How many times can Secretary of State Hillary Clinton break her pledge and make insulting remarks on the Armenian Genocide before she is called a liar and forced to resign?
Armenian Americans are fed up with Clinton and her boss Barack Obama, who also has not kept his promises on the Armenian Genocide. And the problem transcends their views on the Armenian Genocide. The Obama Administration has failed the community on many issues by cutting foreign aid to Armenia, not backing Artsakh’s right to self-determination, and pressuring Armenia to sign a treaty with Turkey that runs counter to its national interests.
In this column, we shall focus on Clinton, and address our displeasure with Obama’s policies later, in the context of the upcoming presidential elections.
As a U.S. Senator, Clinton co-sponsored a resolution calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In 2006 and 2008, joining then-Senator Obama, she sent letters to President George W. Bush in which she described the Armenian Genocide as a “systematic and deliberate campaign of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in 1915. … The victims of the genocide deserve our remembrance and their rightful place in history.”
On Jan. 24, 2008, as a presidential candidate, Clinton declared in a written statement that the “horrible events perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians constituted a clear case of genocide. … Our common morality and our nation’s credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress and the president of the United States.”
After becoming Secretary of State, Clinton must have suffered a bout of total amnesia. During a Jan. 26, 2012 Town Hall meeting at the State Department, she reversed her earlier characterization of a “clear case of genocide” to “a matter of historical debate.” As the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide remain unchanged, what must have changed is Clinton’s moral fortitude to tell the truth!
Clinton’s distorted moral compass outraged the Armenian American community. The Armenian Assembly of America sent a letter to Obama complaining about Clinton’s “untenable” statement, and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) asked Clinton to retract her deeply offensive position that parrots Turkey’s revisionist view of the Armenian Genocide.
On Feb. 28, over 60 House members from both parties sent a joint letter to Clinton expressing their “deeply held concerns” regarding her Jan. 26 statement “mischaracterizing the Armenian Genocide.” They urged Clinton to disavow her “ill-considered statement” and reaffirm her previous commitment to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
On Feb. 29, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) confronted the secretary of state during her testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee. Recalling her earlier truthful statements on the genocide, the Congressman bluntly asked: “Is there any question that you have that the facts of that tragic period between 1915 and 1923 constitute genocide? Do you have any different view on the subject now than you did as a U.S. Senator?”
When Secretary Clinton responded with evasive and euphemistic answers, Schiff chided her: “This is, tragically, very much the line of the Turkish government!”
In her March 1 response to the letters from the Armenian Assembly and ANCA, Clinton once again used euphemisms to avoid the term Armenian Genocide, and urged “Armenia and Turkey to work together to address their shared history.” This was as morally repugnant as avoiding the term Holocaust and urging Jews to work out their differences with neo-Nazis.
Clinton’s March 1 letter also described her 2010 visit to “the memorial at Tsitsernakaberd” in Armenia “as a sign of respect for those who lost their lives during this tragedy.” There are two misrepresentations in this single sentence: She refers to the genocide as “tragedy,” and avoids calling the “Armenian Genocide Monument” by its proper name. Furthermore, she did not invite the international media to cover her “low-profile” visit to the Armenian Genocide Monument, so as not to upset the “delicate feelings” of Turkish denialists. To completely downplay the significance of the visit, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan issued an imprudent press release, describing her brief stop at the “memorial” as “a private,” unofficial visit.
If Secretary Clinton had made similarly offensive comments on the Holocaust, she would have been dismissed from her job on the same day. Armenian Americans should demand no less. Fortunately, Clinton has announced that she will be retiring at the end of this year. We say, goodbye and good riddance!
Harut Sassounian
You can lump her with Cohen, Albright and Rice. Its abundantly clear that the US State Department is our worst enemy. Doesn’t seem to matter which party they came from..and I also believe there is more to this then meets the eye..Turkey has over 40 nuclear war heads.. ask yourselves why the US would just give nuclear missiles to a 99% Muslim country? Since when?
Last, all Armenians need to remember Clinton’s words and actions should she decide to run for the presidency in 2016…
Turkey has over 40 nuclear war heads.. ask yourselves why the US would just give nuclear missiles to a 99% Muslim country? Since when?
Since Turkey is member of NATO. Case closed.
There are nuclear warheads in Turkey (presumably at Incirlik Airbase).
However, they belong to US and are under 100% US control.
POTUS has the launch codes.
I doubt very much US would allow any country, NATO members included, to have the ability to take US nuclear warheads and use them.
As to the number of warheads: nobody in public can possibly know.
The number and exact location are one of the most closely guarded secrets for any nuclear power. Very, very limited number of even US military know.
John, can you provide any more information on the US giving Turkey nuclear weapons? What a mistake, and Turkey is overthrowing the Ataturk secular reforms and reverting into another Islamist sharia state! If you are right I want to find out who authorized it.
Avery: correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve read that with NATO authorization (which will almost certainly never happen) Turkey can use some of those nuclear weapons.
RVDV:
I also read in Hurriyet something similar. But it makes no logical sense to me.
Why would US need Turkish AF jets and personnel to deliver US nuclear warheads ? US has more than enough hardware and specially vetted personnel.
(I think the stories are either planted by US and/or Turkish military, or wishful thinking articles by editors – to puff up Turkish public)
The only target from Turkey for nuclear strike would be Russia. I don’t see how US would risk being annihilated by using some entity not controlled by it 100%.
You can be sure that whoever replaces her will be more of the same. How can it be that the great and powerful US is in the Turks pocket? One of the reasons is the many ex-US government VIPs (both Left and Right) that are taking money to lobby for Turkish interests or betray their promises to Armenians.
Cliton is not and will not get a vote from me.. That is for sure..
Nor Obama… nor anyone who lies to get their foot in the White House… Enough is enough..
You think Romney or Santorum will be any different? It seems like all they care about is Iran.
Obama and Hilary they are not trustwordy people.NO VOTES FOR THEM.!!!
To John,
If Turkey has 40 nuclear war heads ,as a muslim country*like Pakistan*,latter ,has its own problems/disputes w/India though…
Then , we should keep quiet…is that what you are trying to convey…and not demand Justice and Recognition of Genocide.Just kiss and make up *Protocols come to mind* eh…
No, you err, our struggle is for Justice and it will not go away just by threats or nuke talk…why not count the missiles w/nuclear heads in ex-soviet union,that as yet has not made any such attempts or braggings….
As to diplomacy of today IT IS BASED ONLY ON THE ENERGY*READ OIL* FACTOR,WHICH in extension commands the inviolability of status squo of borders etc.,
I didn’t know that Clinton and Obama can dance alaturka.
It is not that the US government is in the pockets of Turkey. Turkey is not so powerful. The main reason is there will be consequences for the US government itself. USA is maybe the most genocidal state in human history. Christians in America exterminated all Native peoples in that huge continent. Less than one percent of US population is Native Americans today. Those few remaining were also forcefully converted to Christianity in boarding schools, Indian kids were kidnapped from their families. A few reservations in the deserts were never a real compensation and they don’t want do more.
OK, I can up the ante: how about the 80 millions of Hindus slaughtered by the Muslim armies that invaded India? The estimates are that in fourteen centuries Muslim armies and jihads have slaughtered 250 millions of peoples worldwide. Islams death toll dwarfs the work of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Tamerlane, combined.
To all cynics like me, I once heard this truism from a political pundit: ‘To be a successful presidential candidate, you must hone the ability to lie convincingly, but this same quality doesn’t make a very good public servant.’
Ain’t that the truth.
I wish I knew the ‘behind the curtain’ forces that convince presidents and others to sacrifice an obvious just cause, twist historical facts and prostitute themselves for human rights violators. Nato-schmato. Who’s pulling the strings and why?
I am proud to be a Canadian Armenian , thank you Prime Minister of Canada Mr . Harper for recognizing the Genocide , every time I visit the Genocide memorial site in Yerevan and see the Candian flag flying among the flags of the nations that recognized the Genocide , makes me glad to have ended up in Canada
You are fortunate Vrejouhy jan..
We are not that lucky to have a country who stands for human rights (even though they preach that) and let her flag fly kissing the wind on the Memorial site in Yerevan.. US is embarassing and should be ashamed of itself… I am a US citizen but I am embarassed cause we have gutless govt who prostitute itself to Turkey’s desires.. it is embarassing…
Sadly,the USA is a prostitute state,whoever bids the most gets it.
Don’t ever think the USA is a defender of human rights,democracy,or justice.
She has become the problem for the world from wall street to foreign policy.