Washington briefing: Barack Obama

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Saturday January 03, 2009

Barack Obama.

The meteoric rise of the junior senator from Illinois, elected just four years earlier, to President-elect of the United States became the biggest news event of 2008.

Barack Obama ran on a platform of changing the United States and moving away from policies of the George W. Bush administration. Mr. Obama promised to end the war in Iraq, work to restore U.S. image abroad, and keep America prosperous amid the global economic downturn.

Mr. Obama also promised to properly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and step up U.S. support for Armenia, including Karabakh's right to self-determination.

By all available accounts, Armenian-American campaigning and votes went overwhelmingly for Mr. Obama and against his Republican opponent.

The Bush Administration's record on these issues has been a checkered one.

On the Genocide, while President Bush issued annual April 24 messages commemorating Armenian losses, in deference to Turkey he refused to use the term genocide. In 2007 Mr. Bush actively lobbied against a congressional resolution on the matter. His predecessor President Bill Clinton did something similar, albeit less publicly, in 2000.

Another policy that began under the Clinton administration and largely continued under Mr. Bush was the U.S. approach to resolving the Karabakh conflict in a way that affirmed facts on the ground: Karabakh's effective reunification with Armenia.

At the same time, the United States pumped billions of dollars into purchases of oil from Azerbaijani and offered only occasional words of caution to Azerbaijani leaders regarding their preparations for and relentless threats of new war against Armenia.

And on aid to Armenia, the Bush administration continued to cut the overall dollar figures. And while Armenia was found eligible for the Millennium Challenge Assistance program, and a compact was signed, only a fraction of the allocated funds was approved for release by yearend on the pretext of irregularities in Armenia's political process.

Unlike the governments of neighboring Georgia and Turkey, the Armenian government has not yet publicly reached out to President-elect Obama to raise any of these issues.

But judging by Mr. Obama's picks for national security positions and initial foreign policy gestures in recent weeks, there is little indication of a radical departure from many of the Bush administration's policies.

This week, Israel's air campaign in Gaza won condemnation of most of the world, with Turkish leaders in particular condemning Israel for "crimes against humanity."

The European Union called the attacks that killed more than 300 Gazans "unacceptable" and cause for "grave concern."

In the United States, President Bush put the blame squarely on the Islamist political party that forms Gaza's government and supported Israel's right to "defend itself." One Israeli so far has died in the campaign.

Congressional Democrats took similar positions. And president-elect Obama has so far refused to take a position, deferring to the president still in office.