so much unabashed racism.

They have an inferiority complex to the West, and a superiority complex over the rest of Asia. They were never sent through the camps, because, well, Nanking was pretty much cleaned up by then.

So it's all "cry cry" over Hiroshima, and the belief that you're making it up when you tell them their uncle used babies for target practice. As far as I'm concerned, that whole country is lucky we let them live.

Right idea, wrong time.

Thanks for proving my point.
You cannot punish people for the actions of their ancestors. Ask them to acknowledge it happened, yes, but punish them for them? No. Nobody living in Turkey today massacred any Armenians. That's all that should count when it comes to EU membership.

Jeez, Congress is nothing but one giant circle-jerking feel-goodery nowadays.

I letter I just sent:

Dear Rep. Rahall/Sen. Byrd/Sen. Rockafeller,

I just read about the House committee vote condemning Turkey over the Armenian genocide a century ago. While I agree that it was tragic, don't you have anything more pressing to look to?

Respectfully,
Jeff Cooper Disicple

Oh, this could get good, especially since it started with a bunch of worthless shit heads that feel they have to do something, anything, to justify their presence.

"Look, America, we're doing...something!" :lookatme:

The people who sponsored this bill should face turkish ww1 style torture. Would love to se ethat for pelosi and republican house speaker and cheney turks did come up with creative torture methods.

Yep. They're alienating an ally that's helping our war effort in Iraq.