Why is Congress debating Armenian "genocide?"?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_go_co/us_armenia
President Bush urged Congress to reject legislation Wednesday that would say it was a genocide when thousand of Armenians were killed around the time of World War I.

Why must Congress say anything about it? And if it was genocide, why are there Armenians left?

Answer 1

"Go ahead, kill without mercy. After all, who remembers today the Armenian Genocide?" -- Adolf Hitler

Answer 2

It is a historical fact that the Ottoman Turks conducted genocide against the Armenians in their territory, in 1915.
The dentist of my childhood and much of my adulthood was an orphan survivor of the "Armenian holocaust" as he called it. There were some survivors after all.
Though the current government of Turkey is not the same as Ottoman Turkey, they are still unwilling to admit that this atrocity is part of their history; even now people (usually) Armenian Turks) are jailed or even assassinated for "insulting Turkishness." This is a weird concept to Western democracies; in the US we routinely discuss the evils of slavery and segregation; in Germany it is actually illegal to deny that the Holocaust happened.
There are still quite a few people, notably descendants of survivors of the Armenian genocide, who are determined to make Turkey acknowledge the evils of its past (though none of the perpetrators is still alive). I can sympathize with this! I think it is much better for any nation to acknowledge its past. I expect that this is why somebody has asked Congress to make a statement about it.
I'm certain that Mr. Bush is quite aware of the Armenian genocide (The Muslim Ottomans tried to wipe out the Christian Armenians). But I think he doesn't want this issue, which happened almost 100 years ago, to become an obstacle to friendly relations between Turkey and the US. And frankly, I do not think it is appropriate for Congress to make statements of history this way; it could lead to the infringement of freedom of speech, I think. In the US, we have the right to say any stupid thing we choose to, even that the sun is made of cheese. I think it's better that way; then the truth can come out in the free exchange of ideas, rather than being imposed by the government.

Answer 3

dunno its actually very stupid , what can u do to change the fact that something took place nearly a century ago? WHAT will change now? ignorance then was overwelming but in todays society it still happens .LOOK at the human rights violations in china today.. WHEN U BEND over backwards to aid a nation that abuses their citizens and others how does that change them for the better>>
turkey and other muslim countries hate each other and different ethinic groups of all kinds and even though americans send economic relief to soo many asian and middle east countries we still hated. africa too has had genocides their. ethnic hatred is wide spread . the kurds hate the albanians and others . why?? someone is mistreated n it explodes from their..
satan is working hard stirring up the nations,; mj

Answer 4

The Turkish Foreign Ministry insists that “it has been accused of something that never happened in history.” With such statements coming straight from the horse’s mouth - what kind of diplomacy is possible? Damage control is possible.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry insists that “it has been accused of something that never happened in history.”

The U.S. has mission critical supply routes that run through Turkey and provide crucial strategic support to U.S. troops in Iraq.

Continued at:
http://digg.com/world_news/Armenian_Genocide_Resurrected_Blamed_Ottomans_Turkey_s_Government_Upset

Answer 5

Congress is trying to codone Rush Limbaugh for Christ's sake. They are all laughing stocks, instead of current events they are looking at things that happened before alot of them have been born.
Write or call your representative and tell them to do your job or get fired next November.