In recent weeks we’ve seen Bush Administration officials, from Dick Cheney down to Matt Bryza, abandon even the pretense of a balanced, honest-broker role for the United States in the Nagorno Karabagh conflict.
In public statemen’s, here in Washington and in Baku, they’ve gone over the top ‘s even by their standards – in siding with Azerbaijan’s efforts to retake Nagorno Karabagh.
Dick Cheney said in Baku that his Administration prioritizes the principle of territorial integrity, which he’s conveniently and consistently misapplied to the Nagorno Karabagh issue, over the basic American ideal of self-determination.
Matt Bryza has said that, as a precondition for peace, Armenia must accept that Nagorno Karabagh remains legally part of Azerbaijan.
These commen’s would have put the Administration on the side of the British during the American Revolution.
- Pressuring our Founding Fathers not to challenge the British Empire’s territorial integrity.
- Urging them to hold off on signing the Declaration of Independence because the colonies rightfully remained legally part of a foreign power.
In their last months in office, these officials are acting a lot less like responsible stewards of U.S. policy and more like surrogates for the Azerbaijani Embassy, it’s K Street lobbyists, and energy industry allies.
It’s no coincidence that Azerbaijan’s President, hearing this outright cheerleading from Washington, has pledged an all out political, economic, and military offensive against Armenia.
America stands for something better than defending Stalin’s borders or Azerbaijan’s desire to re-subjugate a free people. Something better than trading in our core values of self-determination, democracy, and human rights.
We stand ‘s as Americans – for the proposition that democracy can serve as the only durable foundation for lasting peace; For the fundamentally American ideal that all people deserve the right to live free of foreign tyranny ‘sto live under a government of their own choosing.
If you share our stand, visit the ANCA website–www.anca.org to join with tens of thousands of your fellow citizens in voicing your views directly to the White House. Thank you.
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Editor’s Note: Aram Hamparian is the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America. The article was also delivered in remarks to the Armenian American community in a video posted on Youtube.
