The
Trial of Henry Kissinger, by Christopher Hitchens
Reviewed by Sreeram Chaulia*
“Everything on paper will be used against me.”
- Henry Kissinger, admonishing his State Department staff
for writing memos on the illegality of Indonesia’s occupation
of East Timor in 1975.
The line separating a master statesman and a master thug
is assumed to be of infinite length. This is not so in the
case of Henry Kissinger, former US national security adviser
and secretary of state. For myriad American diplomats, politicians
and academicians, Kissinger is a living deity who personified
realpolitik and shrewd tactical thinking, a genius practitioner
who sits in the same pantheon as Bismarck, Castlereagh and
Metternich. However, as new information leaks out every day
about his misdeeds under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford (1969-76),
only the ignoramus and the sycophant can glorify a man whose
heartlessness and guile wrought terrible agony and human loss
in the Third World.
Christopher Hitchens has pieced together some of the most
odious of Kissinger’s foreign policy wrongdoings in
a bill of indictment that can be made the basis of prosecution
for crimes against humanity, war crimes and offenses against
international law. Aiming to affix direct responsibility and
criminality, Hitchens has excluded material on Kissinger’s
crimes committed as part of a larger policymaking group, such
as betrayal of Iraqi Kurds in 1974-5, support for apartheid
South Africa to destabilize Angola, chairmanship of the presidential
commission that sanctioned death squad murders in the Central
American isthmus, and political protection for the Pahlavi
dynasty in Iran that put thousands of innocent civilians through
torturous meat grinders. The main investigation in the book
is about those crimes for which Kissinger has complete or
most significant culpability.
Double-crossing his way to power: The 1968 election Unlike
Zbigniew Brzezinski or Condoleezza Rice, Harvard professor
Kissinger did not make it to the pinnacle of the foreign policy
machinery through academic repute or connections with politicos.
He rode to power by double crossing the Johnson-Humphrey administration
in the Vietnam peace talks and passing confidential information
on the details of LBJ’s peace plan to the Nixon camp.
Thus informed, Republicans counseled the South Vietnam negotiators
in advance to reject the Democratic government’s proposals
by dangling the carrot of an even better peace plan if Nixon
won the presidential election.
One of the factors propelling Humphrey’s defeat in
the closely fought election was the rebuff South Vietnam gave
to LBJ’s demarches. Kissinger was rewarded for this
unconstitutional (the Logan Act in the US prohibits private
diplomacy with a foreign power by any American citizen) and
treacherous gambit as soon as Nixon came to power in 1969.
A “mediocre and opportunist academic” (p.16) turned
overnight into an international potentate and America’s
national security adviser. So adroitly had Kissinger disguised
his cards that if Humphrey won, he would still have bagged
a top position in the new Democratic regime.
Ravaging Indo-China Soon after taking office, Kissinger embarked
on a second round of protracted warfare, despite promising
a “better peace” to the South Vietnamese before
the election. When Charles de Gaulle asked him the reason
for escalating punitive bombings that killed thousands of
Vietnamese civilians, Kissinger replied, “A sudden withdrawal
might give us a credibility problem.” At one point,
Kissinger angrily threatened to use thermonuclear weapons
to obliterate the railway link between North Vietnam and China
and flood the Viet Cong areas by target bombing irrigation
dykes.
Kissinger intensified US air attacks in neighboring Laos
and Cambodia, leading to a further loss of at least a million
civilians. In April 1970, Kissinger was described by Nixon
as “really having fun today” as more B52s raided
Cambodia without US Congressional knowledge. Air Force Colonel
Sitton recorded, “Not only was Henry carefully screening
the raids, he was reading the raw intelligence on mission
patterns.” (p. 38) As late as 1975, when the US had
disengaged from Vietnam, Kissinger pressured President Ford
to sanction a “credibility enhancing” 15,000 pound
bombing of Cambodia on the pretext of the Mayaguez ship incident.
More than 35,500 Vietnamese civilians were separately murdered
or kidnapped by the CIA’s “Phoenix counter-guerrilla
program” planned by Kissinger’s top-secret “Forty
Committee”. When some of his own staff members leaked
these illegal deeds to the press, a vindictive Kissinger telephoned
FBI Director Edgar Hoover asking him to “follow it up
as far as we can take it and destroy whoever did this if we
can find him, no matter where he is”. (p 42)
‘Genocidal diplomacy’ and coup in Bangladesh
The American consulate in East Pakistan sent a cable to the
State Department in April 1971 stating starkly that Pakistani
military brutalities had reached a crescendo, horrifying enough
to be considered genocide. Direct evidence of aerial bombardment
and mass killings of Bengalis by General Tikka Khan was available
with US diplomats, thanks to a radio station they ran, despite
Pakistan’s ban on foreign media and press. But Kissinger
was not to be moved. He sent a message to President Yahya
Khan congratulating Pakistan for its “delicacy and tact”
in the eastern wing of the country. Knowledge of Kissinger’s
secret diplomacy with China via Pakistani good offices and
Nixon’s “tilt” against India freed Pakistani
army hotheads from any moderation or inhibition in pulverizing
Bengalis. Many US foreign service officers protested in memos
to Kissinger that he was backing a genocidal regime, only
to have their ranks demoted in the bureaucratic ladder.
Kissinger nursed a deep grudge against Mujib-ur-Rehman, the
freedom fighter who won Bangladesh independence with Indian
help in December 1971. He began encouraging US spies and diplomats
to contact Bangladeshi rightwing army officers who intended
a coup. Junior and senior officer cadres plotting to overthrow
Mujib checked with their US point persons in advance, and
were told by “high circles” that the overthrow
was “no problem”. (p. 53) Predictably, US-Bangladesh
and Pakistan-Bangladesh relations prospered from 1975 following
Mujib’s assassination, widespread human rights abuses
against minorities and military capture of power in Dhaka.
Installing Pinochet in Chile Kissinger once pooh-poohed Chile
as a “dagger pointed at the heart of Antarctica”,
but flexed his muscles and scheming mind as soon as Salvador
Allende’s government won the 1970 elections. Unknown
to the US ambassador in Chile, Kissinger’s Forty Committee
authorized a “track two” policy of destabilization,
kidnap and assassination designed to provoke a military coup.
Fascist military plotters led by Roberto Viaux were supplied
machine guns and tear gas grenades sent through US diplomatic
pouches to carry out the murder of moderate army chief Rene
Schneider. Hitchens quotes a newly declassified file where
cable traffic from Washington to the assassins is recorded:
“It is imperative that these actions be implemented
clandestinely and securely so that the USG and American hand
be well hidden.” (p. 60) Though Schneider’s murder
did not have the desired effect of a military uprising against
Allende, Viaux’s group members were sent “hush
money” through CIA agents to prevent them from implicating
Kissinger.
From 1970 to 1973, Kissinger championed “close relations”
with military dictatorships in Chile’s neighborhood,
a pressure tactic that ended in the dreaded Operation Condor
raids. Covert anti-Allende propaganda and the artificially
generated crisis environment in Santiago were achieved by
the Forty Committee’s Project FUBELT. Kissinger’s
warm welcome of Pinochet’s September 11, 1973, coup
and the subsequent reign of terror is only too well known
to recount here. In 1976, Kissinger met Pinochet in the Chilean
capital and assured him of continuing assistance thus: “My
evaluation is that you are a victim of all leftwing groups
around the world.” (p. 70) The barbaric general who
tortured thousands and has several international warrants
for arrest and prosecution was to Kissinger a “victim”!
Kissinger also advised Manuel Contreras, the infamous secret
police chief of Pinochet who ran an empire based on human
carnage, to continue the “good work”.
Aiding fascist Greece and militarist Turkey in Cyprus The
legally elected president of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios,
was viewed by fascist Greece as a hurdle to Athenian control
of the disputed island. Kissinger was aware that the Greek
fascists bankrolled Nixon’s election campaigns and felt
a natural sympathy for the retarded view that “Makarios
was the cause of most of Cyprus’ tensions”. He
had advance knowledge of the fascist plan to depose and kill
Makarios. A US State Department order of 1974 stood in complete
agreement with Greek fascist designs: “Remove Makarios
once and for all and have Greece deal directly with Turkey
over Cyprus’ future.” (p. 83) Immediately after
Greece invaded Cyprus, Kissinger’s office issued this
statement: “In our view there has been no outside intervention.”
Not to be outdone by Greece, Turkey conducted two retaliatory
invasions to occupy 40 percent of Cyprus. This time, Kissinger
exerted his influence very strongly to protect Ankara, a NATO
ally and aid recipient, from US Congressional sanctions for
this shameful violation of international law. Most of the
human rights violations the Turkish army committed in Cyprus
were achieved through US aid and ammunition. Once the findings
of independent monitors laid the blame entirely on the Turkish
and American governments, Kissinger did a crafty U-turn and
claimed, “We knew the Soviets had told the Turks to
invade.” (p. 88) Turkey acting on Soviet behest in 1974
is a ridiculous notion without parallel!
Abetting ethnic cleansing in East Timor On the very day that
General Suharto’s military invaded and vandalized East
Timor in 1975, Kissinger told the media in Jakarta, “The
United States understands Indonesia’s position on the
question.” In December 1975, Kissinger chided his deputies
in the State Department for including a legal opinion that
the Indonesian invasion was a flouting of all norms of international
law. He also authorized backdoor shipments of weapons to Indonesian
militias who went on an extirpation spree against the Timorese
people. Records of diplomatic meetings of the time show Kissinger
irritated whenever his staff broached the fact that 90 percent
of weapons used against Timorese were American. According
to the CIA operations chief in Indonesia, “Without continued
heavy US military support, the Indonesians might not have
been able to pull off the invasion.” On one occasion,
Kissinger showed his utter disregard for human lives and American
law, saying, “I know what the law is but how can it
be in the US national interest for us to kick the Indonesians
in the teeth?” (p.105)
Conniving in elimination of a journalist Kissinger repeatedly
tried to assist his fascist client government in Athens with
the physical elimination of Greek journalist and rights activist
Elias Demetracopoulos. Kissinger promised the contract killers
“cooperation of various agencies of the US government”
in a secret cable, mainly because Elias was investigating
the links between the Forty Committee and the Greek junta.
The journalist’s knowledge of secret campaign donations
from the Greek fascists to Nixon’s party was also too
uncomfortable a truth for Kissinger to sit silently by. Greece’s
ambassador in Washington recalled in his memoirs that the
Greek desk of the US State Department, “One of Elias’
most vitriolic enemies” sent him “useful advice
on extermination”. (p. 118) Kissinger’s papers
contain a secret file titled, “Acknowledging Mr Demetracopoulos’
death in Athens prison.” Elias survived the attempts
on his life and is to this day trying to subpoena Kissinger
for releasing the contents of this puzzling letter dated December
18, 1970.
The tightening noose Kissinger Associates, a global consultancy
firm, now operates on the strength of all the shady dealings
its proprietor had with undemocratic regimes around the world.
The CEO of Heinz credits Kissinger Associates for “helping
with contacts in that shadowy world where that counts”.
(p. 121). Freeport McMoran and Daewoo gained access to oil
and gas rights and plant construction privileges in the most
repressive state of Indo-China, Myanmar, through Kissinger’s
exertions. Exploiting his excellent ties with Suharto’s
crony capitalist network, Kissinger helped another client
close a deal for a 30-year lease of gold and copper mines
on the Irian Jaya island of Indonesia. These acts of “consultancy”
are the last straws on the camel’s back as far as Kissinger’s
life mission goes. His public diplomacy between 1969 and 1976
laid the foundation for the present profits and commissions
his firm earns by peddling “contacts”.
So, will Kissinger Associates continue to perpetuate its
owner’s valueless and hideous foreign policy? Will the
countless victims of Kissinger’s greed and callousness
remain un-rehabilitated? Hitchens believes that the noose
is tightening around Kissinger. The Alien Tort Claims Act
in America allows non-citizens to file cases against citizens
for violations of a US treaty or other international law.
Chilean relatives of Pinochet-era crimes are going ahead with
suits against Kissinger. Sufferers in Bangladesh, Cambodia
and Vietnam are also queuing to prosecute him. Judge Baltasar
Garzon is trying to issue an arrest warrant for Kissinger
if he sets foot on Spanish soil, and has requested Britain
to detain and question Kissinger should he travel to London.
States are still hesitant to act against an establishment
guru like Kissinger, but in the court of the people, he already
stands convicted. Hitchens urges the American legal and human
rights community to take the lead and also indict Kissinger
for his violations of the US constitution on numerous occasions.
A new documentary film, The Trials of Henry Kissinger, is
raising awareness about the ugly truths that Americans always
suspected but lacked proof or courage to substantiate. Kissinger’s
days of innocent denial seem numbered.
Hitchens combines high quality investigation with mordant
irony to make this a sensational book that exhorts the cloak
of immunity to be removed from the high priest of impunity.
The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens, Verso
Books, 2001, New York. ISBN: 1-85984-631-9. Price US$22, 159
pages
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* Sreeram Chaulia, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EA11Aa01.html
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