Re: Armenia and the information war
^^^ Great read, thank you.
^^^ Great read, thank you.
Shameless hypocrisy watch: Turkey condemns Israel's Gaza blockade, maintains blockade of Armenia
Turkey is angry. Turkey is outraged. Turkey says the Israeli blockade of Gaza is illegal.
Well, no: blockades are a permissible tool under the laws of war, and Hamas--and therefore Gaza--is at war with Israel. (See "Clarity about the deaths of the Gaza flotilla 'peace activists.'") The blockade, by making it more difficult to obtain materials for creating rockets and explosives, has undoubtedly saved Israeli lives. This in turn has saved Palestinian lives (not that Hamas cares about that), since fewer Israeli reprisals are required.
But if the Gaza blockade were unlawful, then what conclusions would we have to draw regarding Turkey's blockade of Armenia? This has been going on much longer than the Israeli blockade of Gaza--since 1993. The Turkish blockade was a response to the Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Karabakh. Notice that Turkey isn't a party to that conflict, nor to the best of my knowledge did any treaty with Azerbaijan require its participation. Turkey simply sided with Azerbaijan and bullies Armenia because of ethnic ties (the Azeris are a Turkic people). Thus, the Turkish blockade of Armenia cannot even be justified under the laws of war.
In short, Turkey says, Your blockade is bad; my blockade is good. As Debbie Schlussel mordantly observes: "Turkey is very much in favor of blockades . . . when it involves Turkey 'defending itself' and attacking various ethnicities it hates, but not when xxxs try to defend themselves."
http://www.examiner.com/x-4814-LA-Mi...ade-of-Armenia
Turkey is angry. Turkey is outraged. Turkey says the Israeli blockade of Gaza is illegal.
Well, no: blockades are a permissible tool under the laws of war, and Hamas--and therefore Gaza--is at war with Israel. (See "Clarity about the deaths of the Gaza flotilla 'peace activists.'") The blockade, by making it more difficult to obtain materials for creating rockets and explosives, has undoubtedly saved Israeli lives. This in turn has saved Palestinian lives (not that Hamas cares about that), since fewer Israeli reprisals are required.
But if the Gaza blockade were unlawful, then what conclusions would we have to draw regarding Turkey's blockade of Armenia? This has been going on much longer than the Israeli blockade of Gaza--since 1993. The Turkish blockade was a response to the Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Karabakh. Notice that Turkey isn't a party to that conflict, nor to the best of my knowledge did any treaty with Azerbaijan require its participation. Turkey simply sided with Azerbaijan and bullies Armenia because of ethnic ties (the Azeris are a Turkic people). Thus, the Turkish blockade of Armenia cannot even be justified under the laws of war.
In short, Turkey says, Your blockade is bad; my blockade is good. As Debbie Schlussel mordantly observes: "Turkey is very much in favor of blockades . . . when it involves Turkey 'defending itself' and attacking various ethnicities it hates, but not when xxxs try to defend themselves."
http://www.examiner.com/x-4814-LA-Mi...ade-of-Armenia
Perhaps Israel will now recognize the Armenian Genocide
National security concerns sometimes distort a country's foreign policy. ("They may be bastards, but they're our bastards.") Even the most powerful nations on occasion must hold their noses and make unsavory deals and alliances. How much more so for small countries, surrounded by enemies.
The traditional friendship between Israel and Turkey, now unraveled, was based in part on Israel's willingness to yield to Turkish insistence that the Armenian-whatever-the-Turks-are-calling-what-happened-in-1915 not be given its true name--genocide. And indeed, Turkey very explicitly expected Israel to "deliver" American xxxish pressure on Congress and the president not to use the G-word. At the same time, Turkey explicitly threatened its ties with Israel to pressure American xxxry.
However, Turkey has turned to the dark side, the Islamist side. It has not been a very reliable ally for Israel for some time, and there's little reason to look to the future with optimism. The current storm over Gaza indicates that Israel cannot expect much from the Turks.
The silver lining in this dismal state of affars may be that Israel will no longer feel constrained to pretend and protect Turkey. Israel's refusal to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide has always been a stain on its honor. With no diplomatic rationale for continuing to do so, we may hope that Israel will find its voice--and American xxxry will feel ungagged--on this important human rights issue.
http://www.examiner.com/x-4814-LA-Mi...enian-Genocide
National security concerns sometimes distort a country's foreign policy. ("They may be bastards, but they're our bastards.") Even the most powerful nations on occasion must hold their noses and make unsavory deals and alliances. How much more so for small countries, surrounded by enemies.
The traditional friendship between Israel and Turkey, now unraveled, was based in part on Israel's willingness to yield to Turkish insistence that the Armenian-whatever-the-Turks-are-calling-what-happened-in-1915 not be given its true name--genocide. And indeed, Turkey very explicitly expected Israel to "deliver" American xxxish pressure on Congress and the president not to use the G-word. At the same time, Turkey explicitly threatened its ties with Israel to pressure American xxxry.
However, Turkey has turned to the dark side, the Islamist side. It has not been a very reliable ally for Israel for some time, and there's little reason to look to the future with optimism. The current storm over Gaza indicates that Israel cannot expect much from the Turks.
The silver lining in this dismal state of affars may be that Israel will no longer feel constrained to pretend and protect Turkey. Israel's refusal to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide has always been a stain on its honor. With no diplomatic rationale for continuing to do so, we may hope that Israel will find its voice--and American xxxry will feel ungagged--on this important human rights issue.
http://www.examiner.com/x-4814-LA-Mi...enian-Genocide
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