Mr. President ---Stop the Apologizing Stuff Already!

We all have seen President Obama make trips to Europe, the Middle East and to China giving brilliant speeches and trying to convince everyone the United States is "Mr Nice Guy". He has been apologizing for all America's past 'bullying' and our 'imperialistic' tendencies (especially under the previous administration). Personally, I have gotten pretty fed-up with this whimpy and distorted image of America, especially since most of the things he is apologizing for are things that I think we should actually be bragging about instead. Anyway, it seems he has just about run out of things we have done that we need to apologize for. Now he, and the Democrat controlled Congress, have decided to go apologize to the Armenians. Oh, and they are not apologizing for anything America did. They are apologizing for what the Ottoman Empire did to Armenia 100 years ago!


It seems that there has traditionally been a lot of racial hatred between the Turks and the Armenians. During and just after World War I the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Turkey at that time, committed what has come to be known as the Armenian Holocaust. It was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population. By most accounts, it was very much exactly what the Germans did to the Jews 30 years later in Europe.


The Turks are very sensitive about it and today the current government, which took over after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, refuses to even acknowledge that there ever was such a holocaust. They claim it simply never happened and that the Armenians made up the story to help secure an independent homeland. In response the Armenians have gone to the United Nations and to several countries asking for official recognition that the "Armenian Holocaust" took place --and that Turkey therefore owes Armenia reparations (that all-mighty dollar bill always seems to be involved, doesn't it?). Both sides are passionate about their positions on the issue.

So, now comes the United States and the Democrats (who having already apologized for everything we have done for the last 100 years from slavery to not having foot washing stations in the national parks for the 3 Muslims who complained about discrimination) decide it is time to take the side of the poor underdogs in this argument, the tiny country of Armenia which has been so abused by those big bad Turks for all this time.


There is a real problem with this. Turkey is a very good and reliable ally of the United States, and has been for a long time. More importantly, they have several strategically important Air Bases in that part of the world that they are allowing our military to use. 70% of the food, equipment and military supplies that go into Afghanistan and Iraq pass through Turkey! More to the point, the Turkish Government has said that if Congress passes a resolution recognizing the Armenian Holocaust and condemning Turkey, it will "jeopardize our diplomatic relations".

What all this means is that, if the President and Congress go forward with this resolution, there is a very real chance that Turkey could stop allowing us to use their Air Bases and Naval Ports and seriously endanger our ability to supply our troops engaged in fighting 2 wars!

Mr. President, Stop the Apologizing Already! We are sick and tired of being portrayed as bad guys. We are fed-up with your weakening of our national defense to the point that many Americans are beginning to wonder if you actually want us to loose in Iraq and Afghanistan. In this case the Armenian Holocaust happened one hundred years ago and it had nothing to do with us. Why jeopardize our relations with a close ally? Is it just to acknowledge that one government, which has not existed for 7 decades, committed atrocities all those years ago? Look, Mr. President, this is a noble thought. It may someday be the right thing to do. But this has been going on since the early 20th century, surely it can wait until after we get our troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq. Use some common sense, please!