Christopher Hitchens Trials of Kissinger p5

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Based on a book by journalist Christopher Hitchens, The Trials of Henry Kissinger, a documentary by Eugene Jarecki, argues that the former U.S. Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize recipient should be tried for war crimes for his role in the overthrow of the democratically elected government in Chile in 1973, the secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969, and U.S. support for Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor, events that led to the slaughter of millions. Applying the same legal standards to which Pinochet and Milosevic have been held, Hitchens branded Dr. Kissinger as a war criminal who should be brought to justice for crimes against humanity. Narrated by actor Brian Cox, the documentary is presented in lively "60 Minutes" fashion using archival footage, background music, and a combination of interviews with Kissinger associates and journalists such as Seymour Hersh, William Safire, and Hitchens himself.

The film attempts to maintain a balanced tone but Dr. Kissinger's only defenders are former staff members William Shawcross and Alexander Haig and there are no interviews with Dr. Kissinger himself (who refused to be interviewed). A refugee from Nazi Germany, Kissinger. rose to prominence in American politics thanks to his realpolitik approach to improving America's power position in the world relative to Russia and China. One of the main contentions of the film is that Kissinger, as a member of the Johnson team at the Paris Peace Talks, was also a secret advisor to Richard Nixon's presidential campaign of 1968. In that double role, he torpedoed the Paris Peace Talks by persuading South Vietnam Premier Thiéu to back out of the talks in order to prevent the Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey from taking political advantage of a Vietnam settlement before the election.

Another supporting piece of evidence is that Kissinger bombed Cambodia without the knowledge of Congress, an action that led to the death of 500,000 Cambodians, the destabilization of the country and the rise of the bloody Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot. Jarecki also argues that Kissinger's clandestine support of Indonesia President Suharto's invasion of East Timor suppressed an independent movement and led to the deaths of 100,000 Timorese. Jarecki's case is built on a series of recently declassified documents that contradict Kissinger's written memoirs and show that Washington had supported Suharto using American weapons designed only for defensive purposes. They also indicate that Kissinger played a major role in Chile in the kidnapping and murder of General René Schneider and was deeply involved in the overthrow of the government of Salvador Allendé in Chile on September 11, 1973. Jarecki interviews Gen. Schneider's son who reveals that he is considering pressing charges against Kissinger for his part in the murder.

The Trials of Henry Kissinger is timely and the idea that statesman should be held accountable for their actions under International Law is a compelling issue that deserves to be debated in public forums.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• christopher
• hitchens
• henry
• kissinger

[437thx1138]

Hitchens is still on Kissinger's ass. I still see him bring it up, And Kinssinger does deserve it for Cambodia if nothing else. People are not real to him. Death is not real to him.

[mephifc]

lets just hope someone rides our last administration like hitch rides kissinger. these narcissistic mother fuckers need a fucking dose of reality stuffed up their asses in a bad way!

[437thx1138]

I think it will come out eventually. Most of it anyway but years will pass first I'm afraid. Maybe till after Bush dies even. It's disgusting but the fix has been in for Bush since 2000. Dads connections? I don't understand why.

Thanks for posting this, needs to be remembered.

[mephifc]

i dont understand it either. maybe it will be perceived as a weakness because it was allowed to spiral out of control like it did? maybe there are more ppl responsible than we know and theyre still in power and too may insignificants will take the fall? i hate thinking about the possibilities! my favorite quote lately...Life must be understood backward. But it must be lived forward.-Soren Kierkegaard

i dont think a lot of people truly understand backwards and until they do, we will fail.

[BoomerNavy70]

Think about this.

I am a Vietnam Era vet and as I look back and know that I lost very close friends, high school classmates, and people I met in the military it absolutely disgust me that the same people we were fighting for are the same people that were getting us killed.

I am not talking about the American people, I am talking about Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger.

Paranoia swept the country about communism, and today are are jumping in bed with the Red Chinese and the Vietcong.

[TheGraetDane]

He is an Insane killer. Arrest him immediately. It must be done!

[Wolfovicz]

@mephifc You support Hitchens yet you criticise Bush? How contradictorary. Christopher Hitchens voted for Bush.

[UberVersatile]

This movie is a life in itself and does not tell the most gruesome part of the story and the story that vindicats NV of alot of guilt. The fact that the 73-75 bombings were concentrated on bombing Vietnam troops, troops that were engaging the Khmer Rouge. The fact that Vietnam was friendly, if not allied with the prince of Cambodia who the US deposed and that the Khmer Rouge, similiar to the Mujahedin in Afghanistan were the US last hope to depose the North Vietnamese.Commies differ from Commies

[Wushuki]

I fail to see why Hitchens is so concerned with Kissinger. Is Hitchens himself not a hawk with very similar policies when it comes to interventionism? Did he not himself support the war in Iraq?

It therefore strikes me as totally absurd that he would so severely criticize someone making almost the exact same judgments during the Vietnam war as he does now in the Iraq war.

[OzzyPatriot]

@SherlockHamlet 'Ethics' is NOT LOVE.

I believe Jesus spoke of love as the greatest thing. Oh. But who killed him, eh?.. er.. help me out here, mate, I bet you know who and why he was killed, now don't ya? Yep. We both do.

[SherlockHamlet]

@OzzyPatriot

Oh--and Hitchens, who is so eloquent and materful...

HE'S part Jewish as well.

I know...damn Jews, huh? How dare we...exist...

[SherlockHamlet]

@OzzyPatriot You, sir, are a bigot and an Anti-Semite, and I'll end the conversation here.

Cal me as ignorant as you like, I do not care--I'm not even going to dignify your idiocy with a conversation as blatantly-Anti-Semetic and pig-headed as you are.

"You have the potential for knowledge."

Well, that's very gracious of you, to tell me that I might just have the potential for knowledge...if, of course, I come around to YOUR point of view...how convenient (and I AM ethnically Jewish--sorry.)

[OzzyPatriot]

@SherlockHamlet Then you agree there can be a small percent of ALL people who are very evil, then. Great! I agree. And those evil few are called 'those who call themselves Jewish'

You have the potential for knowledge. You really should get an education outside of what Jewish controlled MSM has led you to believe. Zionist Jews are NOT your friends.

[SherlockHamlet]

@OzzyPatriot Knock off the Anti-Semitic crap--

There are good and bad people of all races and religions...

[OzzyPatriot]

So after the Jew war machine of America made money off bombing Cambodia directed by Henry,, the Communist Jew war machine of Russia funded the Comare Rouge.

The winners? : The military industrial complexes of both America and Russia. Both Jew run. And more specifically. Those that financed both side's war industries, for who Kissinger and etc work for. The Rothschilds etc.