Give the Armenians truth

By now every Tom, Dick and Hussein has chimed in on the House vote to call the 1915 tragedy in Ottoman Anatolia "genocide." Indeed, it was.

Systematic murder of a people is genocide. And to get over it, there needs to be some kind of collective healing or recognition to give the whole event some sort of resting among the living.

(Flame of the slain in Yerevan, Armenia.)

So this is why I take the stance that the U.S should recognize the Armenian Genocide for what it is: genocide.

Turkey says what it has always said (that people died on both sides). Now, Turkey goes a step further... saying that the U.S. vote would derail the normalization of relations campaign between Turkey and Armenia. This may be true. But what is also true is that there are more Armenians in the Diaspora than in Armenia--most Armenians have nothing to do with the territory known as modern Armenia. Most feel they were part of the first holocaust last century and making matters worse, still fighting for the international recognition of the damn thing.

Here is my point: The U.S. vote will harm the Turkish-Armenian reconciliation; but it is impossible to have any reconciliation between the two peoples until the Armenians feel some recognition has been served... then, they can move on.

Could we imagine Ashkenazi Jews forgiving Europe without recognition?

Truth and reconciliation is the path to peace.

Update: Read of the day: Give East Jerusalem truth, too

Update II: Calling on all American women... to go to Afghanistan.

High value targets and my goddamn morning coffee

While I sip my early morning coffee... ahh.

That subject could just stand without a predicate.

So yes, while I sipped my morning coffee I checked al-Jazeera and found this most amusing video on the Israeli Mossad.

There have been a lot of people in the Blogosphere who have commended the Likud-led Israeli government for assassinating that high-ranking member in Hamas a few weeks ago.

I, however, don't think it was such a good idea.

Why? Because it continues to turn Israel into a pariah state, simply. And because what's next? Is the Israeli Mossad really going view the Middle East--and the world--as an assassination ground for high valued targets? If the Israelis should have learned anything from the post-Munich run of clandestine operations in Europe and beyond, it should have been that this is simply not a viable tool for making progress... crazed junior leaders quickly rise--whatever the ranks.

If the Likud-led government in Israel really wants to make Israel a safer place they will strike a deal with the Palestinian Authority... Why? Because they are led by a bunch of weak morons who need to strike a deal to drive off Hamas and the lurking takfiries crazies.

Have a nice day.


Update: Ok, so this post is a bit dark. So, to lighten it all up a bit, check out the joke of the day. It's called, "Old Jews telling jokes."

Book publishers and the Israeli Defense Force

Question: What do publishers and the Israeli Defense Force have in common?

Answer (jokingly): They both will call the whole thing off from a Facebook leak.

Just saw this today on Haaretz. It made me think of a few friends who have advised me to keep my book leaks modest. They say publishers want to "save the good stuff."

Anyway, just another bad joke on this Wednesday afternoon.


Update: A great piece on what really happened in Tora Bora.

The look of an Israeli...

Anyone who has ever been to Israel understands that saying someone "looks like a Jew" is a non-descriptive term. You can thank the Persians, Romans and every other conquering civilization who scattered the Jewish people for this fact. Bottom line: A Jew might have "a look" depending on what country you're in, but in Israel most are so mixed that many of them have lost whatever features might be easily recognizable in Europe, for example.

I bring up all this up because Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the Dubai's police chief, said that his agents will be trained to pick out travelers suspected of "being Israeli." How? Well, the chief said that the police will "develop skills" to recognize Israelis by "physical features and the way they speak..." He went on to say that some suspects can be deported even without an accent.

So look out all you hooknosed Brits who somehow have hints of a "Jewish" nose... you might be deported next time you're in Dubai.

Ridiculous.


Update: You just have to read the NY Times version of this story... pure halarity....

The Damascene Sphinx

Before I get to my next installment of Syrian Voices, I have a bone to pick with Foreign Policy Magazine editor Blake Hounshell. I enjoy many of the musings he puts up on the FP Passport blog, but today’s characterization about Damascus is frankly off. In discussing the Leverett’s recent take on Iran he draws a parallel to Syria. Here’s what he said(see bold faced text specifically):

“Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett just got back from a trip to Tehran. They write:

“Shortly before we arrived in Tehran, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the Islamic Republic is turning into a “military dictatorship”. As we drove around Tehran, we looked hard to see a soldier anywhere on the street but did not see a single one—except for a couple at the entrance to the Behest-e Zahra cemetery just south of Tehran, where many of the Iranian soldiers killed in the Iran-Iraq War are buried. Over the years, we have spent a lot of time in a lot of Middle Eastern capitals. We have never been in one—including in Egypt and Israel—that has fewer guys in uniform on the streets than in Tehran right now.”
I'm not sure this is a good metric. You won't find a lot of soldiers on the streets in Damascus, either -- and few would argue that Syria is not a dictatorship backed by force. As the Leveretts well know, Iran's apparatus of repression contains a lot of tools that aren't "soldiers," strictly speaking, and they don't need to be standing around in uniform to be nefarious.”

Damascus, whether you are traveling in the center of the city, through Baramkeh (near the University of Damascus), Mezzeh, or even the Old City you can find plenty of soldiers with AK-47 in hand. Most of them are protecting ministry buildings. Remember, much of society is sponsored by the government, thus there is no shortage of government buildings and soldiers securing the surrounding area. Now, I should qualify this by stating that many soldiers have youthful faces and are friendly enough to engage for directions. In fact, some are reluctant to do their duty. Like Israel, Syria requires all men to serve for at least one year. However, it’s also common to find the menacing red beret wearing officers walking the streets, hanging around officer clubs, and providing a watchful eye.

I don’t even need to discuss the ubiquitous police presence, already well known in Damascus.

So, Blake I deeply disagree with your first point. I also have to take slight issue with the second point. This may be a bit nuanced, but nevertheless important to flesh out.

Syria does indeed have an authoritarian government. The leadership is protected by the overt military presence that I just mentioned. However, the regime also has considerable popular support. I would argue, and this is hard to imagine if you only walk the halls of WINEP, that domestic support for the regime is nearly as strong as it was during the 1970s when Syria prospered from massive industrialization and experienced overall economic growth. Besides evidence I have received from my own experience with Syrian friends, Syrian President Bashar al-Asad recently felt confident enough to allow Muslim Brotherhood leaders to return to Damascus last summer. Such an act was unthinkable for Syrians after the bloody events of 1982, the subsequent exile of the MB, and the change in the Syrian Constitution which outlawed membership. At that time there was a considerable challenge to the regime. One could certainly argue then that the government was primarily backed by force. But, Syria in 2010 is not Syria in 1980. Much has changed.

Please sound off if you’ve had a different experience in Syria.