Is this the right time to right old wrongs?

Is this the right time to address the proper labeling of a tragedy that happened during World War I? Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi thinks so. She is not backing down from the vote to properly label the death of about 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide, and that has caused controversy between the American government and one of its key allies in the war in Iraq, Turkey, which does not want to be associated with the word.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted Wednesday 27-21 to approve a non-binding measure that declares the deportation of almost 2 million Armeniens in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 "systematic" and "deliberate." The measure goes on to say that the US believes the deliberation deportation of the Armenians amounted to "genocide," resulting in the death of most of the people. Now Pelosi is pushing for a vote on a House Resolution stating the same thing.

When asked why this is the time to bring the matter to a vote, Pelosi said, "There's never been a good time," but right now is the best time to take action "because many of the survivors are very old" and they deserve to be recognized while they are living. The presence of Armenians in Turkey still causes tension, and the move by Congress has changed the face of the relationship between the country and the US, who relies on Turkey as a transport route for supplies needed by the troops in Iraq.

But others are arguing that after so long, establishing the correct terminology is irrelevant, and may do more harm than good. The Bush Administration is against the vote, stressing the importance of keeping US relationships in the middle east as friendly as possible.

Turkey's General Yasar Buyukanit expressed similar sentiments regarding the resolution. "If this resolution passed in the committee passes the House as well, our military ties with the U.S. will never be the same again," he said, mirroring the statements made by the White House. That sort of back and forth communication pattern is typical during tense periods pre-crisis. If the resolution comes to a vote and indeed passes the House, the communication will likely become even more intense and accusatory between the two countries. Hopefully Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is prepared to handled a possible crisis that may result from these tensions.

Source:http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/14/us.turkey/index.html?iref=newssearch