No Question About The Timing

Ralph Peters is positively livid over the Pelosi-backed Armenian genocide bill pending in the US House of Representatives. He strongly supports the Armenian position, roundly dislikes the Turks, but is also not blind to the cynical and perfidious intentions of Nancy Pelosi here. Because this bill is not at all about the Armenians - it is about kneecapping American troops. He doesn't question the timing - or the motive.

Legislation similar to this has come up repeatedly in Congress, yet it's always been defeated - in 2000, because of pressure from the Clinton administration. But if the resolution passes the House and Senate now, the Turks plan to evict us from Incirlik airbase in southeastern Turkey, to halt our military over-flight privileges and to shut down the supply routes into northern Iraq.

That's what the Democrats are aiming at. This resolution isn't about justice for the Armenians. Not this time. It's a stunningly devious attempt to impede our war effort in Iraq and force premature troop withdrawals.

The Dems calculate that, without those flights and convoys, we won't be able to keep our troops adequately supplied. Key intelligence and strike missions would disappear.

The Pentagon might be able to improvise other options. But the loss of the base and those routes would definitely hurt our troops. Severely. And we'd be more reliant than ever on a single, vulnerable lifeline running from Kuwait.

It's a brilliant ploy - the Dems get to stab our troops in the back, but lay the blame off on the Turks. They pretend they're responding to their Armenian-American constituents - while actually moving to placate MoveOn.org.

For the Democrats in Congress, it looks like a cost-free strategy. For our troops? When did the Dems give a damn about our troops? This resolution isn't a stand in favor of historical justice. It's an end-run that ducks behind the bench. It's one of the most cynical betrayals in our legislative history - of our troops, of Armenian-Americans, of the Kurds under threat from the Turkish military and of the people of Iraq.

Others have pointed this out as well. Some right here in the comments section. This bill is badly timed for America's interests. Which certainly appears to be what is driving it.

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  By feeblemind, Monday, 15 October , 2007 @ 1:08 pm

  Spengler over at Asia Times weighs in on the Armenian Genocide resolution and the situation in the Middle East. You won’t agree with it all, but it is an interesting piece and worth a look.

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