UPDATE: More bloggers are weighing in on this ridiculous resolution:

Coming Anarchy
Marmot’s Hole
Registan

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This week the House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution condemning NATO ally Turkey for the alleged genocide of Armenian Christians following World War I and it is not going over to well:

The death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 after the collapse of the Ottoman empire and the emergence of modern Turkey in 1923 has not been forgotten and now bedevils US-Turkey relations.

Turkey has condemned a vote by the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee yesterday that recognises the massacres as genocide – the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, religious or national group.

Turkish governments have consistently denied the accusation; they say the killings occurred at a time of civil unrest as the Ottoman empire fell apart and that the numbers are inflated.

To say that claims of Armenian genocide touch a raw nerve in Turkey is an understatement.  [Mark Tran - The Guardian]

Touching a raw nerve is an understatement as Turkey has recalled their ambassador from Washington, DC and has most importantly threatened to cut US supply lines and logistical bases in Turkey:

Turkey, which is a key supply route to U.S. troops in Iraq, recalled its ambassador to Washington on Thursday and warned of serious repercussions if Congress labels the killing of Armenians by Turks a century ago as genocide.

Ordered after a House committee endorsed the genocide measure, the summons of the ambassador for consultations was a further sign of the deteriorating relations between two longtime allies and the potential for new turmoil in an already troubled region.

Egeman Bagis, an aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told Turkish media that Turkey — a conduit for many of the supplies shipped to American bases in both Iraq and Afghanistan — might have to "cut logistical support to the U.S." [Christopher Torchia - AP]

This may be the real reason why the Democratic controlled Congress is passing the resolution; they may be trying to hinder the war effort by getting Turkey to cut off logistical support to US forces.  The US Congress is to cowardly to cut funding for the war outright and are thus possibly trying to come up with a covert way of cutting support to the troops in Iraq with this resolution. 

Keep in mind that this is not the first time this year that the US Congress has played politics with a key US ally.  Back in June the US Congress passed a non-binding resolution condemning Japan for World War II sexual slavery that caused a huge up roar in Japan.  I find it amazing that with all the other problems facing the United States the US Congress would rather spend its time playing politics with the relations of key US allies while doing nothing to combat America’s real enemies.