Dr. Henry Kissinger: The Myth of the Great Statesman
By Walter L. Hixson –Washington Report on Middle East Affairs – January/February 2022, pp. 34-35
History’s Shadows
AMONG MANY widely embraced illusions about the history of the Middle East and American diplomacy in general is that Dr. Henry A. Kissinger is or ever was a brilliant statesman.
What Kissinger has always been, and remains at age 98, is a brilliant self-promoter. His more than 3,000 pages of self-aggrandizing published memoirs—a record unmatched in the annals of American diplomacy—reflect an ego trip befitting a man famous for his “shuttle diplomacy.”
Millions of Americans have been taken in by Kissinger’s Harvard credentials, his deft manipulation of the news media and his gravelly Old World-accent that supposedly resonates the wisdom of the ages. The latest of Kissinger’s easily duped admirers is the Israeli apologist Martin Indyk, the author of the recent book Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy. In this astonishingly shallow book, as well as a recent webinar sponsored by the Middle East Institute, Indyk lauds Kissinger for his step-by-step approach to Middle East diplomacy, which he credits with giving rise to the Oslo “peace process.” The Oslo framework—a fraud that has enabled the ongoing and illegal settler occupation of Palestine—has been thoroughly discredited, yet Indyk argues with a straight face that it offers the only viable path to peace. None of this is a surprise, as Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, has long been a member in good standing of the Israel lobby and a cheerleader for Zionist state aggression and the repression of Palestinians. One can expect nothing less—he was first executive director of AIPAC’s think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP).
Even Indyk admits that when Kissinger entered the Nixon White House, he was a Eurocentric “Orientalist” who “didn’t know anything about the Arab world by his own admission.” On the other hand, Kissinger was a dedicated Zionist, which had led him to visit Israel six times prior to his executive appointment. Kissinger—like Indyk and a series of U.S. diplomats, from Dennis Ross to Secretary of State Antony Blinken today—sided unequivocally with Israel and against justice for Palestinians.
Indyk showers credit on Kissinger for bailing out Israel in the October 1973 war and for his subsequent much glorified shuttle diplomacy, while glossing over the fact that Kissinger had sabotaged Secretary of State William Rogers’ peace plan based on U.N. Resolution 242, in the aftermath of the June 1967 war. By pushing Rogers aside, the ever-opportunistic Kissinger took over his job in the Nixon and later Ford White Houses.
Indyk chides Kissinger for not pursuing a “Jordanian solution” to the Palestine conflict, but Kissinger had no interest in Palestine, which, as he explained in 1974, was “not an American interest, because we don’t care if Israel keeps the West Bank if it can get away with it. So, we won’t push it.” Here we see the real Kissinger—utterly disdainful of the U.N., the Palestinian quest for peace, justice and human rights, just as he disdained the cause of other dark-skinned peoples across the world, including millions of Asians, Latin Americans and Africans.
In 1975, Kissinger expressed regret albeit privately, explaining, “I am sorry that I did not support the Rogers effort” to forge a peace accord. He acknowledged that a diplomatic agreement with Egypt could have been negotiated that “would have prevented the 1973 war.” Kissinger thus admitted that his ignorance and disdain for the Arab and Palestinian position had precluded a peace accord and brought on a major war. Failing to prevent war and further militarizing the Middle East conflict were the hallmarks of Kissinger’s failed statesmanship.
Both Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford made sporadic attempts to act as honest brokers in the Middle East, occurrences that left Kissinger caught between the administrations and Israel. When Israel and the lobby publicly criticized Kissinger amid a dispute over military resupply during the short-lived Ford administration, Kissinger in a “crying voice” prostrated himself before the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Simcha Dinitz, pleading that he “was a Jew before I was an American and now you are making me the scapegoat.” He added—in a vivid example of the extent of Israeli influence over American diplomacy—“I showed you messages, telegrams and wires from the Soviet Union and Egypt,” only to be criticized publicly in return.
In addition to his bungling Middle East diplomacy, Kissinger infamously green-lighted the undermining of Chilean, Argentinian and other Latin American democracies; bolstered apartheid in southern Africa; signed off on a murderous Indonesian assault on East Timor; and gave a thumbs up to Pakistan’s genocidal attack on Bangladesh. Even the much ballyhooed and long overdue détente with Russia and China, for which Kissinger has claimed enormous credit, stemmed from a misguided hope that the great powers could compel the North Vietnamese to grant the United States “peace with honor” amid the massive, failed Indochina intervention. Nixon and Kissinger prolonged the Vietnam War for four years, achieving nothing but a wider degree of death and destruction in the process.
Upon his death, Kissinger no doubt will be lauded, his mythical overseas accomplishments celebrated for days on end. But beneath the veneer of statesmanship the actual historical record reveals the true Kissinger: a deeply flawed diplomat who nurtured utter contempt for justice, human rights and peace. (Even Indyk admitted Kissinger had “quite a jaundiced view of peace,” but so does Indyk, so that wasn’t a big problem for him.)
So, Henry, when the time comes, may you rest in peace—despite the utter disregard you showed for it throughout your life.
History’s Shadows, a regular column by contributing editor Walter L. Hixson, seeks to place various aspects of Middle East politics and diplomacy in historical perspective. Hixson is the author of Architects of Repression: How Israel and Its Lobby Put Racism, Violence and Injustice at the Center of US Middle East Policy and Israel’s Armor: The Israel Lobby and the First Generation of the Palestine Conflict (available from Middle East Books and More), along with several other books and journal articles. He has been a professor of history for 36 years, achieving the rank of distinguished professor.
Share this:
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
- Click to print (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- More
- Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
Related
January 13, 2022 - Posted by aletho | Book Review, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Timeless or most popular | Human rights, Israel, Palestine, United States, Zionism
1 Comment »
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Featured Video
Hiding The Decline In US Wildfires
For more videos go to the Aletho News – Video Category
or go to
Aletho News Archives – Video-Images
From the Archives
The FBI’s Forgotten Criminal Record
By James Bovard | Future of Freedom | August 2017 edition
President Trump’s firing of FBI chief James Comey on May 9 spurred much of the media and many Democrats to rally around America’s most powerful domestic federal agency. But the FBI has a long record of both deceit and incompetence. Five years ago, Americans learned that the FBI was teaching its agents that “the FBI has the ability to bend or suspend the law to impinge on the freedom of others.” This has practically been the Bureau’s motif since its creation in 1908.
The bureau was small potatoes until Woodrow Wilson dragged the United States into World War I. In one fell swoop, the number of dangerous Americans increased by perhaps twentyfold. The Espionage Act of 1917 made it easy to jail anyone who criticized the war or the government. In September 1918, the bureau, working with local police and private vigilantes, seized more than 50,000 suspected draft dodgers off the streets and out of the restaurants of New York, Newark, and Jersey City. The Justice Department was disgraced when the vast majority of young men who had been arrested turned out to be innocent. … continue
Blog Roll
-
Join 2,779 other followers
Visits Since December 2009
- 5,873,547 hits
Looking for something?
Archives
Calendar
Categories
Aletho News Civil Liberties Corruption Deception Economics Environmentalism Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism Fake News False Flag Terrorism Full Spectrum Dominance Illegal Occupation Mainstream Media, Warmongering Malthusian Ideology, Phony Scarcity Militarism Progressive Hypocrite Russophobia Science and Pseudo-Science Solidarity and Activism Subjugation - Torture Supremacism, Social Darwinism Timeless or most popular Video War Crimes Wars for IsraelTags
9/11 Afghanistan Africa AIPAC al-Qaeda Argentina Australia BBC Benjamin Netanyahu Brazil Canada Central Intelligence Agency China CIA CNN Colombia Covid-19 COVID-19 Vaccine Da’esh Donald Trump Egypt European Union Facebook FBI France Gaza Germany Google Hamas Hebron Hezbollah Hillary Clinton Human rights India Iran Iraq ISIS Israel Israeli settlement Japan Jerusalem Joe Biden Korea Latin America Lebanon Libya Middle East National Security Agency NATO New York Times North Korea NSA Obama Pakistan Palestine Qatar Russia Sanctions against Iran Saudi Arabia Syria The Guardian Turkey Twitter UAE UK Ukraine United Nations United States USA Venezuela Washington Post West Bank Yemen YouTube ZionismRecent Comments
papasha408 on If Covid isn’t causing soaring… brianharryaustralia on US accuses Iran of plot to kil… roberthstiver on US accuses Iran of plot to kil… brianharryaustralia on Infertility Pandemic: Number O… brianharryaustralia on If Covid isn’t causing soaring… brianharryaustralia on US accuses Iran of plot to kil… brianharryaustralia on CDC says COVID vaccine status… theprinceofsense on Facebook blocks #diedsuddenly… roberthstiver on US accuses Iran of plot to kil… roberthstiver on China Cannot Ignore Deployment… roberthstiver on US commits a perfect murder in… Bill Francis on WEF’s “Global Inte…
Aletho News
- The Mainstream Media is Gaslighting Us About Climate Change August 13, 2022
- If Covid isn’t causing soaring deaths, is the jab to blame? August 13, 2022
- CDC says COVID vaccine status no longer relevant August 12, 2022
- Facebook blocks #diedsuddenly hashtag August 12, 2022
- Leaked chats: Biden regime reportedly pushed for Alex Berenson to be banned from Twitter August 12, 2022
- The Aids myth and the cancelling of an honest scientist (sounds familiar?) August 12, 2022
- Twitter bans NYP columnist Paul Sperry following criticism of FBI Mar-A-Lago raid August 12, 2022
- Trump Dismisses Reports of FBI Raid for Nuclear Documents as ‘Hoax’ August 12, 2022
- China Cannot Ignore Deployment of US THAAD Missile Systems in South Korea: Beijing August 12, 2022
- US commits a perfect murder in Kabul August 12, 2022
- US accuses Iran of plot to kill John Bolton August 12, 2022
- Met Office Must Answer Growing Doubts About Rising U.K. and Global Temperature Claims August 12, 2022
- Hiding The Decline In US Wildfires August 12, 2022
- NEJM: COVID booster significantly delays end of infection August 11, 2022
- Infertility Pandemic: Number Of Births In Germany For January-April 2022 Period Plummets 12% August 11, 2022
- Former College Football Coach Fired for Refusing COVID Vaccine Files $25 Million Claim Against Washington State August 11, 2022
- Twitter outlines its plot to “protect” the US midterm elections from “misinformation” August 11, 2022
- WEF’s “Global Intelligence Collecting AI” to Erase Ideas from the Internet August 11, 2022
OffGuardian
- WATCH: The Voluntaryist Handbook August 13, 2022
- Repression, Terror, Fear: The Government Wants to Silence the Opposition August 12, 2022
- Is the Bank of Russia buying gold? August 11, 2022
Richie Allen
- A Word On The Future Of The Radio Show August 4, 2022
- Boris Johnson Is Gone But What Does It Mean? July 7, 2022
- Macy Gray: “Changing Your Parts Doesn’t Make You A Woman!” July 5, 2022
- Climate Change Qualification Open To Pupils In Northern Ireland July 5, 2022
Consent Factory
- The “Unvaccinated” Question (Revisited) August 6, 2022
If Americans Knew
- Another Palestinian civilian dies from Israel’s attack on Gaza August 12, 2022
- Another little girl dies from Israeli strikes on Gaza August 11, 2022
- Another Palestinian Dies From Wounds Suffered In Israeli strikes on Gaza August 10, 2022
Not A Lot Of People Know That
- Smart meter users could be moved to ‘pay-as-you-go’ if they cancel direct debits August 12, 2022
- Heat Pumps Are A “Frail Technology” August 12, 2022
- The contradictory Green policies to limit CO2 emissions August 12, 2022
- Huge UK electric car battery factory on ‘life support’ to cut costs August 12, 2022
No Tricks Zone
Sebastian Rushworth M.D.
- Do high protein diets shorten lifespan? July 31, 2022
More Links
Contact:
atheonews (at) gmail.comDisclaimer
This site is provided as a research and reference tool. Although we make every reasonable effort to ensure that the information and data provided at this site are useful, accurate, and current, we cannot guarantee that the information and data provided here will be error-free. By using this site, you assume all responsibility for and risk arising from your use of and reliance upon the contents of this site.
This site and the information available through it do not, and are not intended to constitute legal advice. Should you require legal advice, you should consult your own attorney.
Nothing within this site or linked to by this site constitutes investment advice or medical advice.
Materials accessible from or added to this site by third parties, such as comments posted, are strictly the responsibility of the third party who added such materials or made them accessible and we neither endorse nor undertake to control, monitor, edit or assume responsibility for any such third-party material.
The posting of stories, commentaries, reports, documents and links (embedded or otherwise) on this site does not in any way, shape or form, implied or otherwise, necessarily express or suggest endorsement or support of any of such posted material or parts therein.
The word “alleged” is deemed to occur before the word “fraud.” Since the rule of law still applies. To peasants, at least.
Fair Use
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more info go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
DMCA Contact
This is information for anyone that wishes to challenge our “fair use” of copyrighted material.
If you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe that content residing on or accessible through our website infringes a copyright and falls outside the boundaries of “Fair Use”, please send a notice of infringement by contacting atheonews@gmail.com.
We will respond and take necessary action immediately.
If notice is given of an alleged copyright violation we will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material(s) in question.
All 3rd party material posted on this website is copyright the respective owners / authors. Aletho News makes no claim of copyright on such material.
Kissinger, and his ilk, like Caspar Weinberger, and many others, whose loyalty to the USA was overridden by his loyalty to Israel(as are SO many of his ilk, in Washington today) once famously said, during the “American War” in Vietnam, “I refuse to believe that a third rate power like Vietnam does not have a breaking point”, and, it meant nothing to him, to sent more young American draftees, into the “Mince Grinder” of Vietnam.
Lets hope the 58,600 dead American draftees and the 6,000,000 Vietnamese dead, are waiting for this BUTCHER, when he arrives at the Gates of Hell……very soon…..
LikeLike