It stands to reason he must have been doing something right to have stayed so close to the halls of power.
I was a toddler when he was carpet bombing Cambodia, never knew him as anything but “an important person” that was sometimes on the TV. Only learned of his crimes in the past decade.
How did an in-your-face war criminal retain such influence for so long?
He made the ruling class a ton of money. Here’s just a few things he did…
Kissinger sabotaged peace talks in Vietnam: He leaked information to Nixon’s campaign in 1968 to prevent a deal between Johnson and Hanoi, prolonging the war for four more years and killing millions of people.
Kissinger orchestrated the coup in Chile: He supported the overthrow of the democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende in 1973, and backed the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who tortured and killed thousands of dissidents and implemented neoliberal policies that harmed the majority of Chileans.
Kissinger enabled genocide and repression: He ignored or encouraged the atrocities committed by U.S. allies in Bangladesh, East Timor, Indonesia, Pakistan, and elsewhere, and participated in Operation Condor, a campaign of assassinations of left-wing activists across Latin America.
Kissinger expanded U.S. bombing and intervention: He secretly bombed Cambodia and Laos, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians and paving the way for the Khmer Rouge genocide. He also set the precedent for U.S. presidents to bomb countries without congressional or public oversight, as seen in the War on Terror.
Kissinger was celebrated by the U.S. elite: He received praise and awards from presidents, politicians, journalists, and academics, who admired his geopolitical strategy and ignored or justified his crimes. He was also an informal adviser to several administrations, including Bush and Obama
And he was sold on Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. Karma. Not enough but it’s something.
who admired his geopolitical strategy
That’s very much what I’m asking! I’m well aware of his sins, but was his influence 100% from making the rich richer?
His influence was largely because his geopolitical philosophy of Realpolitik was “effective” in that it ruthlessly pursued power over all else. For a series of presidents seeking hegemonic control that is valuable in and of itself.
It’s simple; he was an awful man working within an awful system. It’s not hard to succeed when you’re perfect for a job.
He was working for Tricky at the time. Tricky wanted to hear what Kiddinger was telling him. Had a talent for doing that for powerful people.
Shame he didn’t die much sooner.
He made the ruling class richer at the cost of normal people’s lives
There’s a very good podcast called Behind the Bastards that did an extremely expansive profile on him covering (iirc) his childhood to his retirement.
I imagine the guys selling bombs and guns must’ve loved a fella who wanted to make use of them, for one obvious group.
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I don’t even know who that is, and I was surprised to see so many posts seemingly celebrating someone’s death
Few people in history are responsible for as much suffering as Kissinger.
Former National Security advisor and Secretary of State who, among other things, deliberately prolonged the Vietnam War just to get Nixon elected, drove policies which decimated Cambodia and Laos, and had ties to the Pinochet regime. Western Liberals prefer to remember him for setting up talks with China, and detente with the Soviets. The founder of realpolitik and symbol of Western imperialism over the last half of the 20th century.
Many of us have been waiting a long, long time to piss on his grave, including (I’m sure) the families of the half-million or so people who died in Indochina because of the extended war and carpet-bombing.
remember him for setting up talks with China, and detente with the Soviets. The founder of realpolitik and symbol of Western imperialism over the last half of the 20th century
Now we’re getting to my question!
See this comment? It’s a pretty good breakdown.
