Comments on: Oom Kentren Hayer? http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/2008/10/09/oom-kentren-hayer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=oom-kentren-hayer n. the principle of good order<br /><br /> "Observe the strange inversion of all order and sense! Dignity debased; how vilely is the function of a consul prostituted!" ~The Craftsman Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:25:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Daniel Larison http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/2008/10/09/oom-kentren-hayer/comment-page-1/#comment-15127 Daniel Larison Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:58:31 +0000 http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2008/10/09/oom-kentren-hayer/#comment-15127 The Turks will still have that leverage regardless, but because Obama will feel obliged to overcome a reputation of being dovish and for being inexperienced he will yield to Turkish demands and Centcom requests to scrap the resolution. He isn't going to want to appear to damage a major military alliance and be perceived as "endangering" soldiers in his first year, or his second year or in any year of his Presidency. Under his best-case withdrawal scenario, tens of thousands of Americans will remain in Iraq for the foreseeable future. I support the resolution because it shouldn't be up to a foreign government whether or not our Congress passes a resolution or not; the resolution also happens to acknowledge historical reality that Ankara insists on denying. The point is that there is always some excuse made to kill the resolution, and every time it comes up Ankara does its best to make sure that it is scrapped, so it won't make any difference when they bring up the resolution. Resisting that pressure would be an impressive break with Obama's habit of yielding to political pressure. It would also be the right thing to do. The Turks will still have that leverage regardless, but because Obama will feel obliged to overcome a reputation of being dovish and for being inexperienced he will yield to Turkish demands and Centcom requests to scrap the resolution. He isn’t going to want to appear to damage a major military alliance and be perceived as “endangering” soldiers in his first year, or his second year or in any year of his Presidency. Under his best-case withdrawal scenario, tens of thousands of Americans will remain in Iraq for the foreseeable future.

I support the resolution because it shouldn’t be up to a foreign government whether or not our Congress passes a resolution or not; the resolution also happens to acknowledge historical reality that Ankara insists on denying. The point is that there is always some excuse made to kill the resolution, and every time it comes up Ankara does its best to make sure that it is scrapped, so it won’t make any difference when they bring up the resolution. Resisting that pressure would be an impressive break with Obama’s habit of yielding to political pressure. It would also be the right thing to do.

]]> By: Turbulence http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/2008/10/09/oom-kentren-hayer/comment-page-1/#comment-15126 Turbulence Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:49:48 +0000 http://www.amconmag.com/larison/2008/10/09/oom-kentren-hayer/#comment-15126 <i>Because he will be coming into office with the (undeserved) reputation of being too dovish, and because of his truly short time in office at the federal level, it would be incredible and entirely out of character for a new President Obama to risk starting off his administration with a move that will alienate Turkey. I find the idea of being blackmailed by an “ally” in such a fashion to be disgusting</i> I'm confused because there seems to be a contradiction here. If the reason Obama can't recognize genocide is because Turkey has leverage on us, then why is short time in federal office or his dovish reputation relevant? I mean, if he had been in the Senate for 20 years and was regarded as much more hawish, Turkey would still have leverage, right? <i>I said earlier this year on this blog and in my column, and I would support Obama if he pressed ahead with genocide recognition, but for all the reasons I laid out earlier this week about how Obama operates I think we all know that this is not going to happen. It would be genuinely impressive if he proved me wrong on this point.</i> Why would you support it though and why would you be impressed? If Obama recognized genocide early in his Presidency, that would imply making real sacrifices that would harm our foreign policy, yes? So why would you be impressed if he traded away practical benefits for a largely symbolic statement? Another thing I don't get is that the genocide was many years ago, but Turkey's leverage won't last forever. If Obama pushes for recognition in the third or fourth year of his Presidency, after American troops have left Iraq, wouldn't that be a good outcome? Because he will be coming into office with the (undeserved) reputation of being too dovish, and because of his truly short time in office at the federal level, it would be incredible and entirely out of character for a new President Obama to risk starting off his administration with a move that will alienate Turkey. I find the idea of being blackmailed by an “ally” in such a fashion to be disgusting

I’m confused because there seems to be a contradiction here. If the reason Obama can’t recognize genocide is because Turkey has leverage on us, then why is short time in federal office or his dovish reputation relevant? I mean, if he had been in the Senate for 20 years and was regarded as much more hawish, Turkey would still have leverage, right?

I said earlier this year on this blog and in my column, and I would support Obama if he pressed ahead with genocide recognition, but for all the reasons I laid out earlier this week about how Obama operates I think we all know that this is not going to happen. It would be genuinely impressive if he proved me wrong on this point.

Why would you support it though and why would you be impressed? If Obama recognized genocide early in his Presidency, that would imply making real sacrifices that would harm our foreign policy, yes? So why would you be impressed if he traded away practical benefits for a largely symbolic statement?

Another thing I don’t get is that the genocide was many years ago, but Turkey’s leverage won’t last forever. If Obama pushes for recognition in the third or fourth year of his Presidency, after American troops have left Iraq, wouldn’t that be a good outcome?

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