July 17, 2006 - 18:22 AMT
Los Angeles Times Calls on Senate to Block Hoagland Nomination
A policy editorial published today by the Los Angeles Times «Speak no evil?», the largest newspaper in the Western United States, marks a major and very public setback for the U.S. Department of State's increasingly untenable policy of complicity in Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The editorial sharply criticizes the Bush Administration's decision to fire the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, for truthfully discussing the Armenian Genocide.
Noting that half of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has already raised concerns about this matter, the editorial board calls on the panel to block the nomination of the ambassador-designate, Richard Hoagland, until he properly recognizes the Armenian Genocide. They closed their powerfully worded piece by stressing that, "the Bush administration should have the courage of its lack of conviction and explain forthrightly not just to Armenian Americans but to all Americans who believe in calling evil by its proper name why U.S. policy is being dictated by Ankara nationalists."