Harbord Commission
Introduction The '''Harbord Commission''' was a U.S. commission tasked by President Wilson to study the relationship between the United States and Armenia following World War I. Major General James G. Harbord led the group and produced the final report which came to be  called ‘The Harbord Report’.The Harbord Mission had stated in its reports that no Turkish atrocities against Armenians had occurred on the Caucasian borders. According to Harbord, the deported Armenians were returning slowly and without any fear. Throughout their journey, they had not seen any indication that the Turks wanted to kill Armenians. They had heard that Armenians had been massacred until not a single man remained three months ago. However, it was observed that none of what they had heard was true.
Missions to Turkey, Anatolia & Armenia In 1919 President Woodrow Wilson sent two missions to the Near East to gather information on issues relating to the future of the region in the immediate aftermath of World War I. One group, later known as the "King-Crane Commission", was civilian, centered on Istanbul (Constantinople), and tasked to interview community leaders and representatives of the Ottoman government. The second group, the "American Military Mission to Armenia" was sent to travel to the centre of Anatolia and Armenia. Secretary of State Robert Lansing instructed James G. Harbord to "investigate and report on the political, military, geographic, administrative, economic, and such other considerations involved in possible American interests and responsibilities in the region." The fifty-member mission arrived in Istanbul (Constantinople) at the beginning of September 1919, and then traveled for 30 days: by train to Adana, Aleppo, and Mardin, then by motor car to Diyarbakir, Harput, Malatya, Sivas, Erzincan, Erzurum, Kars, Etchmiadzin, Erivan and, finally, Tiflis. A side-expedition left the main party at Sivas in order to investigate conditions  at Merzifon, Samsun, and along the Black Sea coast as far as Trebizond. For information on the important vilayets of Bitlis and Van, General Harbord relied on information provided in the Niles and Sutherland Report which had just  been published in August 1919.The Harbord Report also indicated that the Turkish population was far more numerous than the Armenians even before the war and after the massacres and deportations of the Armenian population in Eastern Anatolia. Harbord's report stated that "the temptation to reprisals for past wrongs" would make it extremely difficult to maintain peace in the region. The final conclusion of the report was the inclusion of Armenia in the possible American mandate for Asia Minor and Rumelia since a mandate for Armenia alone was not deemed feasible under these conditions.
Notes
External links James G. Harbord, "Report of the American Military Mission to Armenia (Appendix only)" Washington, 1920.