by B. R. GOWANI
since its inception, the US has always concocted reasons for wars & violence
the Native Americans whose land they stole were savages
Russians, Chinese, Koreans and many others were dangerous communists
Muslims who fought back were labelled terrorists
even though the US itself houses some of the real great terrorists
they have committed and are committing terror acts on a humongous scale
5 million civilians & soldiers were killed in the Korean War (1950 – 1953)
US war against Vietnam killed 3.8 million Vietnamese
2 million of those killed were civilians
…
one of the terrorists was Henry Kissinger (1923 – 2023), who is now dead
historian Greg Grandin told Rolling Stone:
“The Cubans say there is no evil that lasts a hundred years, and Kissinger is making a run to prove them wrong.”
finally, the world has one less war criminal
Micronesia
US conducted nuclear tests on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1954
Micronesians living there were displaced
Henry Kissinger’s heartless comment on displaced people:
“There are only 90,000 of them out there. Who gives a damn?”
Cambodia
Kissinger was United States secretary of state & national security advisor
he had a great appetite for killing people and destroying countries
“Operation Menu” had breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert, & supper
it’s not clear what did Kissinger preferred for various meals
limbs, eyes, hearts, liver, thighs, breasts, hips, … or a combo or whole bodies
or how he liked: rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well, well done
Nixon’s Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman diary entry of March 17, 1969 reads:
“Historic day. Kissinger’s ‘Operation Breakfast’ finally came off at 2:00 p.m. our time. Kissinger really excited, as was President [Richard Nixon]. Early reports only that it was underway.”
Haldeman noted in his diary on March 18, 1969
“Kissinger’s ‘Operation Breakfast’ a great success. He came beaming in with report, very productive.”
it wasn’t “productive,” it was destructive — B-52s had begun carpet-bombing
Kissinger’s order:
Cambodians saw 540,000 tons of bombs dropped over them for 4 years
the bombs dropped on rural Cambodia equaled 5 Hiroshimas
between 150,000 to 500,000 civilians got killed in those insane bombings
Anthony Bourdain, chef/writer/TV host, expressed his loathing thus:
“Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands.” “You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking… While Henry continues to nibble nori rolls and remaki at A-list parties, Cambodia, the neutral nation he secretly and illegally bombed, invaded, undermined, and then threw to the dogs, is still trying to raise itself up on its one remaining leg.”
over 40,000 people lost limbs in Cambodia, most amputees per capita
Vietnam & Laos are also victims cluster munitions & unexploded landmines
the end of US savagery four years later, brought Khmer Rouge to power
John Pilger reminds us of ISIS — which rose out of US war against Iraq
similarly, the US war against Afghanistan saw the emergence of Taliban
Cambodia got engulfed in a civil war costing 600,000 more lives
in 1969, a US observation plane was shot down off the coast of Korea
“… we might have to go to tactical nuclears and clean it up. All hell will break loose for two month, but at end of road there will be peace in Asia.”
Chile
On Nov 3, 1970, Chileans elected Dr. Salvador Allende as their president
the US govt didn’t like that — Henry Kissinger warned:
“The example of a successful elected Marxist government in Chile would surely have an impact on—and even precedent value for—other parts of the world, especially in Italy; the imitative spread of similar phenomena elsewhere would in turn significantly affect the world balance and our own position in it.”
what does Kissinger mean by “our position?
US capitalistic and military control of the world — the US hegemony
the US planned Allende’s ouster as Kissinger said:
“It is firm and continuing policy that [Chile President Salvador] Allende be overthrown by a coup.”
(sender was Thomas Karamessines, CIA deputy director of plans
receiver was Henry Hecksher, CIA station chief in Santiago)
the CIA funded widespread strikes took place all over Chile
the US, had decided, and so it was, Allende was removed in a bloody coup
the date Allende was overthrown was 9/11/1973 — Chilean people’s 9/11
military leader Augusto Pinochet was as cruel as any wicked dictator
over 3,000 people were murdered or disappeared
38,000 people were put in prison, many of them were tortured
East Pakistan
West Pakistan’s Punjabi elite considered East Pakistani Bengalis inferior
West based army refused to hand over power to East based election winner
a million people got killed, hundreds of thousands of women were raped
Henry Kissinger on letting Pakistani army butcher East Pakistani Bengalis
“We can’t allow a friend of ours and China’s [Pakistan] to get screwed in a conflict with a friend of India’s [the Soviet Union].”
East Timor
on Dec 6, 1975, Kissinger & President Gerald Ford left Indonesia after a visit
next day, Indonesian President Suharto ordered invasion of East Timor
Suharto had blood of at least 500,000 communists in a purge of 1965 – 1966
now he went after East Timorese blood
“I’m assuming you’re really going to keep your mouth shut on this subject?”
on its website, human rights organization ETAN had this to say on Kissinger
Under Kissinger’s direction, the U.S. gave a greenlight to the 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor (now Timor-Leste) which ushered in a 24-year brutal occupation by the Suharto dictatorship. The Indonesian occupation of East Timor and West Papua was enabled by U.S. weapons and training. This illegal flow of weapons contravened congressional intent, yet Kissinger bragged about his ability to continue arms shipments to Suharto (“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a bit longer.”) These weapons were essential to the Indonesian dictator’s consolidation of military control in both East Timor and West Papua, and these occupations cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Timorese and Papuan civilians. Kissinger’s policy toward West Papua allowed for the U.S.-based multinational corporation Freeport McMoRan to pursue its mining interests in the region, which has resulted in terrible human rights and environmental abuses; Kissinger was rewarded with a seat on the Board of Directors from 1995-2001.
Argentina
Mar 1976: Argentina’s President Isabel Peron was ousted by General Videla
Kissinger provided help to the military junta of General Jorge Rafael Videla
many were drugged, put on planes, & thrown into the Atlantic Ocean
between 1976 to 1983, 22,000 people were killed or disappeared
War Criminal Kissinger
Kissinger was fortunate — his position & power satisfied all his urges
lust for blood, greed for money, fame in news, hobnobbing with celebrities
at a dinner party, ABC TV’s Peter Jennings once asked Kissinger
Henry Kissinger was dead quiet
but unlike his dead victims, he got revived when he moved to other guests
(party was hosted by ABC TV’s Barbara Walters, Kissinger’s friend)
during Kissinger’s 8 years in power, many horrific things happened
regimes supported by him killed millions of people
they also committed millions of human rights violations
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com