Obama breaks his pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide as Genocide

[Hope And Change]

Getty

POTUS Avoids Labeling Armenian Killings "Genocide" AGAIN

Friday, April 24th, 2009

Calls them "great atrocities" in a statement marking the memory of an estimated 1.5 million WWI-era Armenians killed in Turkey. http://thepage.time.com/obama-statement-on-armenian-remembrance-day/">Read it here.

As a candidate, Obama pledged to recognize the killings as genocide.

http://thepage.time.com/2009/04/24/potus-avoids-labeling-armenian-killings-genocide-again/">Link

I`m extremely disappointed on Obama today.This is a very important issue for me and one of the reason that I supported him.At least McCain was honest and said that he would not recognize the Armenian Genocide.However Obama had pledged to recognize the Armenian Genocide as GENOCIDE and he didn`t.

[CreekDog]

1. he has called it "genocide" in the past

hasn't he?

[Political Tiger]

2. I think his statement on the issue is clear:

"Ninety four years ago, one of the great atrocities of the 20th century began. Each year, we pause to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who were subsequently massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. The Meds Yeghern must live on in our memories, just as it lives on in the hearts of the Armenian people.

History, unresolved, can be a heavy weight. Just as the terrible events of 1915 remind us of the dark prospect of man's inhumanity to man, reckoning with the past holds out the powerful promise of reconciliation. I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. My interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts."

[HughMoran]

21. Thanks

The statement acknowledges his previous statements on the issue, though I'm disappointed that he can't simply call it what it was - genocide.

[Chuckleberry]

23. Pullitzer award-winning website corroborates the OP's point

Politifact.com, which recently won a Pullitzer for National Reporting, said today:

"Obama's promise, and his statements while a U.S. Senator, indicate that he thought the word itself was important. In 2006, a U.S. ambassador was recalled after he used the word "genocide" in reference to Armenia, which spurred Obama to write a letter to then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying that he thought the U.S. position on the issue was "untenable." (Read the letter via the Armenians for Obama Web site.)

Obama's April 24th statement still doesn't meet the terms of his promise, and the Obameter stays at Promise Broken."

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/511/recognize-armenian-genocide/

[FrenchieCat]

25. Politifact.com winning a pulitzer was a freak occurrence.....

which shouldn't have happened. Even the Pulitzer committee can be wrong now and then.

[Political Tiger]

41. According to PolitiFact, Obama promised "as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide"

Well, that's exactly what he did! He did NOT say "as president I will use the word genocide."

He called it "one of the great atrocities of the 20th century," a "massacre." He explicitly said "1.5 million Armenians...marched to their death." He pointed out how this reminds "us of the dark prospect of man's inhumanity to man."

I mean, we're splitting hairs here, aren't we?

[Chuckleberry]

42. Maybe we should call the holocaust "atrocities" and the like

Because after all, we need Israel's help in the war on terror.

[Occam Bandage]

44. Israel committed the Holocaust?

You might want to rethink your analogies, chum.

[Chuckleberry]

45. I didn't say or imply that Israel committed the holocaust

I said that if we don't think Armenians will be very upset with our refusal to call it what it is, let's try not calling the holocaust by its name, and see the reaction from Israel.

Of course, that was sarcasm in trying to prove my point. The holocaust must be called holocaust.

[Occam Bandage]

48. Let's think this analogy through for a second.

Your justification was not "we should be considerate of Armenia's feelings, because we would not upset Israelis in the same way." You instead referenced the claim that we avoid using the term "genocide" to ensure Turkey's help in the wars. Your claim "Because after all, we need Israel's help in the war on terror" is drawing an analogy to the Turkish-help defense.

Now let's look at what that analogy says.

The original claim is, "to avoid upsetting TURKEY, Obama called a genocide committed by TURKEY merely an atrocity."
The analogy would of course be, "to avoid upsetting ISRAEL, we should call a genocide committed by ISRAEL merely an atrocity."

This is of course nonsense, because Israel was the victim and not the perpetrator of the Holocaust. An analogy that swaps perpetrator with victim halfway through is a nonsense analogy.

[Chuckleberry]

51. I get it. So if one day Israel becomes our enemy and Iran our friend, we should avoid "holocaust"

Since Iran doesn't like that word much, and we would need their cooperation.

?

[Political Tiger]

47. Maybe we should call what this country did to Indians "genocide" too

I'm sure that will make all the wrongs of the past magically go away......

Why are you so upset over what word is used to describe something that happened 90 years ago when in the year 2009 there are genocides, such as in Sudan, taking place?

Let's get real here! What word is used to describe what happened 90 years ago at the end of the Ottoman Empire is hardly one of the pressing issues of our day. Whether the president calls it a genocide or a massacre or a great atrocity is not going to change history, it's not going to bring those who died back.

And I guarantee the vast majority of people in this country and around the world know nothing about the "Meds Yeghern," and if what happened is really that important I think your time would be better spent educating people about it than harping on what words Obama uses when discussing it!

[vaberella]

63. I don't know the difference between Great Atrocities and Genocide since

in effect a Genocide is a great atrocity. I do think people are splitting hairs. ~sigh~

[Egnever]

56. Seems as though they hand out pulitzers to any fuckwit these days.

[Danger Mouse]

60. Politifact is shit.

[Number23]

31. Very good info. Thanks for posting that.

[gcomeau]

3. Complete Bullshit.

Christ I'm sick of this.

Let me replay, in paraphrased form, what happened in Turkey:

Reporter: "Mr. President, in the past you said this was genocide and should be recognized as such. Do you still hold that position?"
Obama: "Yep."

DONE. Freaking recognized, explicitly, in front of the whole goddamn planet, while standing in Turkey. And anyone so obtuse that they insist on calling that a "refusal to recognize it as genicide" is being so absurd it defies description.

(In the actual quote, the reporter uses the word genocide four times when describing Obama's on the recond position... which Obama then confirms hasn't changed.)

[Thrill]

4. Obama said IN TURKEY, His opinion hasn't changed

[FrenchieCat]

5. He will get this done.....

He will say the same thing he said last year.....now that he's President! But perhaps, it will have to be next year where he repeats it word by word.....in order to not interfere in the work that is going on currently.

In 2008, Barack Obama stated 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,"

What he has done thus far is to have confirmed that he still believes this....

I'm afraid that it is the best that he can do right this minute, but I understand that for you, it is not good enough. I'm sure he would prefer to do as you wish, but that in consideration for a larger goals at stake, which includes the United States' national security, he has gone quite far indeed, if not all of the way.

[mmonk]

6. The Turkish lobby and influence is much stronger

and profitable to the politicians.

[FrenchieCat]

7. I think his decision not to repeat word for word what he has stated before

has little to do with profit.

How cynical are you?
Oh...never mind. :eyes:

[mmonk]

10. I'm not so much cynical of him. He may do it.

I'm cynical of Congress and other influences.

[Political Tiger]

8. LOL

n/t

[mmonk]

12. Nothing untrue with my statement.

And Obama isn't in it.

[vaberella]

65. So what you're implying is that O is a corporate bitch?! Nice. n/t

[Political Heretic]

9. While a frequent Obama critic, this OP is disingenuous and misleading.

Posters above me have already jumped all over it. He was asked in Turkey whether he still stood by his belief that it was genocide and he said YES.

You're upset that he didn't make a huge spectacle by calling turkey out on the carpet and humiliating them during his DIPLOMATIC trip, and I couldn't DISAGREE with you more on that. He did an outstanding job of threading a needle of remaining true to his statement and no needlessly alienating turkey.

[scheming daemons]

11. I was wondering when the next faux outrage about Obama was coming....

:eyes:

[vaberella]

67. Same exact thought crossed my mind.

Actually there was one before this one. I think it had to do with O and baseball. ~sigh~

[hileeopnyn8d]

13. Meds Yeghern

No, he didn't use "the" word, he used the Armenian term for it, the one in which I can hear my grandmother and great-uncles voices when I read it. Meds Yeghern - The Great Atrocity

I'm not extremely disappointed in him for not using the word Genocide in this statement, his thoughts on this are clear.

Of course I want my country to recognize it for what it was, but I also don't want anything to stand in the way of reconcilliation/normalization between Armenia and Turkey.

I don't know, it's an emotional subject for me too.

[mmonk]

14. Using the Armenian term is actually good IMO.

I think reconciliation and normalization is the way all wounds will be healed. The trick is not to make it seem too forced.

[hileeopnyn8d]

18. I think so too

although it did make me tear up a little.

[MADem]

15. What, the Armenian phrase for what happened isn't good enough for you?

I'm extremely disappointed in your mischaracterization of Obama's views on this matter, but oh, well.

[vaberella]

68. Obviously not. Ditto on the rest. n/t

[SemiCharmedQuark]

16. Mark Halperin...full of bullshit...again.

What a shock.

[Adelante]

17. Turkey and Armenia are engaged in delicate negotiations

I doubt Obama will do anything to screw that up. Nevertheless, in Turkey itself he said his judgment on the matter had not changed and that judgment is perfectly well known. Honestly, the disappointment in him on this count has no justification whatsoever.

[Realtalk]

19. Um...

No! And what a pitiful post.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

20. You know what this issue is?

Ranked about 942 on my list of Obama promise priority.

[dionysus]

22. well that's just too bad for you isn't it?

:eyes:

[HughMoran]

24. I'm Armenian

Are you speaking to the O/P or all Armenians who had family murdered?

[dionysus]

39. the OP Hugh. Not trying to be insensitive to the Armenian victims... i sense a poutrage OP.

sorry if i offended you.

[HughMoran]

53. no problem

I had a feeling you were annoyed that another person was harshly attacking Obama for what seems like a somewhat remote issue. It's a big deal if you're an Armenian.

[Hope And Change]

26. This is my last post at DU...

but the only thing I would like to say is that although some Armenians may be pleased with Obama`s statement, the reason Obama used the Armenian phrase "Meds Yeghern"(Great Calamity) wasn`t to please the Armenians but rather to not offend Turkey.For someone who has followed the Armenian Genocide recognition debate I can tell you that Obama is not the first President to break his pledge to use the term "Genocide" to describe what happened to the Armenians in 1915; he won`t be the last one either I`m afraid.

Just look at the reaction of the Armenian-American community and you would see that they are disappointed with Obama breaking his pledge to not describe the events in 1915 as "Genocide".

Anyway, I have nothing more to say.Obama has lost my support and you won`t see my posting here anymore.

May God Bless You All and I wish you the best.

[Adelante]

27. GBCW

:hi:

[Hanse]

29. Good.

Shame you wasted a perfectly good user name.

[BlooInBloo]

33. I give this GBCW a B-.

[AtomicKitten]

50. C+ at best. Crappy backbeat.

[vaberella]

73. What's GBCW? n/t

[AtomicKitten]

74. *

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gbcw

Sorry if I confused you; I was just making a lame joke.

:hi:

[Occam Bandage]

36. I'll hold you to that. nt

[Political Tiger]

38. You can't support the President because of a word and something that happened 90 years ago?

Seriously? It's not like he's denying this event that happened 50 years before he was even born! He's called it genocide before and just because he didn't use that word in this one statement in which he recognizes the "atrocity"/"massacre"/"death march"/"man's inhumanity to man" seems like a rather weak excuse to stop supporting the President of the United States!

[JeffR]

49. Don't think "weak excuse" - think "handy figleaf"

Me, I can no longer support the President because he can still sink a stylish 3-pointer and I have a wonky knee and was never good at basketball to begin with. Clearly, Obama doesn't represent me.

[foo_bar]

57. if the OP is being candid, he/she can't be faulted for being a "one issue voter" on his extinction

I was only a kid, but I got pretty mad at Reagan when he called the Bitburg SS guards "victims", although it got me thinking about free will and just how much power a Schultzstaffel had over his destiny in a world gone mad, but Reagan was probably being diplomatic to war criminals not ruminating about victims of circumstance. In Obama's defense it seems like a no-win situation:

Turkey's president on Saturday said he disagreed with parts of U.S. President Barack Obama's statement on the mass killings of Armenians in 1915, adding hundreds of thousands of Turks and Muslims also died.

Obama avoided using the word genocide on Friday when describing the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915, and welcomed efforts by Turkey and Armenia to normalise relations.

Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks but denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it amounts to genocide.

In Turkey's first official reaction to the statement, President Abdullah Gul said: "There are points on which I disagree. Hundreds of thousands of Turks and Muslims also died in 1915. Everyone's pain must be shared," according to state-run news agency Anatolian.

http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINLP19847820090425

"These were the villains, as we know, that conducted the persecutions and all. But there are 2,000 graves there, and most of those, the average age is about 18. I think that there's nothing wrong with visiting that cemetery where those young men are victims of Nazism also, even though they were fighting in the German uniform, drafted into service to carry out the hateful wishes of the Nazis. They were victims, just as surely as the victims in the concentration camps" <3> (- Ronnie)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitburg#Reagan_visit_controversy

[BlooInBloo]

59. Um, Obama didn't do it....

And he calls it what they call it: an atrocity. The OP is just bitching for the sake of bitching.

[foo_bar]

62. I'm echoing H.Moran's sentiment that it's a big deal if, big if, you're Armenian(-American)

I'm not a fan of online self-immolation like the aforementioned GBCW, and I haven't checked if the poster does a post like this every week on the issue of school vouchers or pet vaccinations or whatever, but on the tenuous assumption that the OP's grievance is legitimate (even if Turkey's president felt the same statement was biased towards the murder campaign's victims) it can't reasonably be considered garden variety poutrage, IMO.

[JimGinPA]

55. Worst. Flameout. Ever.

Pfffftt.

[Danger Mouse]

58. I can understand being disappointed but aren't you taking this a little far?

[vaberella]

71. H and C, I have appreciated your posts in the end.

I don't enjoy this one for a multitude of reasons but even your statement in wanting to leave says you're presuming a lot about President Obama's intentions. You can't say what you say to be fact considering he used the "proper" terminology in his speech.

If this was enough for you to lose your support then that says you never supported him in the beginning and that's unfortunate.

[MADem]

76. GBCW. You don't "know" a doggone thing about "why" Obama chose the term he used.

He very well might have used it in solidarity, but your glass is half empty.. and you've thrown it at the bartender in fury.

Ascribing nefarious intent to the President, without any evidence at all, echoes the tone and substance of the opposition party in making your argument. Heckuva job, Brownie.

Obama didn't "lose" your support. He likely never had it. Frankly, given your tone, I won't be missing you when you're gone.

Nothing wrong with criticism, it's this nonsensical and perpetually dire mind-reading I have trouble with. I don't think Obama calls you up and tells you how he "feels" about stuff, so your interpretations deserve an appropriate level of consideration--which is to say, none.

[Hippo_Tron]

28. Fact is that we need Turkey's cooperation on Iraq

For the moment that's more important than labeling something that happened almost 100 years ago.

[Thothmes]

30. Aside from the fact that the Turks would

not allow Amerian troops on their soil for the assault on Iraq. Threw invasion plan A in the toilet. Invasion plan B was all of the Americans coming from the South. Which is what we had to do.

[Chuckleberry]

34. But didn't he know during the campaign that we needed Turkey's cooperation?

Why the different approaches before vs. after being elected?

[Hippo_Tron]

54. Because actually being President forces you to confront some sobering realities

When you're campaigning you can be easily led to believe that you can keep Turkish cooperation as well as condemn the Armenian Genocide formally. When you get elected and your state department tells you very clearly otherwise then you change your approach.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AtomicKitten]

35. Not always using the "correct" verbiage doesn't mean he changed his mind. n/t

[Occam Bandage]

37. Why do you consider an instance of Obama's using a different but non-exclusive term

to be "promise-breaking?" That seems to me as if your significant other had promised you were his love, causing you to call him a liar and oathbreaker when he later says "my feelings for you haven't changed, my dear." "What a liar," you say, "for you promised you would recognize me as your love and not your dear."

[Chuckleberry]

40. Obama said during the campaign that genocide was a documented fact

2008: "Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State 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. The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy."


In other words, the man that was fired for using the word "genocide" should have said it, otherwise he would have distorted the historical facts, according to Obama.

http://armeniansforobama.com/armenian_issues.php

[Occam Bandage]

43. That's true. That also doesn't address anything I've said.

Obama has not denied the genocide.

[Chuckleberry]

46. It's hard for one to deny something that one won't even mention

Very hard.

[thevoiceofreason]

52. Bitch bitch whine whine.

Why don't you dance as I ask? As I demand? Damn you, you . . . politician!

[ZombieHorde]

61. Why is the word so important to you? nt

[vaberella]

64. I get the feeling people just want to be "outraged" or "upset" about something.

I respect your position but I do have to see I don't see your point. Everything he said showed that he hated and abhorred what was done. I don't understand why he needs to say the word for you to be happy. I don't understand why "great atrocity" isn't enough...but that's neither here nor there.

[BlooInBloo]

66. (shrug) It's the term Armenians use.

[Chuckleberry]

69. Is the chief of the Armenian National Committee of America part of the falsely outraged?

Reuters, 4-24-09: "I join with all Armenian Americans in voicing our sharp disappointment with President Obama's failure to honor his solemn pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide," said Ken Hachikians, chair of Armenian National Committee of America.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090424/wl_nm/us_obama_armenia

[BlooInBloo]

70. Yes that is false outrage. Obama recognized it, and used the standard Armenian term for it.

[Tarheel_Dem]

72. I mean, in the big scheme of things, who gives a shit what this decidedly

small group of antagonists think? You signed up for this? Are you really Hope & Change in disguise? Since H&C has bid a fond farewell, seems that you have taken up the cause. There's a term for that around here.

If anyone wants to stop supporting the administration over semantics, then they should just go. I get the feeling, they weren't supporters to begin with. All things considered, the American people are loving the president's foreign policy ventures.

Thanks to DU'er jeffersondem:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8371240

[Hope And Change]

75. Words do matter...

Obama Statement on Rwanda Anniversary

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 7, 2009

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE 15th ANNIVERSARY OF THE GENOCIDE IN RWANDA

This week marks the 15th commemoration of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. It is a somber occasion that causes us to reflect upon the deaths of the more than 800,000 men, women, and children who were killed simply because of their ethnicity or their political beliefs. The memory of these events also deepens our commitment to act when faced with genocide and to work with partners around the world to prevent future atrocities. The figure of 800,000 is so enormous, so daunting, that it runs the risk of becoming a statistic. Today, we must remember that each of the 800,000 individuals who died in 1994 had their own story, their own family, and their own dreams. As we mourn their senseless passing, we must also acknowledge the courageous men and women who survived the genocide and have since demonstrated remarkable strength and generosity in forgiving those who committed these heinous acts. These individuals inspire us daily by working to restore trust and rebuild hope in Rwanda. The United States is committed to its partnership with Rwanda and will continue to support efforts to promote sustainable development, respect for human rights, and lasting peace in Rwanda.

###

http://thepage.time.com/obama-statement-on-rwanda-anniversary/">Link

Obama used the "G" word on the 7th April because that is the Rwandan genocide memorial day which was the right thing to do.


When Polish Jewish law professor Raphael Lemkin coined the term "Genocide", he had the Armenian example in mind:

As a teen, Lemkin learned through news accounts that the Turkish government was slaughtering its Christian Armenian citizens. The government claimed it was putting down an Armenian revolt. Over 8 years they killed a million Armenian men, women and children in massacres and forced marches. To this day, Turkey denies a genocide took place. Few of the perpetrators ever faced justice.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/13/sbm.lemkin.profile/">Link

...Raphael Lemkin, a law professor who in 1943 coined the term genocide. "I became interested in genocide because it happened so many times," he tells the CBS commentator Quincy Howe. "First to the Armenians, then after the Armenians, Hitler took action."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/17/arts/television/17stan.html?ex=1302926400&en=42703f4960edef66&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">Link

And this is Obama`s promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide:

Barack Obama on the Importance of US-Armenia Relations

| January 19, 2008

I am proud of my strong record on issues of concern to the one and a half million Americans of Armenian heritage in the United States. I warmly welcome the support of this vibrant and politically active community as we change how our government works here at home, and restore American leadership abroad.

I am a strong supporter of a U.S.-Armenian relationship that advances our common security and strengthens Armenian democracy. As President, I will maintain our assistance to Armenia, which has been a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism and extremism. I will promote Armenian security by seeking an end to the Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, and by working for a lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict that is agreeable to all parties, and based upon America's founding commitment to the principles of democracy and self determination. And my Administration will help foster Armenia's growth and development through expanded trade and targeted aid, and by strengthening the commercial, political, military, developmental, and cultural relationships between the U.S. and Armenian governments.

I also share 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. As a U.S. Senator, I have stood with the Armenian American community in calling for Turkey's acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide. Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State 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. The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Genocide, sadly, persists to this day, and threatens our common security and common humanity. Tragically, we are witnessing in Sudan many of the same brutal tactics - displacement, starvation, and mass slaughter - that were used by the Ottoman authorities against defenseless Armenians back in 1915. I have visited Darfurian refugee camps, pushed for the deployment of a robust multinational force for Darfur, and urged divestment from companies doing business in Sudan. America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President.

I look forward, as President, to continuing my active engagement with Armenian American leaders on the full range of issues of concern to the Armenian American community. Together, we will build, in new and exciting ways, upon the enduring ties and shared values that have bound together the American and Armenian peoples for more than a century.

http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/19/barack_obama_on_the_importance.php">Link

Obama Remarks at Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release April 23, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT THE HOLOCAUST DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY

United States Capitol
Washington, D.C.

12:04 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you very much. To Sara Bloomfield, for the wonderful introduction and the outstanding work she's doing; to Fred Zeidman; Joel Geiderman; Mr. Wiesel -- thank you for your wisdom and your witness; Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Senator Dick Durbin; members of Congress; our good friend the Ambassador of Israel; members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council; and most importantly, the survivors and rescuers and their families who are here today. It is a great honor for me to be here, and I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to address you briefly.

We gather today to mourn the loss of so many lives, and celebrate those who saved them; honor those who survived, and contemplate the obligations of the living.

It is the grimmest of ironies that one of the most savage, barbaric acts of evil in history began in one of the most modernized societies of its time, where so many markers of human progress became tools of human depravity: science that can heal used to kill; education that can enlighten used to rationalize away basic moral impulses; the bureaucracy that sustains modern life used as the machinery of mass death -- a ruthless, chillingly efficient system where many were responsible for the killing, but few got actual blood on their hands.

While the uniqueness of the Holocaust in scope and in method is truly astounding, the Holocaust was driven by many of the same forces that have fueled atrocities throughout history: the scapegoating that leads to hatred and blinds us to our common humanity; the justifications that replace conscience and allow cruelty to spread; the willingness of those who are neither perpetrators nor victims to accept the assigned role of bystander, believing the lie that good people are ever powerless or alone, the fiction that we do not have a choice.

http://thepage.time.com/obama-remarks-at-holocaust-remembrance-ceremony/">Full remarks here

Obama labeled the Holocaust as Holocaust, not as massace, not as the great catastrophe, but as Holocaust which was again the right thing to do!

“For those who aren’t aware there was a genocide that did take place against the
Armenian people. It is one of these situations where we have seen a constant denial on part of the Turkish Government and others that this occurred.”

-- April 12, 2007 YouTube video of Senator Obama
during a public Capitol Hill constituent meeting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwR83GZjwdo

----

And no, this is not a fake outrage from the Armenian-American community.Watch this video(click on the link below), and see the reaction of Armenian-Americans when they learn about Obama breaking his pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide as "Genocide".

http://obamasunkeptpromises.blogspot.com/2009/04/harut-sassounian-breaks-bad-news-of.html

(He starts speaking English at 1:00 of the video)

----

And someone mentioned President Reagan in this thread.Let me quote from an article:

Obama's Vows On 'Armenian Genocide' Tested

March 20, 2009

For years, President Obama has not minced words about labeling as "genocide" the deaths of Armenians more than 90 years ago during the demise of the Ottoman Empire. Nor have Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice President Biden.

All three regularly signed letters to President George W. Bush demanding that he recognize "the mass slaughter of Armenians as genocide" and saying that such an act "would constitute a proud, irrefutable and groundbreaking chapter in U.S. diplomatic history." During last year's presidential campaign, Obama repeatedly insisted that, as president, he would "recognize the Armenian genocide."

"An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy," Obama said in a statement dated Jan. 19, 2008.

---

But the administration's outreach to Turkey must be balanced against the high hopes that Obama inspired among Armenian Americans. For decades, they feel they have been disappointed by presidents on the genocide debate. Only President Ronald Reagan, in 1981, referred to "the genocide of the Armenians."

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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/20/politics/washingtonpost/main4879804.shtml">Full article here

Turkey was even a more important ally in the beginning of the 80s considering the cold war was still going on BUT despite that, President Reagan had the balls to use the term "Genocide"!

...

Conclusion:

So after all this years, Obama always used the term "Genocide" to label the Armenian Genocide and not the Armenian phrase "Meds Yeghern"(Great calamity).He had pledged to recognize the Armenian Geocide as "Genocide".On 24th April - which is the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - Obama recently released a statement avoiding the "G" word and used the Armenian phrase instead "Meds Yeghern"(Great calamity).So why did Obama use the Armenian phrase instead?It`s simple, by avoiding the "G" word he would not upset Turkey although the Turkish President criticized Obama for not mentioning that the Turks/Muslims were also victims and that they too should also be commemorated.But Turkey didn`t recall their ambassador as they did recently with their ambassador to Canada because Canadian officials had attended an event commemorating the Armenian Genocide.

I mean what the fuck?Is this what we are afraid of?How Turkey would react?If President Reagan could use the term "Genocide" under the cold war when Turkey was much more important than today then Obama should do the same!A pledge is a pledge.He broke that pledge and therefore lost my support because it was a very important issue for me and one of the reasons I supported Obama in the Democratic primary and Presidential elections and contributed to his campaign.

I have been in heated debates with some Hillary Clinton supportes here when I defended Obama, whether it was about Rezko or Jeremiah Wright....ask "indimuse"(with whom I had heated debates) about this and he would tell you about this...Don`t come and tell me that I didn`t support Obama from the start.

I have nothing more to add.

Take care.


P.S. Some people talks about not alienating Turkey, well I got news for you, it was Turkey who refused to let USA use Turkish soil in order to open a northern front against Iraq from South Eastern Turkey when we invaded Iraq.And no, I do not and did not support the Iraq war.But I think you get my point.

[whistler162]

78. "Words do matter..." but with certain qualifiers I guess!

"Hope And Change (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-25-09 08:26 AM
Response to Original message
26. This is my last post at DU... "

What next in the long litany of faux/fox outrage.

President Obama raises his left hand first instead of his right hand when meeting the ambassador from West Westinia and everyone knows that raising your left hand first is a mortal insult to all West Westinians!

[harun]

77. Move on.