What do you call it when...

Millions upon millions of people are rounded up and penned in together because of their ethnicity. Then they are force-marched to prison camps. Many die along the way. Survivors of the march are also killed in large numbers.

Later, when those responsible are on the verge of defeat, they try to cover up what happened.

Is that genocide? I mean, a few thousand killings were enough to be called by genocide's new name, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and that was a tiny percentage of the numbers killed.

Of course, what sort of treatment does a world leader get if they deny it was genocide?

If it is a leader from an outlaw nation like Iran claiming no genocidal Holocaust happened, you are ridiculed, ostracized, and condemned.

But what if you lead a free world and deny the Armenian genocide?

I am nowhere near as sharp a critic of Bush as many strident voices in the mainstream media. I do think he has at times been misrepresented and unfairly criticized, though he has also done some stuff that is pretty unconventional and unlikely to win my support.

But this is definitely one area where I am sharply critical. Denying truth for political expediency is a horrible thing and not worthy of the leader of the United States.

Take an hour out of your life and research the "Armenian question". Google it, drop by the Library of Congress or your local library. Take out a few books Find out what was happening in Turkey in World War I. Just do it near some porcelain because unless you weakly read the sanitized versions you will probably throw up by the end. If you have any human decency in you whatsoever your stomach will be churning, tears in your eyes as you realize what these Armenians went through as they were killed for the horrific crime of being Armenian.

Not genocide indeed. This is a shameful day to be an American.