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 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked on Thursday by a participant of a Town Hall Meeting why the US does not recognize the Armenian Genocide, and Clinton responded that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the US “opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through.”

“asbarez.com” underlines this is the same Hillary Clinton who, four years ago, pledged that she would recognize the Genocide as President of the United States.

Clinton characterized the Armenian Genocide as an historical issue and not a political one. “And I think that is the right posture for the United States Government to be in, because whatever the terrible event might be or the high emotions that it represents, to try to use government power to resolve historical issues, I think, opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through. So the issue is a very emotional one; I recognize that and I have great sympathy for those who are just so incredibly passionate about it,” Clinton told the audience.

Clinton also responded to a question on Monday’s passage of the French Senate resolution criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide.
“…One of our great strengths is we do not criminalize speech. People can say nearly anything they choose, and they do, in our country. And so other countries, including close friends and allies like France, have different standards, different histories, but we are, I hope, never going to go down that path to criminalize speech,” explained the Secretary of State, who seems to have forgotten that there are succinct laws against hate speech in the US, under which people can be prosecuted.

“It’s a sad spectacle to see Secretary Clinton hiding behind cynical appeals to scholars – the overwhelming majority of whom have already spoken forcefully against Turkey’s denials of the Armenian Genocide – to divert attention from either President Obama’s, Vice President Biden’s or her own personal promises to properly recognize this crime and, more broadly, to divert attention from America’s failure to meet her moral obligation to stand up against a foreign government’s veto of our defense of human rights,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America.

The paper highlights that exactly four years ago this week, then Sen. Clinton had this to say: “I believe the horrible events perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians constitute a clear case of genocide. I have twice written to President Bush calling on him to refer to the Armenian Genocide in his annual commemorative statement and, as President, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide. Our common morality and our nation’s credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress and the President of the United States.”