Sent by Kamer Minassian
Broken April 24 Promises: Samantha Power must resign, and you can help
Dear Fellow Armenian,
Please read my widely-published article below and the list of contacts below it.
The article asks Samantha Power, the White House's "genocide expert," to resign due to her and President Obama's complete failure to fulfill their promises to forthrightly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2009.
It is unfortunate that Power must resign, but it is necessary.
Neither Power nor the President has apologized, or said anything at all, to the Armenian American community since April 24.
Someone must take responsibility for these failures, broken promises, and acts of disrespect. No Armenian organization has made an adequate response to the failures of April 24. Moreover, it is becoming clear that neither Power nor Obama has any intention of supporting the Armenian genocide resolution in the U.S. Congress. That is, more broken promises are on the way.
The Armenian American community must act, and this is one way to do it. Again, below the article are a list of organizations and elected officials.
Please - take a few minutes to contact as many of them as you can over the next few days. Ask them to publicly urge Samantha Power to resign.
If you do this, please send me a short note letting me know.
My sincere thanks,
David Boyajian
Putting Principle over Power:
Why Samantha Power Must Resign
By David Boyajian
Samantha Power, Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs in President Obamas National Security Council (NSC), has failed the American people and her own principles regarding genocide recognition. She must resign.
Lets look at how Power got into this sad state of affairs. Power is, of course, the well-known, highly regarded genocide studies specialist. Her Pulitzer Prize-winning book on genocide, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, harshly criticized policymakers in the U.S. who avoid use of the word genocide and are slow to reckon with genocide. Chapter One, Race Murder, focused on the Armenian genocide.
Following the books publication, many Armenians saw Power as a sort of heroine. Indeed, two years ago, her Time magazine article (The U.S. and Turkey: Honesty Is the Best Policy) argued for passage of the Armenian genocide resolution in Congress. She condemned President Bush for avoiding honesty in opposing it and for not correctly characterizing the Armenian genocide as such. And yet President Obama himself - Powers boss - just avoided the G word in his April 24 statement about 1915.
A President without Principle
Obama imitated his three predecessors (but not Reagan, who acknowledged the Armenian genocide in 1981) by using words such as massacre, not genocide, in his statement. Obama tried to score points with Armenians by tossing in the term Meds Yeghern - great catastrophe. In reality, Armenians themselves rarely use that term to refer to the genocide. The Armenian word for genocide is actually Tseghasbanoutyoun - race killing.
Now compare President Obamas evasive language with candidate Obamas promise: As President, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide because "the Armenian Genocide is a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.
If Power advised Obama to acknowledge the genocide, he obviously rejected that advice, and broke his own pledges. If, on the other hand, she advised the president to not use the G word because Armenia and Turkey will allegedly establish a joint historical commission on 1915, she was woefully misguided. Turkey would ensure that such a body could never come to a timely and definitive decision. It also makes no sense for Power or Obama to support such a commission since they themselves previously affirmed the factuality of the genocide.
And lets put to rest the myth that reaffirmation of the genocide could harm the United States. Turkey depends on America for sophisticated military weapons, support for billions in loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, advocacy for Turkeys membership in a reluctant European Union, and much more. No country that has acknowledged the Armenian genocide has ever experienced much more than rhetorical Turkish reprisal.
Notice that since Obamas dishonest April 24 declaration, Power has said nothing to Armenian Americans. No explanation. No apology. Nothing.
Power Plays
And lets understand that Power was directly complicit in having voters believe Obamas genocide promises. Last year, Power made a 4-minute video in which she passionately appealed to Armenian Americans to support Obama. He had, she said, read A Problem from Hell and understands genocide prevention and the costs of denial. Hes a man of unshakeable conscientiousness who can actually be trusted. She urged the Armenian community to take my word for it. Naively, many did. Armenians, she also said, have always taken me seriously. Yes, but at this point in time, only if she resigns.
Frankly, Ive had reservations about Powers commitment to justice for Armenians ever since her April 24 genocide presentation at Tufts University several years ago. She seemed to disparage Armenian demands for reparations. Do you really want, she asked the largely Armenian American audience, a check from Turkey? I stood up and pointed out that Armenians were seeking material restitution for the Armenian nation as a whole, not checks for students to squander on clothes and cars. She has since received documentation about the exact nature of Armenian demands.
Whatever her excuse, Power appears to be precisely the kind of official whom she excoriated in her book and article, one who avoids use of the word genocide.
The only way she can distance herself from the unprincipled political calculations of President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom she once labeled a monster, is to resign.
Understandably, no one wishes to give up the power and prestige of being an NSC director. Powers association with Obama even brought her romance. Last year she married top Obama advisor and Harvard Law School professor Cass Sunstein. The president and Sunstein were friends and colleagues for 12 years when they taught at the University of Chicago Law School. Sunstein is reportedly in line for a White House appointment. Sunstein could be embarrassed if his wife resigned from the administration. But no more than Power would be if she does not resign.
Power really has only two choices. She can resign. Or she can lose the trust and respect of the American people.
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The author is an Armenian American freelance writer who initiated the campaign against the genocide denials of the Anti-Defamation League.
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The author asks readers to send a short note to the following organizations and leaders asking them to urge Samantha Power to resign because of her and President Obamas failure to fulfill their promise to properly acknowledge the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2009:
(Note: if a link below is not clickable, just copy it into your address bar instead.)
· Armenian National Committee of America: Anca@anca.org
· Armenian Assembly of America: Info@aaainc.org
· President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ or Comment Line:
202-456-1111
· Congressman Frank Pallone (Armenian Caucus co-chair):
202-225-4671
· Congressman Mark Kirk (Armenian Caucus co-chair):
202-225-4835
· Congressman Adam Schiff (represents Glendale):
http://schiff.house.gov/HoR/CA29/Contact+Information/Contact+Form.htm or 202-225-4176
· House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov,
http://speaker.house.gov/contact/, or 202-225-4965
· Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (Armenian American):
https://forms.house.gov/eshoo/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm
or 202-225-8104
· Congresswoman Jackie Speier (Armenian American): 202-225-3531
· Your or any U.S. Representative:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
· Your or any U.S. Senator:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
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