News & Propaganda: October 29

Friday, October 29, 2010 

It's starting to get a bit frosty here in the northern Rockies. While we haven't had more than a dusting of snow in town yet (a far cry from last year's first fleeting snowfall on September 30!), the mountains all have a generous covering of snow now.



Meanwhile in Turkey, today is "Republic Day," the anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Kutlu olsun.
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And on that note, here's your N & P:


US & World

Joe Biden gets caught on video claiming the Armenian president, Serge Sarkisian, had called the Obama administration to ask them to back off of recognition of the Armenian genocide.

According to the video, Biden says that Sarkisian told the Obama administration to not force the issue while Armenia and Turkey are negotiating.
 



My sense is that Biden is lying, trying to convince an Armenian-American (the person with whom he is speaking on the video, which was apparently taped surreptitiously) that the Obama administration is refraining from acting on the genocide issue only because the Armenian government is telling them to hold off.

This seems implausible for two reasons. First of all, every US administration, whether Republican or Democratic, has always resisted recognizing the genocide because of what this recognition would do vis-a-vis relations with Turkey. It's not like it would really require the intervention of the Armenian government to prevent a US administration from recognizing moves in the Congress to officially recognize the events of 1915 as a genocide.

Secondly, it seems very difficult to believe that the Armenian government would be lobbying the Obama administration on behalf of Turkey—particularly given the way in which the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, which was getting all sorts of attention a little over a year ago, has petered out since then. Indeed, my sense would be that the Armenian government would welcome a bit of extra pressure placed on Turkey.
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Murdering the evidence: former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz has been sentenced to death in an Iraqi court—a ruling that some people have characterized as an expression of a desire to silence members of Saddam Hussein's inner circle who may know too much about Iraq's dealings under the Hussein regime.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and others have begun urging Iraq to lessen the sentence.
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On the public's fear: Jürgen Habermas has an op-ed piece in the NYT on rising anti-Muslim xenophobia in Germany.  

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Russia and former USSR

Suspension of disbelief: Azerbaijan gripped by election fever.
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Get out while you still can: disgraced former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov applies for UK visa.
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So happy to hear: "Tatar farmers are glad their products are in demand."
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I'll believe it when I see it: Medvedev seeks Karabakh deal by December
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Machine guns, priests, and pissed-off parishioners join the fight over Moscow-area church
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Turkey and SE Europe

I laughed a number of times while reading this article on the House of Humor and Satire in Gabrovo, Bulgaria.
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Turkish national curling team's maiden voyage ends with shame, scandal, after charges of hard partying and sexual assault in Scotland.
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Keep us out of this, please: Turkey attempting to resist getting sucked into missile shield idiocy.

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Circle your calendar: Allen Iverson to begin Turkish basketball career the week of Nov. 8.
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I hope you enjoyed your N & P!

Posted by Jim Meyer at 10/29/2010 8:05 AM
Categories: News and Propaganda

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