Christopher Hitchens Trials of Kissinger p6

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.

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• hitchens
• henry
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[OxTheWriter]

Thanks to mephifc for posting this movie. Much appreciated.

[karlkarlkarl1234]

He is buddies with the Rockefellers who control the media, so it prevents any proper scrutiny. Maybe if it wasn't for that he would be in jail.

I just hope the scumbag mass-murderer dies painfully, the sooner the better.

At least history will record the truth and he will go down as the inhumane psychopath that we know him to be.

[paul1x1]

power-is-an-apphro

power-is-an-aphrodisiac-dr-kis­singer-stuck-his-dick-up-the-a­ss-of-every-small-nation-the-u­s-govt-got-him-close-to-what-a­-horrible-man-he-will-never-be­-prosecuted-but-thank-you-chri­s-hitchens-histort-will-record­-his-crimes-his-legacy-will-be­-that-of-a-war-criminal



[070911021302]

@redneckjesus3 You make an excellent point regarding the US-Indonesia relationship long before East Timor in 1975. The US were totally complicit in the rise of Suharto in the mid 60's+ the subsequent massacres of over 1 million people. Indonesia was very rich in minerals e.g coal + oil with one of the largest nickel+ rubber reserves in the world. Suharto allowed US+ foreign corporations preferred access to the country's massive mineral reserves. As usual with the US,follow the Money...

[unfad1ng]

if thers one thing we can blame kissinger for it is the east-timor massacre

[giantlobsterman]

Kissenger is the most dangerous type of human being; a very intelligent psychopath. In this case, Hannibal Lecter in politics!

[istocco]

@wovokanarchy , this is a film where the killings that Kissinger ordered are documented. It's not like as nobody knew these killings since there a lot of testimonies and documents about his involvement

[istocco]

This is how US delivers democracy to the world, supporting coupes and killings. Take it in account when trying to make sense of what's going on in Africa or Middle East

[treid100182]

KISSINGER better hope he dies before the NEW GENERATION takes power....which will happen in the next 15 years.

[redneckjesus3]

Pretty good documentary. However, a salient point missed is that Suharto was put in power by the CIA who helped him overthrow Sukarno. Indonesia under Sukarno was neither an ally to the communists nor capitalists and had started a non-alliance program with other nations to stay out of the cold war.  Wikipedia on this issue is not altogether accurate.

[ErnilEnNaur]

@SuperOmnicron Source?

[SuperOmnicron]

and guess who was an officer in Suharto's military? anybody? anybody? Oh yeah, Lolo Soetoro.....the stepfather of Barack Obama. What a coincidence, huh?