The Armenian Genocide Bill and the Turkish Reaction in Iraq

Tragic as the fate of the Armenians may have been in the aftermath of World War I, the fact remains that the issue is more than half a century old. Turkish-Armenian conciliation might serve an important purpose, as might any effort to reconcile Armenians, Turks, and Azerbaijanis. The dead, however, are not grateful, and stirring up new sources of ethnic and sectarian tension are the last thing the region needs.

This is particularly true when the end result is to create problems for the living. Pushing Turkey to be more hostile to Armenia is scarcely a useful goal, but Iraq and the Kurds are affected as well — along with vital US interests. As a result, the net impact of the Armenian genocide bill may well be to create yet another pointless regional source of anger against the US — this time coming from the Congress instead of the Administration.