28 October 2007

On the Armenian genocide resolution

And excellent post here on the politically inexpedient admission of stark truth.

A semblance of an argument against:

Why not go all the way? How about a resolution condemning China for the millions who suffered in the Cultural Revolution and the tens of millions starved during the Great Leap Forward – right as we’re seeking China’s help on Burma, North Korea, the environment, etc? I mean, for each Armenian the Ottoman Turks slaughtered, at least ten Chinese citizens perished...
Kind of self-defeating logic here. Keep closing your eyes on atrocities and be sure that they will continue to multiply...

Michael Weiss' argument for the resolution (part of):
What the excuse-makers fail to realize, however, is that by deferring justice they in effect deny it by making it the hostage of convenience. This is a game infinitely more suspect than diplomacy, and it's bad enough when it's played in Great Britain or the United States, where the most jingoistic refrain is "My Country, Right or Wrong." But how much worse is it when it's played in Turkey, where scores of citizens take to the streets to chant self-righteously in defense of a genocide, and where the refrain seems to be "My Country, Never Wrong"?
And my own two bits: start selling your principles for political convenience and be sure that at some point in time somebody will sell you down the river. For convenience.

P.S. But after all, according to people in the know, it is Jooz who muddy the waters...

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