"The Trial of Henry Kissinger" by Christopher Hitchens ISBN 1-85984-631-9 It is commonly stated on this list that the term "terrorism" is selectively used. The enemies of the United States Government are "terrorists" and its friends "freedom fighters." Nobody who reads this book can doubt this belief, except to observe that many (even most?) labelled "terrorist" are not terrorists at all. They are nothing more than dissidents. Hitchens persuasively argues that Henry Kissinger is documentably guilty of a variety of prosecutable crimes. Both war crimes and crimes which are fully covered by existing U.S. law are listed. The book has a fair amount of information about the Nixon and Ford administrations which will probably be new to most readers. Kissinger wielded more power than many may realize, as he chaired something called the "40 Committee" from 1969 to 1976. The "40 Committee", whose name has changed repeatedly over the years, oversaw all U.S. foreign, and possibly domestic, covert actions. Kissinger also benefitted from the mental instability of Richard Nixon. At least three times Kissinger and others ordered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to disregard Nixon's orders for varying periods of time as it was feared that Nixon might start a nuclear war. These were commendable acts, but illustrate how much influence Kissinger had - with great power comes great responsibility. The most horrific crime discussed is the secret (and illegal) bombings of Cambodia and Laos. While I had been familiar with this as a legal and Constitutional issue, I was unaware of the full extent of civilian casualties. The bombings were apparently motivated by information that North Vietnam was supplying southern rebels through Cambodia and Laos. The bombings were carried out by B-52s flying at high altitude, which meant they could drop a large quantity of explosive, but not with any accuracy. The loss of accuracy appeared not to matter, as there were no real targets identified. Perhaps one million (!!!) civilians died in these indiscriminate bombings. Many of the victims were small children who are said to be less resistent to the shockwave of high explosives. Less complicated, and likely most prosecutable, is Kissinger's instigation of the murder of Gen. Rene Schneider, Chief of the Chilean General Staff. In 1970, Salvador Allende was legally elected President of Chile with a minority of the popular vote. (Much as William Clinton was elected to the U.S. Presidency in 1992.) Chile was of limited importance, but Nixon had close ties to people who worked for corporations which feared theft of their assets. Nixon made Allende's removal a top priority. Chile was a democratic country with 150 years of elected government behind it. Gen. Schneider supported Constitutional government and was the main obstacle to a military coup. A few days before Allende took office, Schneider was murdered by anti-democratic military officers supported by the CIA and directed by Kissinger. Hitchens: "Here one must pause for a recapitulation. An unelected official in the United States is meeting with others, without the knowledge or authorization of Congress, to plan the kidnapping of a constitution-minded senior officer in a democratic country with which the United States is not at war, and with which it maintains cordial diplomatic relations. The minutes of the meetings may have an official look to them (though they were hidden from the light of day for long enough) but what we are reviewing is a 'hit' - a piece of state-supported terrorism." While it is hardly defensible to murder any political dissident, what is especially disturbing about the Schneider case is that he was nominally on the same team as Kissinger and his cronies and does not appear to have been a dissident in any way other than his respect for the rule of law. The case of Elias P. Demetracopoulos further illustrates Kissinger's fundamentally criminal nature. Mr. Demetracopoulos is a Greek journalist who was opposed to the military regime which controlled his country from 1967 to 1974. During this time he lived in the United States and lobbied Congress to support democracy in Greece. After the Greek dictatorship fell, documents became available which showed there had been repeated extensive plans, in collusion with the USG, to kidnap the journalist from the United States and return him to Greece. There is reason to believe that their plan was to torture and then kill him. It is also known that an index of various NSC documents refers to a document from 1970 with keywords "RE MR DEMETRACOPOULOS DEATH IN ATHENS PRISON". (The document itself remains unavailable.) Not only was this kidnapping to occur inside the United States, indeed probably in Washington, D.C., but Demetracopoulos was very well connected in the Republican and Democratic parties. For example, one of his close friends introduced Nixon and Agnew. He is personally known to Kissinger. Other chapters, well worth reading, cover criminal activities with respect to East Timor, Bangladesh, and Cyprus. At the end of the book Hutchins evaluates the prospects for a trial and suggests that Kissinger may be facing a variety of indictments in several countries. Even in the event that he is not tried in the United States, this would at least have the effect of limiting his travel and tarnish his "elder statesman" image. Hitchens argues that the U.S. might as well prosecute now so as not to be shamed in the eyes of the world. Indeed, every day this criminal is allowed to walk free is an indictment of the ability - and willingness - of the U.S. legal system to exercise justice. And, any time anybody wants to know why strong crypto is a good idea for a free society the answer is simple: It makes it harder for murderers like Henry Kissinger and his friends to eliminate their political opponents.