Kissinger Prefers The Missionary Position
By Mickey Z.
27 April, 2014
Worldnewstrust.com
Photo credit: Mickey Z.
“With proper tactics, nuclear war need not be as destructive as it appears.” - Henry Kissinger
On April 24, 2014, I received an e-mail from the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) featuring an action alert. It seems Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Henry Kissinger was appearing at New York City's Central Synagogue to share “his candid perspective on Israel, current challenges in the Middle East, and his more than 60 years as a policymaker and trusted advisor in matters of foreign affairs.”
If I hadn’t been speaking at another event crosstown that night, I would’ve definitely heeded ETAN’s call to “come and remind people about Henry Kissinger's sordid history concerning East Timor (Timor-Leste), West Papua, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Chile, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Angola and elsewhere.”
So, instead, I’ll remind my readers that Dr. Kissinger’s reign of terror, of course, was not limited to the above list. Just ask the long-suffering Kurds.
With a total population of 26 million, the Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without their own country and have often been used as geo-political pawns. In 1975, in the midst of a border dispute between Iraq and the Shah of Iran (a U.S. Ally), then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger secretly channeled $16 million in military aid to Iraqi Kurds.
The Kurds, succumbing to the spin, believed Washington was finally supporting their right to self-determination. In reality, the United States was using the Kurdish rebels to sap the resources of the Iraqi regime and coerce them into a settlement.
That settlement came at the 1975 OPEC summit, at which time the United States promised Iraq that support for the Kurds would be immediately withdrawn. As Iraq wiped out the Kurdish rebels, Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani sent a message to Kissinger. It read in part:
“Our movement and people are being destroyed in an unbelievable way, with silence from everyone. We feel, your excellency, that the United States has a moral and political responsibility towards our people, who have committed themselves to your country’s policy.”
One can easily imagine Kissinger getting off on being called “your excellency,” while cringing at the concept of moral responsibility, but he did not directly reply to Barzani. Instead, he instructed a staff member: “Promise them anything, give them what they get, and fuck them if they can’t take a joke.”
When asked to explain America’s duplicity towards the Kurds, Kissinger delivered a one-liner that effectively sums up U.S. foreign policy: “Covert action should not be confused with missionary work.”
Remember, comrades, this is what we’re up against...
#shifthappens
Note: To continue conversations like this, come hear Mickey Z. in person at two upcoming events at Hunter College on April 28 and May 3.
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Mickey Z. is the author of 11 books, most recently the novel Darker Shade of Green. Until the laws are changed or the power runs out, he can be found on a couple of obscure websites called Facebook and Twitter. Anyone wishing to support his activist efforts can do so by making a donation here
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