Aren't you overlooking something?

Submitted by sara (United States), Oct 26, 2007 at 17:41

While I agree in principle with what you wrote, I am surprised that you have not looked beyond the obvious atrocities that were committed by the Ottoman empire in 1915 against the Armenians. I don't think that anyone disputes that it happened, even the Turks themselves acknowledge that the Ottomans (not the current government) massacred, although they dispute the numbers.

However, the more germane issue here is the timing of this bill being raised in congress, a short month after evidence was heard that the troop surge is working, thus depriving the democrats of sufficient support to move against the war.

Can you not see logistically how U.S. troops in Iraq are relying upon Turkey ? They need refueling, airspace, etc. etc. They need cooperation and relations with Turkey to mediate the PKK/Kurdish hostilities. So why now, would the democrats suddenly start screaming about genocide of a 90 year old tragedy? Why not work on something that actually does not just pay lip service, like the ongoing genocide in Darfur for example? Burma perhaps?

This is a brazen, inexplicable attempt by democrats to literally undermine the war in Iraq and alienate the Turkish government to deprive our troops of crucial support. They didn't succeed in voting against the war, so they have resorted to such a mind boggling measure to undermine the success of the Iraq war.

I am dismayed that you did not raise this vital point in your post.

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