Once Again, Obama Follows Bush
[Guest post by DRJ]
Barack Obama campaigned as the man who would reject the international and war policies of President George W. Bush. Then he promptly adopted most of Bush’s policies on the War on Terror and in Afghanistan. And despite his explicit campaign promise to recognize the Armenian genocide, today was more of the same:
“A GENOCIDE BY ANY OTHER NAME
In a statement marking Armenian Remembrance Day, President Obama calls it “one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century,” while avoiding the word “genocide.”
But he adds that “I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed” – seeming to suggest he stands behind his past use of the word “genocide,” a designation fiercely opposed by the Turkish government, as a Senator and presidential candidate.
The House Foreign Affairs committee voted 23-22 last month, over White House objections, on a non-binding resolution calling on Obama to label the event a “genocide” in his statement. Turkey condemned “this resolution which accuses the Turkish nation of a crime it has not committed,” and recalled its ambassador to the U.S. for consultations in response.”
President Bush issued a similar statement in 2007 out of concern for U.S.-Turkish relations:
“Ties between the United States and Turkey could be harmed for decades to come, according to Turkey’s Speaker of Parliament, if Congress passes a bill declaring the killings of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 a genocide. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed strong opposition to the bill in a letter to Nancy Pelosi.
CBS News is reporting the Bush Administration is trying to kill the bill.
From AFP:
“The President has described the events of 1915 as ‘one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century’, but believes the determination of whether or not the events constitute a genocide should be a matter for historical inquiry, not legislation,” said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.”
Change.
— DRJ
Yeah, wouldn’t want to upset the Turks, they might not let us transit an armoured division across their country when we need to deploy ground forces….
AD - RtR/OS! (9562e0) — 4/24/2010 @ 4:46 pmOh!…wait a minute….Never mind.
Ho Hum
Another promise, another expiration date.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 4/24/2010 @ 4:49 pmThe Armenians I’ve met aren’t confused or hesitant at all. They say genocide loud and clear. So does everyone else, with the exception of Muslims attempting to evade blame for the Armenian Genocide.
When I was in college, there was an old Armenian guy who hung around campus. One day he called the Turkish Consulate in LA and offered to give them some historic artifacts if they would come to Santa Barbara and pick them up.
When the Turks opened their door at the SB Biltmore, the old guy opened up with his handgun, then waited for the cops. He said it was in retaliation for the genocide. I recall another somewhat similar shooting in Pasadena about the same time, late ’70s.
ropelight (e0e500) — 4/24/2010 @ 4:49 pmGood gracious, we don’t want to offend the Turks, why, they might not allow us to transit an armored division through their country…
AD - RtR/OS! (9562e0) — 4/24/2010 @ 4:56 pmOh! wait…never mind.
Sorry for the double post…the first one seemed to disappear…sort of like my IRA in ’08.
AD - RtR/OS! (9562e0) — 4/24/2010 @ 4:58 pmLets face it. Obama is the least experienced president of our lifetime and if he couldn’t look back to see what Bush did he’d be stuck asking Michelle what to do.
Or he would be trying to do something stupid like close Gitmo
MU789 (13091a) — 4/24/2010 @ 5:00 pmYet more proof that Obama’s campaign rhetoric on foreign policy and the conduct of the war was juvenile BS designed to pander to the idiot wing of the Democratic party. Just as I was saying day in and day out in 2008. Throughout that year, the Democrats were claiming that Obama’s vapid rhetoric showed how intelligent he was, how stupid Bush was, and how much the world would swoon at our feet once Obama was elected.
All utter horse manure as Obama himself now establishes.
SPQR (26be8b) — 4/24/2010 @ 5:02 pm?
The Turkey that is now overthrew the Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire that committed the Armenian genocide. We should leave it alone. We have committed a little bit of genocide ourselves — and not just smallpox infected blankets, The Long March, or the killing off of the buffalo herds.
nk (db4a41) — 4/24/2010 @ 8:23 pm> The Turkey that is now overthrew the Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire that committed the Armenian genocide. We should leave it alone. We have committed a little bit of genocide ourselves — and not just smallpox infected blankets, The Long March, or the killing off of the buffalo herds.
I don’t think we should “leave it alone”, but I fully concur that this is not an act of the government which is modern Turkey, which wasn’t formed until the 1920s. Turkey should ack it happened, avow responsibility with those specifications, then offer to help the families of the victims in any reasonable way to get closure. There is no reason we cannot or should not urge modern Turkey to take that approach.
I think part of this ties to the Islamic element of Turkey (one of the most secular Islamic states there is around). Islam is, in every case I’m aware of, a shame culture. This means that admitting what was done “shames” them, and that is “unacceptable”.
The following article by Dr. Sanity, a licensed professional in the field, discusses the concept linking Islam’s culture with the attitudes of the Democrats, and in the process re-visits an earlier discussion on the roles of guilt and shame in cultural workings:
The Democratic Party As A Shame Culture
IgotBupkis (79d71d) — 4/25/2010 @ 12:10 am