"_ Prof. Jonez _" <theprof@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
news:5ohl1iFmu2otU1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> guess the Jews were just disgruntled
>
> "It's all a bit strange" <strangethingshappen@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
> message
>> "¥ UltraMan ¥" <ultra@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
>
>>> October 26, 2007
>>> U.S. and Turkey Thwart Armenian Genocide Bill
>>> By CARL HULSE
>>> WA****NGTON, Oct. 25 - With backing from more than half of the House
>>> this summer, proponents of a resolution condemning the Armenian
>>> genocide were confident that they would finally prevail in their
>>> quest for Congressional recognition.
>>>
>>> Adding to their optimism, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a longtime backer
>>> of the resolution, which had been pushed mainly by her fellow
>>> Californians, and was committed to bringing it to a House vote.
>>>
>>> But sup****ters of the measure were not prepared for the vehement
>>> opposition of two powerful governments - Turkey, the successor state
>>> to the Ottoman Empire, which historians say conducted the genocide,
>>> and the United States, which needs Turkey's help in Iraq. Their
>>> combined resistance caused the resolution to falter, embarrassing
>>> the speaker on a high-profile foreign policy front.
>>>
>>> On Thursday, sup****ters surrendered, at least for now, telling Ms.
>>> Pelosi they were willing to wait until next year. "We believe that a
>>> large majority of our colleagues want to sup****t a resolution
>>> recognizing the genocide on the House floor and that they will do
>>> so, provided the timing is more favorable," the four chief sponsors
>>> said in a letter to Ms. Pelosi.
>>>
>>> The faltering of the push to denounce the genocide illustrates what
>>> can happen when domestic politics collide with international affairs
>>> and how treacherous that can be for Congressional leaders like Ms.
>>> Pelosi, who came under criticism this year for a trip to Syria. It
>>> also turned a near triumph into a disappointment for those who
>>> believe Congress has a responsibility to send a message on past
>>> inhumanities to prevent future ones.
>>>
>>> "We certainly thought it would be a very tough fight, but it was a
>>> much more lopsided one than we expected," said Representative Adam
>>> B. Schiff, a California Democrat and a main sponsor of the bill.
>>> Once Democrats gained control of Congress in January, sup****ters of
>>> the measure mobilized, seeing a way clear to the final vote that had
>>> eluded them because of opposition first from the Clinton
>>> administration and then from the Bush White House.
>>>
>>> Ms. Pelosi as well as Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the
>>> new majority leader, were dedicated proponents of the resolution
>>> that would put the House on record as defining the deaths of an
>>> estimated 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 as genocide. The crisis in
>>> Darfur, in Sudan, had raised public consciousness about genocide as
>>> well.
>>>
>>> "This issue had a constituency, and there was a lot of momentum due
>>> to the switch in leader****p and Darfur," said Aram Hamparian,
>>> executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America.
>>>
>>> It did not hurt that Armenians are an influential bloc in
>>> California, Ms. Pelosi's home, and that the resolution was a top
>>> priority of California House members of both parties, including Mr.
>>> Schiff and two other Democrats, Brad Sherman and Anna G. Eshoo. Ms.
>>> Eshoo is a lawmaker of Armenian heritage who is a close friend of
>>> Ms. Pelosi's.
>>>
>>> Mr. Sherman said the speaker's decision to pledge a vote by the full
>>> House was not about personal relation****ps but about principle. "You
>>> don't have to have a special relation****p with this speaker to get
>>> her to be in favor of recognizing genocide," he said.
>>>
>>> While the backers of the resolution pressed ahead, the Turkish
>>> government also went to work, hiring a lobbying team to raise
>>> concerns about the potential backlash in Turkey if the resolution
>>> was approved, particularly when Turkey is a staging ground for the
>>> Iraq war.
>>>
>>> The Turkish government has resisted the characterization of a
>>> genocide, seeing the deaths as among the many tragic losses in a
>>> time of brutal conflict. But most of the lobbying against the
>>> resolution centered on the need not to antagonize Turkey at a time
>>> when it was of crucial strategic value.
>>>
>>> Among those carrying that message was Representative John P. Murtha,
>>> a Pennsylvania Democrat and a close ally of Ms. Pelosi's, who began
>>> warning her in February against the bill.
>>>
>>> "I explained what the ramifications were from a military standpoint,
>>> but she said she felt compelled to do it," said Mr. Murtha, who
>>> welcomed Thursday's decision. By midsummer, the advocates had 225
>>> sponsors, more than the minimum of 218 needed to assure passage. But
>>> they refrained from pu****ng for a vote because Turkey was having its
>>> own national elections. Instead, they aimed for the fall.
>>>
>>> Encouraged to consider the bill, the Foreign Affairs Committee
>>> approved it on Oct. 10, but by a relatively narrow 27-to-21 vote,
>>> because lawmakers were well aware that the measure could reach the
>>> floor this year.
>>>
>>> Mr. Bush and the Turkish government intensified their opposition and
>>> within days, co-sponsors of both parties began abandoning the
>>> resolution.
>>>
>>> Ms. Pelosi said it was the responsibility of its backers to secure
>>> the needed votes. "This is the legislative process," she told
>>> re****ters last week when asked about the furor. Its backers began
>>> re*****sing their strategy and one result was the letter to the
>>> speaker on Thursday.
>>>
>>> Even some of Ms. Pelosi's allies said the bill's withdrawal, while
>>> an embarrassment, may well have averted a larger problem for her had
>>> the proposal been approved, setting off problems with Turkey.
>>> Advocates of the bill predicted that Congress would eventually
>>> regret backing off in the face of a threatened backlash from an
>>> ally. "This sets a terrible example," Mr. Hamparian said.
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