{"id":30278,"date":"2023-12-01T20:47:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T04:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=30278"},"modified":"2023-12-01T21:24:56","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T05:24:56","slug":"30278","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/01\/30278\/","title":{"rendered":"War criminal who cared nothing for the lives he destroyed is dead at 100"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Henry Kissinger represented that worst of the United States. We should remember the lessons of his life of cold brutality.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By TIM REDMOND<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOVEMBER 30, 2023 (48hills.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to outdo the Rolling Stone headline:<\/a> \u201cHenry Kissinger, war criminal beloved by America\u2019s ruling class, finally dies.\u201d The subhed notes that \u201cThe infamy of Nixon\u2019s foreign policy advisor sits, eternally, beside that of history\u2019s worst mass murderers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mainstream news media has been generally somewhat laudatory toward the guy who oversaw the worst of the Vietnam War, launched a coup to overthrow the democratically elected government in Chile, reveled in his own power with little thought for the tens of thousands of people whose lives he ruined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2019 State Department photo by Ron Przysucha<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a few pieces out there are worth remembering. This 2006 open letter by<\/a> Fernando Torres, who was imprisoned by the military junta Kissinger installed in Chile in 1973, tells part of the story, including this quote, which pretty much sums up the old Cold Warrior\u2019s attitude:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.\u201d \u2013 Henry Kissinger<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Steve Talbot, the documentary filmmaker, told me he interviewed Kissinger once, in 2002, and \u201cit didn\u2019t go well.\u201d Actually the story of that interview is fascinating, and you can read it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most amazing parts is the end:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

As we packed up our gear, I asked Kissinger one last question. Something I really wanted to know. \u201cWhat if the United States had allowed Vietnam to go communist after World War II?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWouldn\u2019t have mattered very much,\u201d Kissinger muttered. Lights off. No camera recording what he was saying. \u201cIf the Vietnam domino had fallen then, no great loss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that he rose, stiffly, from his chair and left the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifty-eight thousand Americans died in the Vietnam War \u2014 nearly 21,000 of them during Kissinger\u2019s watch. More than 600,000 Vietnamese soldiers were killed during the Nixon-Kissinger years. No one is certain how many civilians died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet Kissinger had just told me that none of these deaths were necessary, from a geopolitical point of view.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t care. It was all about power. That was a terrible chapter in our history, and as Rolling Stone warns, \u201cA deeper shame attached to the country that celebrates him.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Redmond<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Henry Kissinger represented that worst of the United States. We should remember the lessons of his life of cold brutality. By TIM REDMOND NOVEMBER 30, 2023 (48hills.org) It\u2019s hard to outdo the Rolling Stone headline: \u201cHenry Kissinger, war criminal beloved by America\u2019s ruling class, finally dies.\u201d The subhed notes that \u201cThe infamy… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1175],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30278"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30287,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30278\/revisions\/30287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}