November 29, 2002
RIGHT FOR THE WRONG REASONS:
The Latest Kissinger Outrage : Why is a proven liar and wanted man in charge of the 9/11 investigation? (Christopher Hitchens, November 27, 2002, Slate)When in office, Henry Kissinger organized massive deceptions of Congress and public opinion. The most notorious case concerned the "secret bombing" of Cambodia and Laos and the unleashing of unconstitutional methods by Nixon and Kissinger to repress dissent from this illegal and atrocious policy. But Sen. Frank Church's commission of inquiry into the abuses of U.S. intelligence, which focused on illegal assassinations and the subversion of democratic governments overseas, was given incomplete and misleading information by Kissinger, especially on the matter of Chile. Rep. Otis Pike's parallel inquiry in the House (which brought to light Kissinger's personal role in the not-insignificant matter of the betrayal of the Iraqi Kurds, among other offenses) was thwarted by Kissinger at every turn, and its eventual findings were classified.
Well, you just knew this was going to get Mr. Hitchens’s knickers in a knot. The interesting thing though is that he still hates Kissinger for his own antiquated Marxist reasons; now that he’s a conservative he should really catch up. Mr. Kissinger is, of course, a hero for Chile and Cambodia, having helped bring liberal capitalist democracy to the former and pursuing our enemies in Vietnam with vigor, though ultimately insufficient. He is to be despised for his pursuit of détente with the Soviet Union, a policy which nearly lost the Cold War. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 29, 2002 2:25 PM
Hero for Cambodia? Oh, please! Kissinger supported and helped the Lon Nol coup which deposed Prince Sihanouk. The latter wasn't truly on our side, he was playing both sides. But Nol was a hack, an incompetent and a brute, and his government proved completely ineffective in stopping the Khmer Rouge. One wonders how many hundreds of thousands of lives would have been saved.
Kissinger allowed the South Vietnamese to twist in the wind. He gave away the store to the Soviets. He lied repeatedly.
Kissinger's appointment is a signal by GWB to the insiders that the 9/11 investigation won't be allowed to discover or say anything that will cause anyone discomfort. That's exactly what we DON'T need right now. There are plenty of people in the security and intelligence agencies who should be called to account, and now it isn't going to happen.
I'm terribly disappointed with GWB on this one.
Now you're disappointed? Jeez, considering that it's been over a year and not one person has been fired, I'd say you're a little late to the party.
Posted by: Derek Copold at November 29, 2002 4:04 PMThe specific complaint against Kissinger in Cambodia is the secret bombing of Vietnamese enclaves within the country. One can hardly object to that.
Posted by: OJ at November 29, 2002 6:29 PMNo, Orrin, my specific complaint is that Kissinger permitted, and some say, encouraged, the coup that brought Lon Nol to power. This so destabilized Cambodia that the Khmer Rouge swept into power. Had Sihanouk remained in power, the country might well have been spared the killing fields.
I haven't voiced (in this forum) my dismay over the lack of accountability for 9/11. But naming Kissinger and Mitchell virtually guarantees that there won't be any.
Steve:
No, you're right, I don't share your dismay over the lack of accountability. I've a fairly dim view of what government is capable of doing in regard to things like 9-11 and doubt that even all the changes being made will do much to stop the next one. If anything, I blame us all for being so engorged on the '90s boom that we refused to take Osama and company seriously.