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Why I Refuse to Vote?

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  • Why I Refuse to Vote?

    Assyria Times, CA

    Why I Refuse to Vote?

    10/10/2008 11:24:00

    By Theodoros Karakostas

    Every time there is an election, there is the usual well intended
    public campaign to encourage voting. I am perhaps being cynical but I
    do not wish to participate in a process that for all intents and
    purposes is devoid of legitimacy. The fundamental topic of this
    commentary pertains to foreign policy and the defector media blackout
    of certain issues, but the farce that constitutes present day politics
    deserves at least a slight mention as can be seen by the
    intellectually bankrupt displays that were showcased at both the
    Democratic and Republican National Conventions this past summer. Both
    of them constituted nothing more than entertainment value.

    There is a documentary film entitled, "Days Made of Fear" which
    features footage shot in Kosovo between 1999 and 2004. The difference
    between this film and what American television media outlets
    traditionally aired is that this features footage of the Serbian
    community. This film is evidence of the ethnic cleansing process of
    Serbs that has taken place under the auspices of NATO, the European
    Union, and the United Nations. Hundreds of Serbian Orthodox Churches
    and Monasteries were destroyed by Albanian Muslims during this period
    without any intervention on the part of the Western powers. Even
    worse, this footage has never been aired on American television
    because apparently it contradicts official anti-Serb hysteria that
    fueled the 1999 war on Belgrade.

    Earlier this year, the Bush administration emulated the Balkan
    policies of the Clinton administration and supported "independence"
    for Kosovo. American and European diplomats paid lip service to the
    rights of the Serbs in Kosovo, but no one addressed the horrific
    mistreatment of Serbs in Kosovo, nor have the westerners taken
    measures to impose sanctions on the Kosovo leadership in response to
    the mistreatment of Serbs and the destruction of Churches and
    Monasteries that have enormous spiritual and historic value.

    In addition, the Bush administration opposed passage of a
    Congressional Resolution that would have recognized the Armenian
    Genocide. During the period of 1914-1923, the Islamic leadership of
    the Ottoman Empire and its successor under the murderous figure of
    Mustafa Kemal slaughtered at least three million Armenian, Assyrian,
    and Greek Orthodox Christians. Turkish policies of ethnic cleansing
    have continued through the infamous anti-Greek pogroms of 1955, the
    Turkish invasions of Cyprus, and the present war by the Turkish
    paramilitary State against the Ecumenical Patriachate. Between 1993
    and 2007, there have been at least six attempts to murder the
    Ecumenical Patriarch, but if one watched American television, one
    would not have noticed a thing.

    Events in Turkey, as with Kosovo and Serbia serve to demonstrate that
    censorship is a fact! The glorification of the late Turkish dictator
    Mustafa Kemal by numerous American think tanks and other interests
    doing the sinister bidding of the Turkish Islamo-military ruling
    coalition demonstrates for me the utter futility of participating in
    an election where the winner will inevitably be influenced by the
    notorious and well financed Turkish lobby into manipulating both
    history and supporting policies of ethnic cleansing against the Greeks
    of Cyprus. The degree to which American policy is manipulated can be
    seen by the fact that the official foreign policy establishment
    successfully persuaded both the Clinton and Bush administrations into
    betraying Greece by recognizing the government of Skopje under the
    name of "Macedonia".

    An enormous tragedy is playing out for the Christians of Iraq. During
    this past summer, the Archbishop of the Chaldean Catholics was
    murdered for refusing to pay extortion money to Islamic
    extremists. The Christians were at least secure under the former
    dictatorship that the Bush administration and its neo conservatives
    overthrew. The administration that waged war on Iraq never took into
    consideration what would happen to the Christians who have been
    fleeing to Syria, another potential target for the neo
    conservatives. Damascus is the home of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
    of Antioch and there are at least one million Christians in Syria who
    will be secure, unless the next administration decides to implement
    "regime change" there.

    What has happened to the "war on terror"? The only discernible war to
    be noticed is the war on the Christian East which has been under way
    for decades. The West permitted Muslim Turkey to take Constantinople
    and Asia Minor in 1922, the Turkish invasions of Cyprus, and gave
    Kosovo, Serbia's Jerusalem to the Muslims. In Kosovo, Saudi Arabia is
    funding the construction of Mosques while Orthodox Churches and
    Monasteries burn. In the occupied territories of Cyprus, over five
    hundred and fifty Churches and Monasteries have been converted into
    Mosques, or are being used as stables where settlers from Turkey are
    housing their farm animals.

    In light of the appalling turmoil and tragedy that continues to engulf
    the Christian East, and in light of the fact that no matter which
    party comes to power, the think tanks will continue to press the next
    administration to continue with policies that have been to the
    detriment of Hellenism and Orthodoxy, I refuse to participate in the
    "voting" process since I believe that such participation would
    legitimize the undemocratic think tanks that continue to shape
    policies toward the Balkans, Turkey, Russia, and the Middle East.

    In conclusion, I lament and mourn the Churches and Monasteries of
    Kosovo and Cyprus, and their missing faithful. Very soon, there may be
    no more Greek Orthodox Christians in Turkey. Democratic Presidential
    Candidate Barack Obama has been accused of being a Muslim. The fact
    remains that no matter who becomes President, foreign policy could not
    possibly be any more pro-Islamic to the detriment of the Christian
    East than it already is. May the persecution of the forgotten
    Christians of the East come to an end.
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