Thursday, November 30, 2023

Henry Kissinger, notorious war criminal, is dead

Henry Kissinger, the former U.S Secretary of State who left an indelible mark on U.S. imperialist foreign policy in the 20th century's second half, died on Wednesday at age 100.

Kissinger served as a foreign policy advisor to 12 U.S Presidents - from John F. Kennedy to Joe Biden - and Secretary of State in Richard Nixon's administration, linking his name to some of the most extraordinary crimes of U.S. imperialism. 

Among other things, he approved CIA's plan for the Greek Junta's coup against Cyprus' President Makarios that led to the Turkish military invasion in 1974. 

Kissinger orchestrated the overthrow of the democratically elected socialist President of Chile Salvador Allende and the imposition of Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship in 1973. His crude cynicism is expressed in his own words: 

“I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.”

Henry Kissinger didn't hesitate to break  international law by authorizing the secret carpet-bombing of Cambodia in 1969-70, as well as Indonesia's invasion in East Timor. More than 100,000 East Timorese were killed or starved to death.

When Pakistan’s U.S.-backed military was waging a genocidal war in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, in 1971, he and Nixon not only ignored pleas from the American consulate in East Pakistan to stop the massacre, but they approved weapons shipments to Pakistan, including the apparently illegal transfer of 10 fighter-bombers from Jordan. At least 300,000 people were killed in East Pakistan and 10 million refugees were driven into India.

Despite his contribution to numerous crimes across the world, Kissinger was the recipient, alongside Le Duc Tho, of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, "for jointly having negotiated a cease fire in Vietnam in 1973". 

  IN DEFENSE OF COMMUNISM ©