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John Murtha Retreats from Genocide Resolution
by David Roknich Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007 at 7:39 PM
dogspot@electromagnet.us

Even as the US joins hands with Turkey in continuing projects of oppression, the Democratic majority in congress has backed down from their stand on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, thanks to the efforts of Pittsburgh Congressman John Murtha.

Yesterday, I faxed a letter to Rep. John Murtha encouraging him to reconsider his stance on the Armenian Genocide. I would have emailed him, but he ONLY ACCEPTS EMAIL FROM CONSTITUENTS.

Use this online form,
http://capwiz.com/fconl/mail/?id=511&type=CO&state=PA
and choose the last check box: "compose your own letter"

Shortly after Speaker Pelosi decided to bring this long-delayed resolution to the house floor, Murtha publicly sounded off about the poor timing of the resolution. It seems that Murtha and others retreated as soon as they were accused by the administration of "sabotaging our efforts in Iraq". Murtha agrees with Bush that we need Turkey as an ally.

Turkey continues to oppress the Armenian minority that lives within their borders, and does not reject the use of genocide as a policy tool. As recently as January 2007, Hrant Dink, a journalist of Armenian descent, was asasinated with full complicity of the Turkish police after decades of official harrasment, which far exceeded the bounds of human decency. The details of his life-long persecution are documented in detail in wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrant_Dink

I will include a few excerpts of his story at this end of this post.

Here is the letter I sent to John Murtha, whose career has skyrocketed thanks to the support of our current speaker.
In exchange for her support, he has returned his cowardice, on an issue of pivotal importance, and the genocide continues to expand, sopported by US taxpayers.

Dear Mr. Murtha,

23 nations have already approved resolutions that condemn the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Turks, and there should be nothing exceptional or dramatic about the US signing on to what is a perfectly normal and rational expression of human concern.

The Turks have expressed a desire on many occasions to "wipe out the Kurds completely" and recently have been held in check only by a promise of the spoils a war waged against the Iraqi people at the expense of the US taxpayer.

If passage of a resolution condemning genocide would indeed alienate an essential ally, and undermine our efforts in Iraq, perhaps we should reconsider exactly what those efforts are, and own up to our acts of genocide in Iraq that have driven 8 Million Iraqis out of their own country, and destabilized the entire region.

Thank you so much Mr. Murtha for representing the conscience of the American people.

David Roknich,

DOGSPOT

and here are a few quotes from wikpedia, as promised above:

As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos , Dink was a prominent member of the Armenian minority in Turkey. Dink was best known for advocating Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in Turkey; he was often critical of both Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide, and of the Armenian diaspora's campaign for its international recognition. Dink was prosecuted three times for denigrating Turkishness, while receiving numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists.

Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in January 2007, by Ogün Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist. While Samast has since been taken into custody, pictures of the alleged assassin flanked by smiling Turkish police and gendarmerie, posing with the killer in front of the Turkish flag, have since surfaced. The photos created a scandal in Turkey, prompting a spate of investigations and the removal from office of those involved.

Numerous links and references are included in the original article.

-dr

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THIS IS LOCAL!
by Roknich Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007 at 1:25 AM
roknich (at) electromagnet.us

This is a call to constituents of John Murtha to send him email on a timely issue. Why is it sitting under SPAM? Please move this story UP TO THE LOCAL SECTION, and remove the 2 obvious spam comments above. THANKS

electromagnet.us/dogspot