November 18, 2003

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Why Republicans Should Never Be In Charge of Our Foreign Policy: Henry Kissinger As A Perfect Example.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

This analysis is our recommendation for the documentary, "The Trials of Henry Kissinger." [LINK] But we thought that it was important enough to post by itself to reach the widest possible audience."

We found this recently released -- and overlooked -- documentary absolutely riveting.

Based on the book by Christopher Hitchens (and we'll overlook our personal loathing for the author), the film lays out an airtight case that Kissinger's "realpolitic" view of the world cost hundreds of thousands of lives. In particular, the documentary (produced by the BBC) focuses on Kissinger's involvement with prolonging the Vietnam War, the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, and Allende's overthrow in Chile.

This film doesn't just make vague assertions; it delivers the hard evidence of Kissinger's complicity in horrific deeds.

Of most interesting note as far as a history of Republicans undercutting efforts to achieve peace, the documentary proves that Kissinger sabotaged the efforts of the Johnson administration to negotiate a peace with the North Vietnamese prior to the 1968 election. By leaking information to the Nixon campaign, the Republicans were able to persuade the then "President" of South Vietnam to back out of the deal and wait for Nixon to be elected. Nixon's team assured the South Vietnam puppet government that Kissinger and Nixon would bomb the beejeesus out of North Vietnam and force them to concede to "better terms." As a result, thousands of more Americans died and hundreds of thousands more Southeast Asian dies. If the peace agreement had been signed prior to the fall election, Humphrey would have probably won what turned out to be a very, very close election.

Not covered in this film, of course, is the theory that William Casey negotiated with the Iranians to delay release of the hostages until after Reagan was elected. They were released on the day of Reagan's inauguration. If the hostages had been released prior to the election, Carter would have probably won.
In the fall of 2000, Bill Clinton was nearing a historic second stage peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Richard Perle advised Barak not to take it. If Clinton had finalized a peace agreement, Gore would not just have won the 2000 election by 540,000 votes, he would have crushed Bush beyond the Bush Cartel's ability to steal the election, as they did.
After viewing "The Trials of Henry Kissinger," you realize, once again, how the Republicans are incompetent and untrustworthy in foreign policy. They undermine peace for their own political objectives. As a result, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost in the world that wouldn't have been lost otherwise, including thousands of American lives. Republican rule is inherently a danger to world peace.

Was Kissinger a "war criminal"? That's the central question of the documentary. It's an explosive query of course. But remember, Kissinger can't go to a few countries because he might be detained for questioning in his role in the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Chile. Thousands of persons were tortured and killed in the aftermath of Allende's death and Pinochet's armed ascent to power, including American citizens. Tens of thousands were killed in East Timor. Hundreds of thousands were killed in Southeast Asia.

Is this relevant to the Bush administration? You bet. Just remember that originally Cheney had Bush appoint Kissinger to head the "independent" 9/11 commission, before it became clear that Kissinger would have to expose his bloody history and his consulting firm's current roster of clients.

While clearly differing with the Neo-cons on some foreign policy strategies, Kissinger is their spiritual father: the man who thought that hundreds of thousands of lives were expendable in support of a personal ideology and world view.

Watch this documentary. It had all too short a run at only a few theaters in the United States. There is no better case made for why Republicans should never be allowed to handle foreign policy.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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