...

US Helsinki Commission hearing to become stage of another Armenia-initiated witch-hunt

Politics Materials 18 October 2017 17:46 (UTC +04:00)
The policy of détente...
US Helsinki Commission hearing to become stage of another Armenia-initiated witch-hunt

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 18

By Alan Hope - Trend:

In the midst of the Cold War, Soviet Union, attempting to shift towards the policy of détente by seeking the reduction of tensions between the Communist bloc and the West, as well as for the purpose of consolidation of its territorial gains in Eastern Europe, had initiated the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which ultimately resulted in signing of the multifaceted Helsinki Final Act and the creation of world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization, currently known as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

While the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, had originally thought of the non-binding [since it wasn’t a treaty] Helsinki Declaration as an instrument of the final settlement of the post Second World War USSR boundaries and of bolstering his own political image, the consequent outcomes have shown that then considered to be far-fetched Act, by turning into a virtual political landmine still has even further-reaching effects.

As such, the Act’s conflicting principles of the Territorial Integrity and Self-determination, had turned into the corner stones of the future turmoil and ongoing conflicts. These principles had been played upon as wildcards in the years of the Soviet collapse (Transnistria, Karabakh, etc), later on reengaged during the dissolution of Yugoslavia, then resurrected not once in Ukraine and finally attested to in Spain.

Meanwhile, the Act’s Civil Rights portion was initially intended for the provision of the basis for an independent non-governmental monitoring of the compliance to the Helsinki Accords. Notwithstanding the fact that this particular provision should have been and still needs to be applied to all signatories, the focus of attention on its application is constantly being shifted into a direction chosen by the Special Interest Groups (SIG).

Contemporaneously, some controversial politicians, parroting for their affiliate SIG and basing their modus operandi on the malign prejudice of “Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi” (“What is permissible for Jupiter is not for the cattle”) had gradually transformed the Helsinki Act into a blatant tool of a political inquisition.

The case in point for the latter argument will be undoubtedly witnessed once again on Oct 18, as the US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, aka US Helsinki Commission), charged to monitor the compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advance comprehensive security, will hold its briefing on the as much significant as controversial topic of Averting all-out war in Nagorno-Karabakh: the role of the US and OSCE.”

US Helsinki Commission

The Commission had officially announced that the said above briefing will be dedicated to the discussion of the “worst outbreak of violence in more than two decades … the so-called Four Day War in April 2016,” which has served as a proof that the persisting state of “no-war/no-peace” has shown that the Nagorno-Karabakh “is not a ‘frozen’ conflict at all,” as numerous ceasefire violations seen in the “Line of Contact separating the parties” risk “igniting a larger-scale conflict that could draw in major regional players, such as Russia, Turkey, and Iran.”

Notwithstanding the US Helsinki Commission members’ “good intensions,” their record has shown that the planned event, to be handled in the notorious House Un-American Activities Committee’s manner, will in all probability serve to satisfy the needs of their affiliate SIG, rather than to assist in the conflict resolution.

First thing that should be noted about the US Helsinki Commission is that unlike its other “Helsinki siblings” [i.e. Moscow Helsinki Group] it is not as independent as it’s claimed to be. The Commission is comprised of the US legislative and executive branch members, thus making it the Federal Government’s de-facto not-so-independent agency.

Out of 21 seats on the Commission nine are held by the US senators, the other nine by the members of the US House of Representatives, and three seats that should have been filed by the appointees from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce are still vacant for the past four years.

The 18 seats held by the US lawmakers are evenly divided within the party lines, thus by virtue of a bipartisan appearance the Commission presents itself as a democratic institution operating without any preconceptions. The reality of the fact is that most of the commissioners although claim to be on the opposite sides of the political aisle, share commonality in the SIG affiliation and as a result on the approach to their agenda.

Quick overview of the legislature put on the floor of the 115th US Congress (2017-2018) would suffice to prove the latest statement. As such, Senate Resolution 136 (A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the 102-nd anniversary of the [so-called] Armenian Genocide) championed by Sen. Robert Menendez, [D-NJ], on Apr 24, 2017, was cosponsored by four US Helsinki Commission members (Senators Tom Udall, [D-NM], Marco Rubio, [R-FL], Cory Gardner, [R-CO] and Sheldon Whitehouse, [D-RI]). Consequent S.Con.Res.13 (A concurrent resolution calling upon the President to issue a proclamation recognizing the abiding importance of the Helsinki Final Act and its relevance to the national security of the United States) put on the Senate floor by the Chairman of the CSCE Sen. Roger F. Wicker, [R-MS], on Apr 26, 2017, was coauthored and cosponsored by the remaining eight commissioners, Senators Benjamin L. Cardin, [D-MD], Tom Udall, [D-NM], Marco Rubio, [R-FL], Cory Gardner [R-CO], Sheldon Whitehouse, [D-RI], Thom Tillis [R-NC], John Boozman, [R-AR] and Jeanne Shaheen, [D-NH].

Consequently US House of Representatives had bared its own witness to the so-called bipartisanism. As such, House Resolution 220 (Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding past genocides, and for other purposes) championed by the Representative David A. Trott, [R-MI-11], on Mar 22, 2017, was cosponsored by the US Helsinki Commission Cochairman Rep. Christopher H. Smith, [R-NJ-4], as well as the Commission members Rep. Steve Cohen, [D-TN-9] and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, [D-TX-18].

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Smith

It should be noted that the distinguished gentleman from the great state of New Jersey representing its 4th Congressional District, Cochairman of the US Helsinki Commission, Mr. Christopher H. Smith is a poster child of a politician serving not on behalf of his constituents, but clearly on orders from the affiliate SIG.

Firstly, it should be duly noted that Rep. Smith, who is currently serving an astonishing 18th term in office, has been praised for his work against the international child sex trafficking. That however, does not change the fact that Mr. Smith, comparing the abortion to the Holocaust and referring to it as a “child slaughter,” is one of the worst anti-abortion zealots in the US Government. Not surprisingly, whenever a controversial pro-life bill hits the House floor, Rep. Smith gets actively involved in the issue and even attempts to redefine the definition of “rape” by classifying it as “forcible” or not.

As extreme as he is on the issue of abortion, he’s also rather appalling on the issue of LGBT rights, not just being opposed to gay marriage, but trying to argue that “homosexual rights are not human rights.” Smith’s demand of non-recognition by the United Nations of the consultative status for the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is very contradictory to his primary tasks of monitoring other countries’ compliance with the Helsinki Accords, as well as protecting and advancing human rights.

On top of the abovementioned Congressman Smith has been linked to the religious rights dominionist groups who believe that Christians are destined to take over the “7 Mountains” of American life, the so-called seven specific facets of modern life “in order to wrest control away from Satan and his demonic spirits so that Christians can put them to use in bringing about God’s kingdom on Earth.” As a dedicated “Crusader of the Christian Cause,” Smith has been even nominated to be a recipient of the In Defense of Christians (IDS) organization’s 2017 “Cedars of God” award, to be presented to him at the IDC summit in Washington on Oct 24-26, 2017.

It’s crucial to mention that the expected IDC summit is being financed and organized not only by the well-known religious institutions, such as the Philos Project, the Religious Freedom Institute and the Institute on Religion & Democracy, but also by the diasporic SIG called the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). The fact that Rep. Smith will be honored in-part by the Armenian community is not coincidental as he has had a long-lasting relationship with the Armenian diaspora of America.

Democrat turned Republican after the loss of the 1978 elections, Chris Smith has won in the 1980 elections due his opponent, Frank Thompson’s indictment and incarceration resulted by the Abscam probe. Followed by the 1982 close-call against Joe Merlino, Smith has won every consequent election ever since with at least 60% of the vote. Though constantly criticized for being inaccessible, as rarely seen in his own home district, Rep. Smith has managed to secure his cozy Congressional seat for the past three and a half decades. Notwithstanding the fact that he had barely campaigned in the elections period, Smith’s success was generally attributed to his conning utilization of the bipartisan redistricting procedures.

Nonetheless, there was another integer in Mr. Smith’s formula for his sustainable tenure in the House. That integer is comprised of the so-called “raised” and yet not fully spent considerable election contributions, accumulated on top of the finances spent on his campaign by the shady political organizations like “Friends of Chris Smith.” According to the OpenSercrets.org data, besides the funds raised by the affiliated interest groups, Chris Smith had raised almost $7,6M, within the elections cycle spanning the 1989-2017 period, while supposedly spending $7,3M on the election campaigns, which left more than $350K still unaccounted for and described as “cash on hand.”

The same data unveils some interesting facts about the source of the funds raised by Mr. Smith. Individual contributions in the period mentioned have added up to almost $4.9M, while another $2.6M came from the Political Action Committees (PAC). Consequently top contributors to Smith’s campaigns were the Plumbers/Pipefitters, Teamsters, Carpenters & Joiners Unions and the National Association of Realtors, while Building Trade Unions attained the top industry contributor position. Taking a closer look one would identify another SIG in the financial support of Rep. Smith, the lesser known Armenian Assembly of America (AAA).

The Assembly, designed as an elite organization for mobilization of the Armenian-American community and its financial resources for national policy objectives with a “top-down” perspective, has such a close relation with Yerevan that it boasts an office on the first floor of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

One of the top financial backers of the AAA is the US’ sixth largest Real Estate Company called Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., the headquarters of which is not so oddly located in the town of Red Bank, NJ, right in the center of the state’s 4th Congressional District. The same US real estate company, with the direct ties to the Armenian Government, besides funding Smith’s campaigns, had generously provided him with offices in Freehold, Plumsted and Hamilton, NJ, in addition to a condominium in the latter town.

It should be noted that foreign policy doesn’t present much of importance to most Congressmen, thus there is often little competition among the legislators for a seats on the foreign affairs committee. It’s not unusual that investing one’s time in foreign policy brings back home a bad return, because the constituents are more likely to be concerned with the domestic rather than foreign issues. On the other hand, politicians like Rep. Smith, driven by the communities with a politically active diaspora, by their steadfast involvement in the foreign affairs gain the opportunity of a comfortable lifestyle and sustainable office seat at the expense of the neglected 4th Districts’ other constituents.

Furthermore, the matters of national security derived from the conflicting national and diasporic interests are being constantly disparaged by the distinguished gentleman from NJ. The Armenian-American community mobilizes its ranks in line with the statement published in the 1998 Armenian International Magazine, that “the Armenian diaspora has a unique opportunity to exercise dual allegiance to the host country and to Armenia.”

In line with the abovementioned, Mr. Smith, steering the US foreign policy towards the “home” country of Armenia, often forgets the potential threats to the national security, as the US long-term national interests constantly come at odds with the political interests of the Armenian diaspora.

The legislative work done by Rep. Smith throughout his political career has served as concrete evidence to the abovementioned premise. As such, his latest resolution H.Res.537 (Promoting United States national security and foreign policy objectives through consolidation and strengthening of the rule of law and respect for human rights in the Republic of Azerbaijan) introduced on Sept 26, 2017, atop of his previously introduced on Dec 16, 2015, H.R.4264 Bill (Azerbaijan Democracy Act of 2015) had clearly shown which master does Mr. Smith serves to.

Thus, we have an anti-abortion zealot full of the homophobe bigotry with the dash of an ultra-radical Christian vision charged with the task of monitoring human rights violations in other countries while ignoring his primary duties before his own constituency.

Taking into consideration that the top-notch member of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, Rep. Smith, will be working in tandem with another Armenian Caucus’ member, also holding a seat on the Commission, David A. Trott, it’s safe to assume that on Oct 18 the US Helsinki Commission, instead of becoming a base of assistance for the conflict resolution, will once again become a stage of yet another Armenian initiated witch-hunt.

Tags:
Latest

Latest