Operation Nemesis: The Assassination Plot that Avenged the Armenian Genocide

by Eric Bogosian

Genocide is a word. Like the words “love” or “God,” it seems to be comprehensible. But in fact it cannot be grasped, it cannot be taken in. It is the unspeakable made verbal. Yet it is very much a part of our lives. Every week we read in the newspaper about violence in the form of massacres and terror attacks. And for this reason, we think we understand the meaning of the word when we hear of genocide. But war or environmental calamity has the quality of circumstances out of control. Genocide is different. What happened to the Armenian population in Turkey during World War I was intentional. Men made decisions, men made plans, and those men executed those plans.