thoughts on armenian genocide

[Bump_Bailey]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7040366.stm

It seems that was a genocide in Turkey; 90 or so years ago. However, it dose not make sense to me why the House Foreign Relations Committee had a vote on declaring it a genocide.
Specifically when it was very clear that doing so would piss of a key ally all the while the US is occupying one Turkey's neighboring country.
Can anyone make the case why this vote was a good idea?

[Dan.]

If your family was "cleansed," would you not want people to recognize the atrocity as having existed?

[iron81]

IIRC, the Armenian lobby is quite strong in Washington.

[tame_deuces]

It can also be mentioned that the death tolls were some 1.5 million people. Something of that magnitude simply isn't something you should sweep under the carpet.

The fact that most people may not even have heard about it, is really an atrocity in itself.

[AngusThermopyle]

Guess "Armenian Genocide Denier" doesn't have the same ring as "Holocaust Denier".

[Felix_Nietzsche]

[ QUOTE ]
Can anyone make the case why this vote was a good idea?

[/ QUOTE ]
For people that want to end the war in Iraq, ticking Turkey off is a good tactic. 70% of the US Army's supplies come through Turkey. If Turkey gets mad, they can close the border denying the US military supplies from the North....

There is a reason the Dems ignored these attrocities for almost a 100 years and now they have suddenly become interested in this subject... It is not because they care about Armenians, it is calculated political tactic...

[bobman0330]

People are brought up on criminal charges in Turkey for talking about the Armenian Genocide. How can it be wrong for the US to insist that the truth be more widely heard?

[Barretboy]

[ QUOTE ]
People are brought up on criminal charges in Turkey for talking about the Armenian Genocide. How can it be wrong for the US to insist that the truth be more widely heard?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think anyone is arguing that it is wrong for the truth to be told; people's arguments lie in the fact that for 90 years the United States had no official position on this matter. Only when it becomes politically convenient for the democrat controlled congress to attempt (seemingly) to do everything in their power to screw up relations with Turkey is it brought up.

[ElliotR]

Post deleted by iron81

[Taso]

Second time I've opened a thread in the past 5 minutes and seen that you've made a completly random mention of ron paul.