"A Problem from Hell" : America and the Age of Genocide

Rating:
Summary: One Sided
Review: Any book written on any subject which has a historical importance and, specially if there are more than one nation is involved, has the fundamental duty of approaching the subject from all directions and angles possibble.
Ms Power have chosen to look at this issue from Armenian diaspora's point of view only, yes , there were unfurtunate events took place in 1914-1915 in eastern Anatolia and yes, many people from both sides died, but to lay the blame on one side and ignore anything else is just beyond the fundamental fairness which Ms Power crosses from the page one to all the way to the last page.
Choosing a side and writing a book to prove that and during that process justifying the killings of innocent diplomats who were subject to attacks in 70's and early 80's is just hard to comprehend...this one doesn't contribute to anything at all.

Rating:
Summary: you made bad!!
Review: bu yazýmýzý ingilizce tecrüme edersiniz
biz bölge insanlarý olarak bölgemizi ilgilendiren sorunlar hakkýnda yerinde araþtýrmalar yapýlarak bir sonuca varýlýcaðýna inanýyoruz. soykýrýmýn yapýldýðýnýn iddia edildiði km.lerce uzakta sadýklý ve bilimsel bir çalýþma yapýlmasý gerçekçi deðildir.

Rating:
Summary: A total prejudice and a great lie
Review: It is a total failure for an author to write about a historical event where Armenians opened up a war against Turks with whom they shared so much in common over the ages. The Armenians were protected by the Ottoman Empire and they enjoyed so great previllages as Christians or rather non-Muslims which made them the rich and privillaged members of the society. The unwanted events caused the murder of some 800.000 innocent neighbours of the Armenians. My Grandfather's brother Uncle Mustafa (as my father referred) was cut into three pieces by the Armenians while working in his olive grove in Umurbey Village of Bursa. The cause of these events may be the promise of 'establishing the Great Armenia in Anatolia' by the British, French and other Western States to the Armenians( The Tashnak and Hinchak military forces built secretly in Anatolia working mainly in the churches). In fact the Western States were sharing the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century because they were eager to possess the richest oil reserves of the Middle East which was totally unknown to the Ottoman Empire then.

I wish the author could investigate the real events from the viewpoints of both Armenians and the innocent people of Anatolia, Turks.

There is a saying in Turkish 'the lier's candle burns out quickly'. Power's lies will burn out much quiker if she bothers to search for the truth but the truth.

Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK IS NOT NEUTRAL & TRUE
Review: I studied the history of Middle East and I searched Turkey and the history of Turkey for a long time.However this book contains information which is not correct and information made up which can not be proved. Please check the population number, of that year first !!!!????

One day the writer shoud visit Istanbul and also visit the Armenian people who have been living in Turkey for many years in peace .

Rating:
Summary: Not worth to pay a penny
Review: I wouldn't buy that book; as some or part of the statements in this book are not based on true facts (referring to the Ottomans, that have massacred the Armenians). For me, a writer has to be a kind of detective, that has the endless energy to search for the truth combined with the talent to put these findings into writing in an attractive way. I like the way, Ms Power puts her writings together; however not the intensity on her researches. I would expext Ms. Power as the writer to be aware of her responsibilities w.r.t. the truth of her statements before putting any word onto a "documentary" book. Besides, as I would like to be convinced by the facts that I wouldn't know, I could not reach out but a writer would on my behalf; and not by the clichee beliefs that under no historical platform can be proven. I assume, Ms. Power must be out of money, lately; so that she felt the necessity to publish just this book. My rating: 1 star.

Rating:
Summary: A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide
Review: I wish Samantha Power could check the documents of Ottoman Empire, prior to publish such a book. It is a must to study such subject thoroughly. One should think what happened when Russions invade Ottoman soil, and use Armanians as subcontractor. How come Armanians, who did not take a side with Russians are still living in peace in most of the parts of Turkey. You may check the archives of Ottoman Empire, and Russia to find out the loss of Turkish lives, during this unfortunate time. One might judge who applied genocide to whom...

Rating:
Summary: The Guilty Don't Want you to Read this Book!!!
Review: The venom that spews from Turkish denialist of the Armenian Genocide is only a testament to the truthfulness of this scholarly study. There is currently a major campaign of denial in Turkish American circles. I am using the Armenian Genocide as an example of how the truth often sets us free but is fought with the utmost visceral resistance by those who perpetrate such crimes against humanity. The best things the Turkish Government can do for it's human rights record is to come clean. Accept the atrocities that the Ottomans committed - what a better way to teach Turkish Children right from wrong!

Let's keep the memory of all who died in all crimes against humanity alive. Read this book at the very least for that reason and to prevent such evil from ever happening again.

Rating:
Summary: Armenian Propoganda from Harward
Review: ... The sections of the book that deal with the mythical Armenian genocide is totally one sided and biased, and it does not mention the fact that the Armenians rebelled against their own government and started killing Turks. What Turks did was in response to what the Armenans did to establish their own state where they were not the majority.

Thank you.

Yuksel Oktay
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A subtle form of hypocrisy
Review: This book is worth reading , but I couldn't help feeling cynical about Ms. Power and her choice of examples. Let me explain.

There is a hackneyed debate in American foreign policy between the Wilsonian idealists, who supposedly believe in America's duty to support human rights, and the realists, who think our foreign policy should be centered around our "interests" (a term never clearly defined, so far as I can tell).
The idealists point to some case where some horrible massacre took place and say we should have intervened--the realists say we can't be the world's policeman and have to look out for ourselves first. The Samantha Power book falls squarely in this tradition--obviously she is in the "idealist" camp.

There is one little problem here-the focus of the debate is entirely on America's sins of omission. Should we have stopped what happened in Rwanda? Should we have intervened sooner and more forcefully to stop the Serbs? The unstated assumption is that we are always the good guys and the only question is whether we are morally obligated to fight the bad guys.

Left out of the discussion are those cases where we actively support the bad guys. We supported the Indonesians in their genocidal occupation of East Timor, even supplying war planes in the late 70's to help them bomb villages, driving people into the hills where they starved to death by the hundreds of thousands. (Ms. Power mentions East Timor, but talks as though the problem was that we stood by. No-- we helped the killers.) We gave weapons and diplomatic support to the death squad regime of El Salvador in the early 80's. President Reagan defended the record of the Guatemalan military at the very moment when they were committing genocide against their Mayan Indians. The US supported the military campaign of Jonas Savimbi in Angola, a mass murderer who personally beat children to death. And the US supported Turkey in the 90's when they were massacring Kurds and drove millions from their homes.

So the problem is a little deeper than one might guess from Ms. Power's anguished breast-beating. Our government doesn't simply stand by and let evil occur. Frequently we actively support the criminals.

This is not to say that this book is utterly worthless. It's good in its own very limited way. But I can't help suspecting that Ms. Power was very careful in her choice of examples--by avoiding discussion of American complicity with those who commit mass murder or even genocide, she makes herself part of the problem.

Rating:
Summary: untrue facts
Review: This book contain untrue material. There is not a armenian genocide in Turkey in first world war.