Book Review: The Trial of Henry Kissinger

[Nomen Nescio]

"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.