Tweet
ON ARMENIAN REMEMBRANCE DAY, OBAMA AGAIN AVOIDS 'GENOCIDE'
KGO 810
http://www.kgoam810.com/rssItem.asp?feedid=112&itemid=29836838
April 24 2012
San Francisco
(WASHINGTON) -- On the fourth Armenian Remembrance Day of his
presidency, President Obama has for the fourth time in a row broken
his promise to the Armenian community to use the word "genocide"
in describing what happened at the hands of the Turks roughly a
century ago.
As a senator, and then as a presidential candidate, Obama often
talked about how bold he was to call the slaughter of an estimated
1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire just what
it was: a genocide.
"America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian
Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides," he said. "I intend
to be that president."
In a January 2008 letter to the Armenian Reporter, Obama said he
shared "with Armenian Americans -- so many of whom are descended from
genocide survivors -- a principled commitment to commemorating and
ending genocide. That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances
of genocide in world history."
In 2006, Obama noted, "I criticized the secretary of state [Condoleezza
Rice] for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans,
after he properly used the term 'genocide' to describe Turkey's
slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with
Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide
is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but
rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of
historical evidence."
Obama asserted back then, "The facts are undeniable. An official
policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an
untenable policy."
That was then, and this is now. As previous presidents have concluded,
Obama has decided that distorting the historical facts is better than
alienating ally Turkey, which disputes that term. And that policy
has been, at least in the short term, quite tenable.
The president in his statement on Tuesday said: "I have consistently
stated my own view of what occurred in 1915. My view of that history
has not changed. A full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts
is in all of our interests. Moving forward with the future cannot be
done without reckoning with the facts of the past. ...Some individuals
have already taken this courageous step forward. We applaud those
Armenians and Turks who have taken this path, and we hope that many
more will choose it, with the support of their governments, as well
as mine."
KGO 810
http://www.kgoam810.com/rssItem.asp?feedid=112&itemid=29836838
April 24 2012
San Francisco
(WASHINGTON) -- On the fourth Armenian Remembrance Day of his
presidency, President Obama has for the fourth time in a row broken
his promise to the Armenian community to use the word "genocide"
in describing what happened at the hands of the Turks roughly a
century ago.
As a senator, and then as a presidential candidate, Obama often
talked about how bold he was to call the slaughter of an estimated
1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire just what
it was: a genocide.
"America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian
Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides," he said. "I intend
to be that president."
In a January 2008 letter to the Armenian Reporter, Obama said he
shared "with Armenian Americans -- so many of whom are descended from
genocide survivors -- a principled commitment to commemorating and
ending genocide. That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances
of genocide in world history."
In 2006, Obama noted, "I criticized the secretary of state [Condoleezza
Rice] for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans,
after he properly used the term 'genocide' to describe Turkey's
slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with
Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide
is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but
rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of
historical evidence."
Obama asserted back then, "The facts are undeniable. An official
policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an
untenable policy."
That was then, and this is now. As previous presidents have concluded,
Obama has decided that distorting the historical facts is better than
alienating ally Turkey, which disputes that term. And that policy
has been, at least in the short term, quite tenable.
The president in his statement on Tuesday said: "I have consistently
stated my own view of what occurred in 1915. My view of that history
has not changed. A full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts
is in all of our interests. Moving forward with the future cannot be
done without reckoning with the facts of the past. ...Some individuals
have already taken this courageous step forward. We applaud those
Armenians and Turks who have taken this path, and we hope that many
more will choose it, with the support of their governments, as well
as mine."