(no subject)
I’ve just finished reading a book called “The Trials of Henry Kissinger,” by Christopher Hitchens. It is a well-written indictment of Nixon’s Secretary of State. It is a list of the crimes committed by Kissinger that are actionable under international or United States law. The crimes are numerous and egregious. Before reading the book, I only had a vague idea who Kissinger was. I had heard him referred to as Machiavellian; I now realize that’s an understatement.
I saw an interview with Christopher Hitchens in which he explains the title. He says he didn’t want to simply name the book something like, “Henry Kissinger is a huge Scumbag,” because he wanted to focus on true, actionable crimes, similar to (or in some cases, the same as) crimes for which other foreign leaders have already been convicted. In the final chapter he does list some other scummy things the man has done, which may break the laws of basic human decency, but do not break any real laws.
I’ll list a few of the crimes. The most egregious crime was the prolonging of the war in Vietnam and the related bombing of Cambodia. Kissinger held secret negotiations with the Vietnamese generals while he was still in Johnson’s cabinet. He promised them a more sympathetic regime if they held out until Nixon’s election. A peace treaty was imminent until Kissinger sabotaged it. For this, we can blame some 20,000 American deaths and some uncounted millions of Vietnamese deaths on Kissinger. Kissinger also hatched a scheme to bomb Cambodia; the scheme bypassed Congress (which must authorize such bombings) and kept very high military personnel in the dark. The bombing was supposedly meant to target Vietnamese supply lines that moved across the border into neutral Cambodia, but the bombings were done in an indiscriminant way, by planes flying too high and too fast to bomb with any accuracy. Kissinger picked villages and hamlets to be targeted, so he can be held directly responsible for the resulting deaths. The toll of the bombing itself was estimated at some 600,000 (forgetting that such estimates are often understated, and that “death tolls” ignore other human costs, like displacement and complete disruption of life). The effect of this bombing was to radicalize otherwise peaceful peasants; it drove many of them into the open arms of the Khmer Rouge. I’ve heard it said that it’s dishonest to blame Kissinger for the rise of the Khmer Rouge, because it was such an indirect result of the bombing. I would argue that the radicalization of otherwise peaceful factions is a predictable result of a massive bombing (or any kind of destructive military campaign), and that everyone is responsible for the predictable consequences of their own actions. Kissinger must take at least some responsibility for the genocide that happened in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and full responsibility for the genocide perpetrated by him.
Kissinger also staged a coup in Chile, which resulted in Pinochet’s rise to power. As part of the plot, Kissinger arranged for the kidnapping and murder of one General Schneider, who was thought to be the prime obstacle to the coup.
Kissinger arranged for the sale of arms to Indonesia, with full knowledge of their intentions to use the weapons against East Timor (this marks another genocide for which Kissinger was responsible).
The list goes on. It is baffling that so many war crimes can be attributed to one man, and that such a man can be permitted to live in the US with impunity. Hitchens argues that if we are serious about punishing war criminals, we need to set a real example. As it stands, only minor tyrants of losing countries have been placed on trial for crimes against humanity. We need to set the example that no one who commits war crimes is safe; one cannot retire an “elder statesman” and be forgiven for crimes of a different age. I tend to agree; we should pluck that miserable old man out of his home and have a public trial for his crimes.
If you want to read the book, it is largely available for free online. The two long article linked to below are the core of the book.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Kissinger/CaseAgainst1_Hitchens.html
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Kissinger/CaseAgainst2_Hitchens.html
There ought to be some accounting for American aggression; we can at least start with the most obviously illegal cases.
I'm reading Hitchen's book "A Long Short War," which is his case for the invasion of Iraq. So far, it's unconvincing, but I'll probably write a full review of it when I'm finished.
I saw an interview with Christopher Hitchens in which he explains the title. He says he didn’t want to simply name the book something like, “Henry Kissinger is a huge Scumbag,” because he wanted to focus on true, actionable crimes, similar to (or in some cases, the same as) crimes for which other foreign leaders have already been convicted. In the final chapter he does list some other scummy things the man has done, which may break the laws of basic human decency, but do not break any real laws.
I’ll list a few of the crimes. The most egregious crime was the prolonging of the war in Vietnam and the related bombing of Cambodia. Kissinger held secret negotiations with the Vietnamese generals while he was still in Johnson’s cabinet. He promised them a more sympathetic regime if they held out until Nixon’s election. A peace treaty was imminent until Kissinger sabotaged it. For this, we can blame some 20,000 American deaths and some uncounted millions of Vietnamese deaths on Kissinger. Kissinger also hatched a scheme to bomb Cambodia; the scheme bypassed Congress (which must authorize such bombings) and kept very high military personnel in the dark. The bombing was supposedly meant to target Vietnamese supply lines that moved across the border into neutral Cambodia, but the bombings were done in an indiscriminant way, by planes flying too high and too fast to bomb with any accuracy. Kissinger picked villages and hamlets to be targeted, so he can be held directly responsible for the resulting deaths. The toll of the bombing itself was estimated at some 600,000 (forgetting that such estimates are often understated, and that “death tolls” ignore other human costs, like displacement and complete disruption of life). The effect of this bombing was to radicalize otherwise peaceful peasants; it drove many of them into the open arms of the Khmer Rouge. I’ve heard it said that it’s dishonest to blame Kissinger for the rise of the Khmer Rouge, because it was such an indirect result of the bombing. I would argue that the radicalization of otherwise peaceful factions is a predictable result of a massive bombing (or any kind of destructive military campaign), and that everyone is responsible for the predictable consequences of their own actions. Kissinger must take at least some responsibility for the genocide that happened in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and full responsibility for the genocide perpetrated by him.
Kissinger also staged a coup in Chile, which resulted in Pinochet’s rise to power. As part of the plot, Kissinger arranged for the kidnapping and murder of one General Schneider, who was thought to be the prime obstacle to the coup.
Kissinger arranged for the sale of arms to Indonesia, with full knowledge of their intentions to use the weapons against East Timor (this marks another genocide for which Kissinger was responsible).
The list goes on. It is baffling that so many war crimes can be attributed to one man, and that such a man can be permitted to live in the US with impunity. Hitchens argues that if we are serious about punishing war criminals, we need to set a real example. As it stands, only minor tyrants of losing countries have been placed on trial for crimes against humanity. We need to set the example that no one who commits war crimes is safe; one cannot retire an “elder statesman” and be forgiven for crimes of a different age. I tend to agree; we should pluck that miserable old man out of his home and have a public trial for his crimes.
If you want to read the book, it is largely available for free online. The two long article linked to below are the core of the book.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Kissinger/CaseAgainst1_Hitchens.html
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Kissinger/CaseAgainst2_Hitchens.html
There ought to be some accounting for American aggression; we can at least start with the most obviously illegal cases.
I'm reading Hitchen's book "A Long Short War," which is his case for the invasion of Iraq. So far, it's unconvincing, but I'll probably write a full review of it when I'm finished.