Congress backs down

From The Washington Post:

Chances for a U.S. resolution calling the mass killings of Armenians that began in 1915 genocide eroded dramatically last night, as sponsors dropped off in droves and senior Democrats urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to abandon her support.

The number of lawmakers supporting the bill slipped below a majority as four more withdrew from the legislation, making nearly a dozen to do so since Monday. The White House strongly opposes the resolution, saying it will damage U.S. relations with Turkey. Legislators cited those objections, along with warnings from the Turkish government and from Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Baghdad, that the resolution would cause Turkey to scale back its assistance in the Iraq war, as reasons for rejecting it.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the nonbinding resolution on a 27 to 21 bipartisan vote last week, but several of those who voted yes have since switched. Pelosi, who has a large population of ethnic Armenians in her district, reiterated her promise to bring the resolution to the full House for a vote in a conversation with President Bush yesterday.

[. . .]

Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) said the defections were fueled by a briefing for several House members by Petraeus, who grimly warned that the resolution would risk Turkey's assistance in Iraq. Turkey has threatened to cut off U.S. access to a critical air base.

In the run-up to the committee vote last week, all eight living former secretaries of state and three former defense secretaries warned Pelosi that the resolution would endanger national security in the Middle East.

I'm afraid that is exactly the point, at least where Nancy Pelosi is concerned. Pelosi represents a San Francisco congressional district which is possibly the most insanely left-wing place in the entire US (except the faculty lounge of any major Ivy League university). Her constituents are livid with her for her failure to end the war in Iraq. She has protesters camped outside her home in San Francisco who are apparently building a large Buddha on the sidewalk (they also seem to have the same philosophy toward bowel movements as the average dog - wherever and whenever). And her bid for reelection is being challenged by the queen of the moonbats, Cindy Sheehan.

That Pelosi has tried to end the war is of no consequence to the moonbats. She is the Speaker of the House and all spending bills must originate in the House. She could use her power to simply defund the war and force the administration to bring the troops home. That this would lead to a genocide followed by the establishment of an Islamofascist dictatorship controlled by Iran is a matter of absolutely no concern to the moonbats. All they are capable of seeing is the giant shit sandwich that would force Bu$Hitler to eat.

Even the head of the Armenian Church in Turkey sees this:

DEMRE - The head of the Armenian church in Turkey said he opposed the passing of a resolution by the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs acknowledging claims the Ottoman Empire committed an act of genocide against its Armenian citizens in World War One.

Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan said the resolution had become a tool of US domestic policy and that he and other Turkish Armenians would do everything in their power to prevent the resolution being passed into law by a vote of the US Congress.

What he means by "domestic policy" is that the resolution is part of the tug-of-war between the president and congressional leftists over Iraq. If we anger Turkey enough they will cut back, or stop altogether, their cooperation with the US in Iraq. Turkey is a vital link in the supply line which keeps our troops in Iraq equipped. Losing that link would vastly complicate operations in Iraq and create critical shortages of supplies while we put together new arrangements.

According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Incirlik Air Base near Adana, Turkey is the transshipment point for about 70% of all air cargo (including 33% of the fuel) going to supply US forces in Iraq. Included are about 95% of the new “MRAP” -- mine-resistant, ambush-protected -- vehicles designed to save the lives of American troops. Turkey wasn’t always this helpful. In 2003, the Turks refused permission for the 4th Infantry Division to enter Iraq through Turkey.

It seems that if Ms. Pelosi can't get in through the front door she is happy to use the back.

What happened all those years ago was a genocide and it was committed by the Truks and they did it because they are Muslims who were trying to be faithful to the Koran and that is the kind of thing that Mohammad did.

Normally speaking the truth is a good thing, but in the present circumstances telling the truth about something which happened 100 years in the past helps no one and harms many (which is why the idea appeals to the left, because that is exactly what they do - help no one and harm many).