Bush's Nominee for new ambassador to Armenia has Publicly Denied the Genocide.

[Joseph]

White House Slashes Armenia Aid, Breaks Military Parity Agreement


WASHINGTON—President George W. Bush, in his last budget proposal to Congress, continued his Administration’s track record of recommending dramatic reductions in U.S. economic aid to Armenia and seeking to tilt the military aid balance in the region in favor of Azerbaijan, reported the ANCA.

The President’s budget recommends cutting U.S. economic aid to Armenia from the FY2008 estimated level of $58 million to a proposed FY2009 level of $24 million—a cut of nearly 60 percent and $11 million less than his FY2008 request. This dramatic reduction to Armenia, a nation economically blockaded by Turkey and Azerbaijan, takes place against the backdrop of assistance proposals to other independent states of the former Soviet Union that are either remaining constant or experiencing increases.

According to the President’s figures, Georgia, for example, would receive $52 million, while Azerbaijan, which is collecting billions in oil revenues, is set to receive $19.5 million. The President’s budget proposal does not include any specific assistance figures for Nagorno-Karabakh.

The President’s budget, in yet another clear breach of the White House’s agreement with Congress in 2001, seeks to tilt the military aid balance toward Azerbaijan. His proposal includes three times as much International Military Education and Training (IMET) aid to Azerbaijan ($900,000) than Armenia ($300,000). Foreign Military Financing is kept constant for both countries at $3 million. No specific dollar amounts are allocated for either Armenia or Azerbaijan in the President’s request for Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Program (NADR) funds.

The President’s budget estimates that, in actual practice, the U.S. government spent three times more IMET assistance in Azerbaijan ($952,000) than Armenia ($286,000) during FY2008, despite the fact that the U.S. House specifically stated that equal amounts of IMET aid ($500,000) should be given to both nations.

“The President, in his last year in office, has unfortunately chosen to leave a legacy of eight straight years of proposing sharp reductions in Freedom Support Act aid to Armenia. Even worse, he is once again seeking to tip the military aid balance in favor of Azerbaijan at a time when leaders in Baku are escalating their threats to renew their aggression against Armenians,” said ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian. “If the President’s figures are accepted, he will have succeeded, during his time in office, in presiding over the reduction of U.S. economic assistance to Armenia from more than $90 million when he took office to less than $25 million.”

The State-Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriation Committees will now review the budget and each draft their own versions of the FY2009 foreign assistance bill.


The agreement to maintain parity in U.S. military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan was struck between the White House and Congress in 2001, in the wake of Congressional action granting the President the authority to waive Section 907 restrictions on aid to Azerbaijan. The ANCA has vigorously defended this principle, stressing that a tilt in military spending toward Azerbaijan would destabilize the region, emboldening the Azerbaijani leadership to continue their threats to impose a military solution to the Karabakh conflict. More broadly, the ANCA has underscored that breaching the parity agreement would reward the leadership of Azerbaijan for obstructing the peace process and undermine the role of the U.S. as an impartial mediator of the Karabakh conflict.

http://www.hairenik.com/armenianweekly/fpg02160801.htm

Not surprised by the decrease in aid. That has been the trend in the last few years and eventually all such aid will end.

Armenia is also a beneficiary of the Millennium Challenge Fund which includes significantly more money. The AAA and ANCA will fight for more aid and probably succeed, as well as re-instating military parity. It happens every year. The money is almost purely symbolic and I will explain how it is not every really used for Armenia's benefit.

It should be noted that most of the earmarked "aid" money stays in Washington as it is used to pay DC based consultants a.k.a "Beltway Bandits" such as Deloitte, DAI, Chemonics, PA Consulting, Bering Point to consult on various projects Armenia may not need and may not have asked for.

Most of the money goes to pay the salaries and living allowances of US ex-pats working for those companies in Armenia. These US citizens are usually treating the experience as a cultural exchange and at various time advising the Armenian Gov't on assorted projects that may or may not make economic sense.

[Gavur]

A Good insight thanks Joseph.

[Joseph]

A Good insight thanks Joseph.

You're very welcome.

[Joseph]

White House names new Ambassador to Armenia
25.03.2008 14:00 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Bush Administration has submitted to the Armenian government the name of Marie L. Yovanovitch as the next Ambassador to Armenia, according to several Armenian and American reliable sources, writes Harut Sassounian, The California Courier publisher

She is currently serving as U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic.

This is the first step in diplomatic protocol in the nomination of a new U.S. Ambassador to a foreign country. After receiving Armenia’s consent, Pres. Bush would then officially nominate Ms. Yovanovitch as Ambassador to Armenia and submit her name to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and subsequently to the full Senate for final confirmation.

This will be Bush administration’s second attempt to nominate an ambassador to Armenia after its recall of Amb. John Evans for using the term Armenian Genocide.

An earlier attempt to nominate Amb. Richard Hoagland to replace Amb. Evans was blocked by Sen. Robert Menendez (Dem.-N.J.), to protest the dismissal of Amb. Evans and to object to Amb. Hoagland’s poor choice of words in responding to Senators’ questions on the validity of the Armenian Genocide.

[Joseph]

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/v-printerfriendly/story/500126.html

Bush's Armenia nominee may face genocide question

By Michael Doyle / Bee Washington Bureau
04/01/08 22:58:28

WASHINGTON -- President Bush is trying again to fill a long-vacant ambassador's seat to Armenia -- a posting that has become entangled in U.S. politics.
In a move that could either revive a Capitol Hill conflict or reveal that passions have cooled, Bush has announced plans to nominate career diplomat Marie L. Yovanovitch as the ambassador to Armenia.

If she is confirmed, she will replace the previous ambassador, John Evans, who was recalled in 2006 after he gave speeches in California endorsing claims of an Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

Those claims inflame sentiment in Turkey.

Last fall, Turkish officials protested bitterly after the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a resolution that condemned the killings of Armenians from 1915 to 1923 as genocide. Democrats withdrew support for the resolution after President Bush called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to ask that it not be considered by the full House of Representatives.

The collapse of the House resolution means that the Yovanovitch nomination may become this year's highest-profile issue for Armenian-Americans who have championed the genocide issue for decades.

It also could become mired in the U.S. presidential campaign.

Armenian-Americans make up sizable voting blocs in California and New Jersey, and Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which will consider Yovanovitch's nomination.

A 1980 graduate of Princeton who later earned a master's degree at the National War College, Yovanovitch has been serving since the summer of 2005 as the U.S. ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic. She previously served in Russia.

The United States last had a permanent representative in Armenia two years ago. Evans said he was recalled from the post early after he told audiences in Fresno, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area that Armenians were the victims of genocide.

Evans said his characterization displeased Turkey and his State Department superiors. Turkey maintains that the word "genocide" mischaracterizes a complicated war in which many people died on both sides.

"Armenian-Americans have attempted to extricate and isolate their history from the complex circumstances in which their ancestors were embroiled," the Turkish Embassy declared in a statement last year. "In so doing, they describe a world populated only by white-hatted heroes and black-hatted villains."

The unsettled question for Yovanovitch is whether she can avoid the fate of Bush's last nominee, career diplomat Richard Hoagland.

Armenian-American activists and their Capitol Hill allies stymied Hoagland's nomination. He repeatedly ducked the word "genocide" during his June 2006 Senate confirmation hearing, opting instead for words such as "tragedy" and "horrific."

The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (202)383-0006.

[Joseph]

Senator Menendez warns to block Bush’s new pick for ambassador to Armenia
25.04.2008 16:50 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, who two years ago blocked the nomination of Richard Hoagland for U.S. ambassador to Armenia, said he will do the same if President George W. Bush’s new ambassadorial nominee also fails to use proper wording for the Armenian Genocide

The United States has not been not represented in the Armenian capital at the ambassadorial level since May 2006 when Bush fired John Evans, who used the term ‘genocide,’ to describe the massacre of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turkey in 1915-1923.

In March, Bush nominated Marie L. Yovanovitch, another career diplomat, for Yerevan, Turkish Daily News reports.

Senator Menendez made it clear that he believes the U.S. ambassador to Yerevan should characterize the killings as Genocide.

"I intend to ask the same tough questions to the designate as her confirmation process reaches the Senate,” Menendez said. “I hope Ms. Yovanovitch would respond to the questions in a satisfactory way. If not, I will not hesitate to place a hold."

Meanwhile, the Turkish newspaper mentions that still “if Yovanovitch by any chance says ‘genocide,’ then Washington will get into deep trouble with Turkey.”

[imported_crusader1492]

Meanwhile, the Turkish newspaper mentions that still “if Yovanovitch by any chance says ‘genocide,’ then Washington will get into deep trouble with Turkey.”

Deep trouble with Turkey?

I wish they would elaborate on exactly what this "deep trouble" will be. I also wish Washington would give Turkey a chance to follow through on these threats by calling their bluff and using, unambiguosly, the word GENOCIDE.

Also, congratulations to the principled Senator Menendez, who will not enable Turkey's Genocide Denial machine.

[Joseph]

Deep trouble with Turkey?

I wish they would elaborate on exactly what this "deep trouble" will be. I also wish Washington would give Turkey a chance to follow through on these threats by calling their bluff and using, unambiguosly, the word GENOCIDE.

Also, congratulations to the principled Senator Menendez, who will not enable Turkey's Genocide Denial machine.

You're right. Let's see if they bite the hands that feeds. If the Turks are willing to let this issue cause a divide between them and the west than so be it.

[imported_Strabo]

Meanwhile, the Turkish newspaper mentions that still “if Yovanovitch by any chance says ‘genocide,’ then Washington will get into deep trouble with Turkey.”

I sometimes wonder if Turkey has something it can pin on the USA, a crime from the Cold War days perhaps.

[Joseph]

U.S surrenders to 90-year denial campaign by Turkish government
29.04.2008 12:04 GMT+04:00

http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=25931

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On April 23rd, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) and Genocide Watch President, Dr. Greg Stanton, gave keynote remarks at the Capitol Hill Observance of the Armenian Genocide, organized by the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues.

Citing the House Foreign Affairs Committee passage last year of the Armenian Genocide resolution, Stanton explained that by postponing a full House vote, "Again the United States surrendered to the ninety-year campaign of denial by the government of Turkey. The State Department and the White House have continued the cowardly policies of every Secretary of State since Lansing who have considered it more important to placate the Turkish government than to be truthful about history."

Dr. Stanton went on to explain the eight stages of genocide and the dangerous cost of genocide denial both to the victims and the perpetrators. He described the benefits of genocide recognition, stating that "telling the truth would ultimately be good for U.S.-Turkish relations, because they would no longer be based on diplomatic lies." Passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, he noted, would also "pay tribute to America’s first international human rights movement. The Foreign Service Officers and prominent individuals such as Theodore Roosevelt, Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, and Cleveland Dodge, who did so much to help the Armenians, exemplify America’s legacy of moral leadership, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).