The four main sponsors of the so-called Armenian genocide bill pending in the US House of Representatives have asked that Nancy Pelosi pull the bill off the agenda- for now.
Four key sponsors of the bill, censuring the Ottoman Empire for the World War I killings, asked House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi not to hold a debate on the issue.
Despite signs that support for the measure had waned in recent days, its main sponsors, Democrats Adam Schiff, Brad Sherman, Anna Eshoo and Frank Pallone, said it still had significant backing in Congress.
"We believe that a large majority of our colleagues want to support a resolution recognizing the genocide on the House floor, and they will do so, provided the timing is more favorable," they said in a letter to Pelosi.
President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had repeatedly called on the House Democratic leadership to pull the bill, fearing lasting damage with Turkey, a key US military and diplomatic ally.
But Pelosi had resisted pressure to pull the bill from the chamber, and had said she was determined it would go to a vote, buoying Armenian exiles who have pressed for years for the measure.
Democrats argued that by refusing to condemn the Armenian massacres as "genocide" the United States will encourage impunity for current and future crimes against humanity, for example the killings of civilians in Darfur.
Republican House minority leader John Boehner welcomed the move to pull the bill, but said the whole episode reflected badly on the Democratic leadership and "calls their judgment into question."
"Let's be clear: the suffering the Armenian people endured was tragic, there is no doubt about that," he said in a statement.
"But this 90-year-old issue should be settled by historians, not by politicians."
Obviously, I have been against this bill since I heard about it. It is nothing but useless finger-pointing and holier-than-thou tut-tutting. It accomplishes nothing and deters nothing. Instead of trying to point a moralizing finger at an ally, how about working to do something constructive. How about a bill encouraging improvement in Armenian-Turkish relations? Here's a thought: how about offering a relatively small amount of seed money for a cultural exchange program? How about a look forward instead of dwelling on the past.
Oh, hell. This is Congress. Something like that would take work and actual thought rather than mindless pandering. Too hard I guess.
What on Earth are these nitwits doing? It’s just crazy. I don’t think we have any of the appropraitions bills passed yet, either.
Boehner managed to sum up my feelings about this bill quite handily, “But this 90-year-old issue should be settled by historians, not by politicians.” Once again the liberals are spending all of their time dwelling on past wrongs instead of working for the future. My personal theory is that the reason for this is they have no good ideas for the future so they rely on complaining about the past as a platform. The problem is that it makes them shrill and they become ridiculous. Worse, it seems like every cause they choose to jump on the bandwagon for is a cause that will bring about significant harm to the security and well-being of the American people.
This one is a case in point. The liberals Dems are spending their efforts condemning an action that was taken almost 100 years ago by a government that hasn’t existed in almost that long. While they’re at it, why don’t they pass resolutions condemning the governement of ancient Rome in the first couple of centuries AD for genocide against the Christians, the ancient Egyptians for genocide against the Hyksos (they did such a good job no one knows what happened to the Hyksos if any survived), and the Mongols under Ghengis and Kublai Kahn for genocide against everybody? This is history people! Human beings did bad things to other human beings throughout human history. But the people that did this particular bad thing are dead and gone along with the government they ran. Let the historians decide.
However, by taking up this particular drum and gleefully beating the heck out of it, the liberals can do significant and long term harm to the relationship between the American people and one of our most significant allies in the Middle East and our only real secular government partner whose people are Islamic. Turkey is a nation who has allowed us the use of their military bases for decades, not just for the current war. They have backed us many times politically and militarily. So what do the liberals do? They find a cause that will alienate the Turkish people and cause the Turkish government to back away from supporting us if not actively oppose us possibly for decades to come. Good work Pelosi and Co.!