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Wall Street Journal , NY
Sept 19 2010
Barbara Boxer (D., Armenia)
The Democrat trashes an Obama nominee.
Spare a thought for Matthew Bryza, a Presidential appointee who is a
victim of election-year politics and parochial ethnic lobbies on
Capitol Hill.
Mr. Bryza is a highly accomplished career diplomat who has spent two
decades working on the Caucasus and Central Asia. In May, President
Obama nominated Mr. Bryza, a deputy assistant Secretary of State for
European and Eurasian affairs in the Bush years, to be U.S. ambassador
to Azerbaijan. He carries no partisan baggage, and you'd think he'd be
waved through the Senate. Yet his confirmation is in jeopardy thanks
to California Senator Barbara Boxer's re-election woes.
The most vocal opposition to Mr. Bryza comes from the Armenian
National Committee of America, or ANCA. The influential lobby alleges
that Mr. Bryza is biased toward Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenia's
regional nemeses. As proof, they cite his marriage to Turkish-born
Zeyno Baran, a scholar on leave from the Hudson Institute. The ANCA
dredges up a few past comments by Mr. Bryza related to the dispute
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The diplomat
co-chaired the Minsk Group, which is trying to broker peace between
the two sides.
These charges were addressed to the satisfaction of most Senators
during last month's confirmation hearings. If anything, Ms. Baran is a
prominent critic of Turkey's government who has published widely,
including in these pages. Mr. Bryza enjoys good relations with
politicians in Azerbaijan and Armenia, whose government doesn't oppose
his nomination.
That Mr. Bryza is respected by all sides in this turbulent and
difficult region is a testament to his diplomatic skills. But he does
have a long track record - which most people would see as relevant
experience - that the hard line ANCA can use to fight him and, not
incidentally, gain attention for its fund raising.
Lucky for them, the three-term Senator Boxer is in danger of losing
her seat to Republican challenger Carly Fiorina. The Golden State is
home to a large Armenian community, a potential swing bloc this
November, and Ms. Boxer is pandering for their votes. Along with New
Jersey's Senator Robert Menendez, who runs the Democratic Senatorial
Campaign Committee, she grilled Mr. Bryza in his hearing before the
Foreign Relations Committee. She then asked to "bounce" a committee
vote on him from last month to tomorrow.
The delay hurts his chances. Even if Mr. Bryza gets out of committee,
Ms. Boxer may put a hold on him to stop confirmation by unanimous
consent. It's unlikely the full Senate could schedule a floor vote on
his nomination before the campaign recess. The White House has bigger
problems than to press an endangered Democratic incumbent on an
ambassadorial appointment, and it hasn't.
Meantime, the ambassador's office in Baku has been empty for 14
months. This suits the ANCA just fine. The Armenian lobby would love
to see America's ties to the Turkic world weakened. Each year they
press Congress to adopt a resolution that the 1915 massacre of ethnic
Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans qualifies as a "genocide,"
infuriating Turkey.
These tribal Caucasian obsessions threaten U.S. interests. Oil-rich
and strategically located between Russia and Iran, Azerbaijan has
enjoyed close relations with Washington. Azeri leaders view the
absence of an ambassador as a symptom of recent American neglect, a
view reinforced by Senator Boxer's typically political and
self-serving games.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703743504575493683813895358.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
From: A. Papazian
Sept 19 2010
Barbara Boxer (D., Armenia)
The Democrat trashes an Obama nominee.
Spare a thought for Matthew Bryza, a Presidential appointee who is a
victim of election-year politics and parochial ethnic lobbies on
Capitol Hill.
Mr. Bryza is a highly accomplished career diplomat who has spent two
decades working on the Caucasus and Central Asia. In May, President
Obama nominated Mr. Bryza, a deputy assistant Secretary of State for
European and Eurasian affairs in the Bush years, to be U.S. ambassador
to Azerbaijan. He carries no partisan baggage, and you'd think he'd be
waved through the Senate. Yet his confirmation is in jeopardy thanks
to California Senator Barbara Boxer's re-election woes.
The most vocal opposition to Mr. Bryza comes from the Armenian
National Committee of America, or ANCA. The influential lobby alleges
that Mr. Bryza is biased toward Azerbaijan and Turkey, Armenia's
regional nemeses. As proof, they cite his marriage to Turkish-born
Zeyno Baran, a scholar on leave from the Hudson Institute. The ANCA
dredges up a few past comments by Mr. Bryza related to the dispute
between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. The diplomat
co-chaired the Minsk Group, which is trying to broker peace between
the two sides.
These charges were addressed to the satisfaction of most Senators
during last month's confirmation hearings. If anything, Ms. Baran is a
prominent critic of Turkey's government who has published widely,
including in these pages. Mr. Bryza enjoys good relations with
politicians in Azerbaijan and Armenia, whose government doesn't oppose
his nomination.
That Mr. Bryza is respected by all sides in this turbulent and
difficult region is a testament to his diplomatic skills. But he does
have a long track record - which most people would see as relevant
experience - that the hard line ANCA can use to fight him and, not
incidentally, gain attention for its fund raising.
Lucky for them, the three-term Senator Boxer is in danger of losing
her seat to Republican challenger Carly Fiorina. The Golden State is
home to a large Armenian community, a potential swing bloc this
November, and Ms. Boxer is pandering for their votes. Along with New
Jersey's Senator Robert Menendez, who runs the Democratic Senatorial
Campaign Committee, she grilled Mr. Bryza in his hearing before the
Foreign Relations Committee. She then asked to "bounce" a committee
vote on him from last month to tomorrow.
The delay hurts his chances. Even if Mr. Bryza gets out of committee,
Ms. Boxer may put a hold on him to stop confirmation by unanimous
consent. It's unlikely the full Senate could schedule a floor vote on
his nomination before the campaign recess. The White House has bigger
problems than to press an endangered Democratic incumbent on an
ambassadorial appointment, and it hasn't.
Meantime, the ambassador's office in Baku has been empty for 14
months. This suits the ANCA just fine. The Armenian lobby would love
to see America's ties to the Turkic world weakened. Each year they
press Congress to adopt a resolution that the 1915 massacre of ethnic
Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans qualifies as a "genocide,"
infuriating Turkey.
These tribal Caucasian obsessions threaten U.S. interests. Oil-rich
and strategically located between Russia and Iran, Azerbaijan has
enjoyed close relations with Washington. Azeri leaders view the
absence of an ambassador as a symptom of recent American neglect, a
view reinforced by Senator Boxer's typically political and
self-serving games.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703743504575493683813895358.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
From: A. Papazian