Hypocrisy

> Secretaries Albright and Cohen Should be
> Removed from Genocide Task Force
>
> By Harut Sassounian
> Publisher, The California Courier
>
> How hypocritical of Madeleine Albright and William Cohen, former
Secretaries of State and Defense, to announce the formation of a task force
on prevention of genocide, when two months ago they wrote a letter to the
U.S. Congress against a resolution on the Armenian Genocide!
> One would have thought that genocide denialists would not be the most
qualified people to lead an effort on averting future genocides. Yet, this
is exactly what happened last week.
> Albright and Cohen shamelessly stood in front of TV cameras at the
National Press Club in Washington on November 13 to declare that they are
co-chairing a new "Genocide Prevention Task Force." The other members of the
task force are Sen. John Danforth, Sen. Tom Daschle, Amb. Stuart Eizenstat,
Michael Gerson, Secretary Dan Glickman, Secretary Jack Kemp, Judge Gabrielle
Kirk McDonald, Amb. Tom Pickering, Julia Taft, Vin Weber and General Anthony
Zinni. This effort is jointly sponsored by the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and the United States
Institute of Peace. The task force has five working groups dealing with
early warning, pre-crisis engagement, preventive diplomacy, military
intervention, and international institutions. It is expected to issue its
report in December 2008.
> Cohen told members of the media with a straight face that the task force
is going "to look certainly to the past for lessons" in order to prepare a
set of recommendations to the U.S. government on how best to respond to
future threats of genocide. He stated that mass violence is "inimical to
human behavior, to human decency, [and] to our sense of humanity. We can no
longer live in a state of denial or willful indifference." These bold words
are from a man whose company, The Cohen Group, is affiliated with DLA Piper,
one of the major lobbying firms hired by the Turkish government, at a cost
of $100,000 per month, to deny the facts of the Armenian Genocide.
> As soon as the two former high-ranking officials finished delivering
their opening remarks at last week's press conference, they were confronted
by skeptical members of the press and Armenian activists who questioned
their sincerity and pointed out their hypocrisy. This accusatory exchange
was covered extensively by CNN, AFP, AP, and the Jerusalem Post.
> Albright and Cohen were asked by Aram Hamparian (ANCA/Armenian
> Weekly): "How do you reconcile your work in trying to build a moral
American sentiment, an unconditional consensus against genocide, when just
very recently both of you signed letters urging America not to recognize the
Armenian Genocide?" Albright, forgetting her earlier words about learning
from the past, quickly shifted the mission of the group to the future.
Carefully avoiding using the term "Armenian Genocide," she acknowledged that
"terrible things happened to the Armenians, a tragedy. While we were
Secretaries, we recognized that mass killings and forced exile had taken
place, and we also said that the U.S. policy has been all along for
reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia on this particular issue." She
also said that her earlier letter to Congress against the genocide
resolution merely questioned whether "this was an appropriate time to raise
the issue." Secretary Cohen, in his turn, referred to the Armenian Genocide
as "the human suffering that took place between 1915 and 1923." He said he
was concerned that the Armenian resolution "might result in reactions on the
part of the Turkish government that could place our sons and daughters in
greater jeopardy [in Iraq]." The two officials gave evasive answers when
Elizabeth Chouldjian (ANCA/Asbarez) asked whether they were advocating that
"for political expediency purposes we shouldn't be taking action on future
genocides because of what it could mean to U.S. interests."
> Russell Mokhiber, editor of Corporate Crime Reporter, then pointedly
asked if Albright and Cohen were in fact saying: "If our friends do it, it?s
not genocide; if our enemies do it, it is genocide. If you are going to
define genocide by who does it, not by what it is, your task force is in
trouble."
> Exposing his ignorance on the issue of the Armenian Genocide, Secretary
Cohen said: "I don't know that the UN has declared that genocide occurred in
the Armenian situation." He must not be aware that back in 1985 the UN
Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities,
by a vote of 15-1, adopted a report which included a section acknowledging
the Armenian Genocide. "The experience of the Armenians does indeed conform
with the UN Convention," Nareg Safarian (The Armenian Reporter) shot back at
Cohen and added: "The two of you have personally worked toward ensuring that
the United States government does not take a stand recognizing the Armenian
Genocide. However, taking on this new role, how can you reconcile your
positions and the U.S. foreign policy?"
> Given their repeated attempts to block the reaffirmation of the Armenian
Genocide, both during and after their tenure in government, Secretaries
Albright and Cohen should be removed from the leadership of the Genocide
Prevention Task Force. They have undermined their own credibility and lost
the moral standing to speak on the topic of genocide. One cannot deny a
genocide and then turn around and act as a defender of its victims.
Furthermore, Secretary Cohen has a personal conflict of interest due to his
firm's affiliation with a company that lobbies for Turkey against the
congressional resolution on the Armenian Genocide. This fact alone should
disqualify him from membership, let alone leadership, of the genocide
prevention group.
> The task force has already backed down from its declared position on
another controversial issue. During the November 13 press conference, in
response to a question on whether the Task Force would dare investigate
allegations of mass violation of human rights in Israel, Cohen told the
reporter: "On the issue of whether genocide is taking place in the West Bank
and Gaza, certainly that will be part of [what] the task force [is] looking
at." However, just hours after that bold announcement, Albright and Cohen
changed their tune by saying that the task force will not "determine which
situations, past or present, including the West Bank and Gaza, constitute
genocide." Arthur Berger, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's senior
advisor for external affairs, was reported by the Jerusalem Post as saying:
"He did not expect Israel to be singled out or dwelled on by the task
force."
> Armenian-American groups in Washington should request a meeting with
members of the task force as well as its three sponsoring organizations, the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy,
and the United States Institute of Peace, to request that Albright and Cohen
be dismissed. Moreover, they should ask that a qualified Armenian-American
be appointed as a member of the task force.
> Readers are urged to convey their comments/complaints to: Andrew
Hollinger of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, phone: (202-488-6133) and
e-mail: ahollinger@ushmm.org; Lauren Sucher of the United States Institute
of Peace (202-429-3822) and e-mail: info@usip.org; and Amb. Ronald Neumann
of the American Academy of Diplomacy (202-331-3721) and e-mail:
academy@academyofdiplomacy.org.