Turkey threatens the U.S.

Published: Saturday October 13, 2007

“We couldn’t get Chirac to dance.”. Edik Balaian

Opponents of the Armenian Genocide resolution portray the choice of whether to support the resolution as a stark one: remember horrific events of the past, or protect the lives of young Americans today?

This is a false choice, and a cynical ploy to set up members of Congress and Armenian-Americans as scapegoats for actions Turkey intends to take.

We must work overtime to expose it as such.

As Mr. Rohrabacher pointed out, Turkey refused to cooperate with the United States back in 2003, when the United States was setting out to invade Iraq.

Since then, Turkey has been trying to enter northern Iraq, but has been limiting itself to brief incursions and shelling because of U.S. pressure. It is now threatening to ignore the United States and invade in force, once again putting American lives at risk.

The Bush administration has made a mistake in giving Turkey cover for its lack of cooperation with the United States. Mr. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should have told their Turkish counterparts in no uncertain terms that threats and blackmail are unacceptable.

In its weakness, its willingness to kowtow to Turkey, the Bush administration has emboldened Turkey to undermine U.S. interests when it suits its purposes. Already - before the passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution - Turkey has been taking liberties in Iraqi Kurdistan, negotiating a railroad and a natural gas pipeline with Iran, and continuing to block the Turkish-Armenian border against U.S. advice.

The Armenian Genocide resolution is meant to send a different message to the world: a message of accountability. This is a message the Bush administration should reinforce, not undermine.