USA - USA - USA

So the US Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives has decided to declare the mass killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a 'genocide'. Well, they should know all about genocide.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/11/wturkey111.xml

Before we start on the theme of glass houses, let's spend a few moments looking at this from Turkey's point of view.

1. This indefensible massacre happened in 1915, at which time most of the 'civilised' world was being thwarted at its own attempts at genocide by the inconvenient fact that the other side had guns and poison gas too.

2. In 1915 modern Turkey didn’t exist. The Ottoman Empire was superseded in the early 1920s by the modern Turkish republic, a secular and progressive government that looked to the West, not the East for it’s political lead. So are the children to atone for the sins of the fathers, even if they ousted said fathers in a popular revolution?

3. Let’s not even start on the Native Americans.

4. Whether the massacre was a state orchestrated attempt to systematically exterminate the Armenians as a people is still a matter of debate – until this is decided it cannot be officially labelled genocide (though I am reliably informed that whatever the outcome, the dead will remain dead)

This [misnomer] House of Representatives[/misnomer] committee is hardly representative – even George W Bush himself opposed the motion.

Yet again we see a privileged minority with an agenda driving US foreign policy. Remember the “With us or against us” speech? Clearly the Committee has clear views on where they wish to herd the Turks. Add to this the demonisation of Turkey that is being deviously pedalled by elements of the EU, and we can see a clear path (to the door) being shown to Turkey. And that path leads to another Islamic state, because it's no fun being a democracy in isolation when there's a top spot in a leading team on offer.

The point is that the Committee in question realise this. They realise that their own purposes (and pockets) are best served by creating and sustaining division. And there you have the full horror of the Orwellian vision. Keep us at war. Keep us sacred. And we may not even notice that suddenly we aren’t free any more.