Weekly Hornet

Issue date: 10/17/07 Section: Opinion

Most people have accepted that politics and politicians are corrupt. But just for kicks, here is another example of continued injustice and lack of morals in our government.

According to an article published in the October 11 edition of The Los Angeles Times,
President George W. Bush, eight Democrats and 13 Republicans oppose a House bill calling for the U.S. to recognize the mass murders of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

From 1915-1917, the Ottoman Empire committed deplorable, horrendous acts against the Armenians, a minority population in the Empire. They were not considered minorities because there were few in the population, but due to their religion.

Aside from various acts such as mass rape, the use of concentration camps, deportation, confiscation of property and murder, it is widely accepted that the Ottoman Empire's goal was to terminate the Armenian race.

In "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Respon-
sibility," Taner Akcam, a historian teaching at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide
Studies at the University of Minnesota, argues that the genocide occurred as a response to the Ottoman's fear of losing their power.

The Empire focused its vengeance on the Armenians whom they considered a threat.
Akcam states that the Ottoman Empire sought a "deliberate extermination" of the Armenians. He cites that the Ottoman Interior Ministry's goal was to keep the Armenian population between five or 10 percent of the Empire's population.

Thankfully, the measure passed in the House, but it must still be passed in the Senate.

It is disturbing that there is opposition to the bill at all. According to the Los Angeles Times article, Bush and those opposing the bill are fearful of losing their ally, Turkey.

If the bill is passed, the U.S. airbase in Turkey may be threatened. "Its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror," said Bush.

It's not just Bush who has opposed a bill like this. Former-President Bill Clinton also aggressively advised against a genocide resolution when he was in office in 2000.
Understandably, the government wants to keep its allies and keep its air bases secure.

But how horrible must our situation in the Middle East be if our government is scared to officially recognize that there was genocide in 1915. Even in 2007 genocide still exists-it's happening in Darfur.

This resolution must be accepted by our government in order to let other countries know that the extermination of races is unacceptable.

It's not as if government officials don't agree that genocide occurred, there is overwhelming evidence proving it, but they will not recognize it. What's worse, losing air bases in Turkey, or ignoring genocide?

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