Even the Boston Globe thinks the "Armenian genocide" bill now before the House of Representatives is a really bad idea. They say so in an editorial today.
THE HISTORICAL evidence shows that the 1915-1917 massacres of Armenians in eastern Turkey constituted what the world now knows as genocide, and Turkey ought to acknowledge this reality. But a resolution before Congress has provoked an upsurge of nationalism that threatens US interests and would do nothing to lift Turkey's willful amnesia. It should not be pursued at this time.
The editorial also points out what a lot of people have been saying – there may well be real damage done by this gesture. They hint that the proper thing to do right now is to engage in constructive activity – the same ideas espoused by Jane Harmon in the LA Times yesterday. Instead of finger-pointing, why not encourage Turkey to remove the law against insulting Turkishness or to normalize relations with Armenia? What this resolution does is to play into the hands of the worst sentiments in Turkey:
The House resolution, by inciting the worst aspects of Turkish nationalism and creating government-to-government friction, would delay a reckoning with history.
Empty gestures are easy. Really solving problems takes work. Sadly, the bill before the House is taking the easy route.
Not so. This is a deliberate attempt by President Pelosi to usurp foreign policy. They intend to piss off the Turks so that they sever military assistance. which would be a huge blow to the Iraq war effort.
I am a little surprised that there are some on the right that support the resolution as well.