Henry Kissinger and the Old Voodoo

Doesn't look like an inhuman monster, does he ? But, like a bad dream or a bad penny, Henry Kissinger keeps coming back. Already an accomplished war criminal he has now . . . what ? Excuse me ? Oh, you object to my characterizing the former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor to Richard Nixon as a war criminal without evidence. Fair enough.
I refer you Seymour M. Hersh's 1983 classic "The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House". Yes, that Seymour Hersch, Abu Ghraib, Iran war planning and etc., etc. So, how about complicity in the overthrow and assassination of an elected head of state, i.e., Salvador Allende of Chile, Chapter 22 ? Satisfied ? No ? How about design and execution of a secret bombing campaign against a country with whom we were not at war, i.e., Cambodia, Chapter 5 ? O.K. ? O.K. Fine.
We learn from Hersch that one of Kissinger's principal talents is the ability to tell powerful persons what they want to hear, e.g. that they are smarter than other people and that their controversial decisions are correct.
So what is it that President George W. Bush apparently wants to hear, according to Bob Woodward in his new book "State of Denial" ? That "victory is the only meaningful exit strategy" from Iraq, that's what. Music to the Bush ear. And what does he care if the advice comes from an unindicted war criminal ? It is a status he is familiar with.
The fact that this advice might contribute to further American and Iraqi deaths as the Administration pursues a failed policy means nothing to Henry who is almost personally responsible for the last three or four years of the Vietnam war.
What does Henry get out of this ? Well, he gets close, once again, to the seat of power, a place he dearly loves to be and, by advising the President, he builds credibility for his international consulting firm, Kissinger Associates.
Bush may not be the devil, but the moral standing of his chosen associates leaves something to be desired.
ZOO UPDATE: The next day's WAPO shows us that this is truly vintage Kissinger. His advice to the President: "Don't give an inch or they'll walk you backwards". Kissinger's private criticism of Bush: "He has no method for considering alternatives". Henry always looks great to whoever he's talking to and doesn't care a damn if he's talking out of both sides of his mouth and his rear.
For more on public loathing of this creature and the desire to see him punished, try HERE.
Stay Naked.
jd