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WHEN TELLING THE TRUTH IS A FIRING OFFENSE (AND SUPPORTING GENOCIDE DENIAL GETS YOU PROMOTED)
By: Aram Hamparian
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/05/25/when-telling-the-truth-is-a-firing-offense-and-supporting-genocide-denial-gets-you-promoted/
Wed, May 25 2011
So, what exactly are the rules governing the U.S. government's gag
rule prohibiting mention of the Armenian Genocide?
What precisely are the details and dictates of our own American
version of Turkey's Article 301?
Would a public reading by human rights advocate Samantha Power,
who now works for the National Security Council, of her Pulitzer
Prize-winning book, A Problem from Hell, be a firing offense?
President Obama, as a Senator, called President Bush's refusal to
recognize the Armenian Genocide "inexcusable," and sharply criticized
Secretary of State Rice for recalling Ambassador John Evans from
Yerevan for speaking honestly about this genocidal atrocity. Yet
President Obama today presides over a government that, by all accounts,
would fire any of its diplomats who told the truth about this crime,
by for example reading aloud the President's own campaign statements
promising to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Consider the rich and profoundly painful irony: President Obama
came into office on a bold pledge of truth-telling, but once in
the White House-having pocketed the votes of the Armenian American
community in a series of tightly contested primary races-turned his
back on his promise, effectively threatening to fire any diplomat or
other government employee who actually lived up to his own campaign
commitment.
Adding to the dramatic disconnect between this and past
Administrations' words and actions on the Armenian Genocide is the
new revelation (via Wikileaks) that, despite all the hollow rhetoric
about U.S. leaders pressing Turkey to genuinely accept the truth
of its own history, behind closed doors, State Department officials
are secretly sharing ideas with the Turkish government about how to
most effectively prevent the elected representatives of the American
people from speaking openly and honestly about this human rights
issue. A recently released cable reveals that Matt Bryza-who was then
the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and has since been given a
recess appointment as Ambassador to Azerbaijan-met with senior Turkish
government official in March of 2004 and discussed the defeat of the
Armenian Genocide Resolution. Click here for the link to a story on
this morally shocking, but-sadly-not very surprising revelation:
Which brings us back to the question: What exactly are the rules?
Who can get fired for mentioning the Armenian Genocide? An Ambassador,
a lower level State Department employee, a top White House political
or policy aide, or a simple entry-level administrative clerk? What
about a contract employee?
What about an Armenian national who works for the U.S. Embassy
in Yerevan? Would he or she be obliged to refrain from a truthful
accounting of their own history?
Would a public reading by human rights advocate Samantha Power,
who now works for the National Security Council, of her Pulitzer
Prize-winning book, A Problem from Hell, be a firing offense?
Would it be cause for termination for an Administration official to
acknowledge that the Armenian Genocide is a fact, during a private
meeting with Armenian Americans (as dozens have done in meetings
I've attended)?
What about officials writing honestly about the Armenian Genocide
in internal government memos and cables? What happens if Wikileaks
makes them public?
Would a Facebook or Twitter post of the term "Armenian Genocide"
get an Administration official fired? What if it's on their own
time? What if they don't work for the Department of State, but the
Department of Agriculture?
The questions go on and on, getting more and more ridiculous, all
pointing to the inevitable conclusion that-for our self-respect as
Americans, as much as for anybody else-we must, at long last, reject
Turkey's shameful veto on U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
By: Aram Hamparian
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/05/25/when-telling-the-truth-is-a-firing-offense-and-supporting-genocide-denial-gets-you-promoted/
Wed, May 25 2011
So, what exactly are the rules governing the U.S. government's gag
rule prohibiting mention of the Armenian Genocide?
What precisely are the details and dictates of our own American
version of Turkey's Article 301?
Would a public reading by human rights advocate Samantha Power,
who now works for the National Security Council, of her Pulitzer
Prize-winning book, A Problem from Hell, be a firing offense?
President Obama, as a Senator, called President Bush's refusal to
recognize the Armenian Genocide "inexcusable," and sharply criticized
Secretary of State Rice for recalling Ambassador John Evans from
Yerevan for speaking honestly about this genocidal atrocity. Yet
President Obama today presides over a government that, by all accounts,
would fire any of its diplomats who told the truth about this crime,
by for example reading aloud the President's own campaign statements
promising to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Consider the rich and profoundly painful irony: President Obama
came into office on a bold pledge of truth-telling, but once in
the White House-having pocketed the votes of the Armenian American
community in a series of tightly contested primary races-turned his
back on his promise, effectively threatening to fire any diplomat or
other government employee who actually lived up to his own campaign
commitment.
Adding to the dramatic disconnect between this and past
Administrations' words and actions on the Armenian Genocide is the
new revelation (via Wikileaks) that, despite all the hollow rhetoric
about U.S. leaders pressing Turkey to genuinely accept the truth
of its own history, behind closed doors, State Department officials
are secretly sharing ideas with the Turkish government about how to
most effectively prevent the elected representatives of the American
people from speaking openly and honestly about this human rights
issue. A recently released cable reveals that Matt Bryza-who was then
the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and has since been given a
recess appointment as Ambassador to Azerbaijan-met with senior Turkish
government official in March of 2004 and discussed the defeat of the
Armenian Genocide Resolution. Click here for the link to a story on
this morally shocking, but-sadly-not very surprising revelation:
Which brings us back to the question: What exactly are the rules?
Who can get fired for mentioning the Armenian Genocide? An Ambassador,
a lower level State Department employee, a top White House political
or policy aide, or a simple entry-level administrative clerk? What
about a contract employee?
What about an Armenian national who works for the U.S. Embassy
in Yerevan? Would he or she be obliged to refrain from a truthful
accounting of their own history?
Would a public reading by human rights advocate Samantha Power,
who now works for the National Security Council, of her Pulitzer
Prize-winning book, A Problem from Hell, be a firing offense?
Would it be cause for termination for an Administration official to
acknowledge that the Armenian Genocide is a fact, during a private
meeting with Armenian Americans (as dozens have done in meetings
I've attended)?
What about officials writing honestly about the Armenian Genocide
in internal government memos and cables? What happens if Wikileaks
makes them public?
Would a Facebook or Twitter post of the term "Armenian Genocide"
get an Administration official fired? What if it's on their own
time? What if they don't work for the Department of State, but the
Department of Agriculture?
The questions go on and on, getting more and more ridiculous, all
pointing to the inevitable conclusion that-for our self-respect as
Americans, as much as for anybody else-we must, at long last, reject
Turkey's shameful veto on U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide.