When you got friends like Bush, who listens? Regarding all the hoopla about the Armenian 'Genocide' resolution which is designed to resolve and 'heal' those whose resolve is losing patience. The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the measure 27-21, even though President Bush and key figures lobbied against it.
Will it now make it to the House floor? A similar resolution passed the committee by a 40-7 vote two years ago, but it never reached the full House floor.
House Republican leader John Boehner, noting the critical military and strategic alliance with Turkey, said bringing the resolution to the floor would be "totally irresponsible."
However, Democratic leaders say there will be a vote by mid-November in the full House. There is a companion bill in the Senate, but both measures are strictly symbolic, and do not require the President's signature.
And the co-sponsor of the resolution, Congresswoman Jane Harman, Democrat from Los Angeles, California, last week wrote to the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Lantos, Democrat from San Mateo, California, urging him not to bring the 'non-binding' resolution to a vote and declaring that she will vote against it if it reaches the floor of the House of Representatives.
What puzzles me is that some people who are not really aware of the intricacies of the situation are commenting, by exercising their freedoms to speak, that Turkey is threatening to send troops into American occupied territory in Iraq as possible reaction. Not true! Turkey is trying to aid in the war on terror that the current incompetent Iraqi government is incapable of dealing with. And Turkey's (possible) decision has nothing to do with the resolution but everything to do with impatience when it comes to mediocrity in dealing with terrorists.
By the way, Condi Rice said, "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." Notice the operative word used "at this time" suggesting that until the U.S. interests are no longer dependent on Turkey, this should be tabled until such time as appropriate.
I don't think the problem is not whether what happened 90 plus years ago were 'mass killings' or 'Genocide.' It's a question of why now? What purpose does this 'resolution' play in today's agenda? Will this resolution really end up in a resolution of healing?
