Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away this week at age 100. My memory of Mr. Kissinger was his work during the Nixon administration, from Vietnam to the historic presidential trip to China. Add to this the famous women he dated, and the whole Henry the K image.
It was interesting to see how others remembered him, especially in South America. Last Friday, I was a guest on a Buenos Aires radio show talking about President-elect Milei and the U.S. Before my segment, I listened to several guests talk about the late Mr. Kissinger. They spoke about his support for right-wing dictatorships, from Pinochet and the Argentina junta. It went something like this editorial from The Buenos Aires Times:
The name Kissinger is often paired with ‘realpolitik’ – diplomacy based on power and practical considerations.
Lauding his cold-eyed view of advancing US interests, admirers compared him to history’s great statesmen such as Bismarck, Metternich or Richelieu.
But for many, especially on the left, Kissinger was seen as an unindicted war criminal for his role in, among other events, expanding the Vietnam War to two more countries, supporting Chile’s 1973 military coup and Argentina’s brutal military junta, green-lighting Indonesia’s bloody invasion of East Timor in 1975 and turning a blind eye to Pakistan’s mass atrocities during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.
Well, time proved Mr. Kissinger correct on Chile. The nation was on the verge of collapse and a change was needed. As for Argentina, he had to work with the government of that country, an inefficient and corrupt military junta.
What was he supposed to do? The Secretary of State has to promote U.S. interests by working with governments in place whether a democracy or dictatorship. Again, it’s reality.
Over the last few years, he was a man of many opinions. I will remember him for something he said not long ago:
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says it was a ‘grave mistake’ for Germany to allow so many migrants in, warning that it creates a ‘pressure group’ in a country — just as Germany has seen pro-Hamas celebrations in the streets.
‘It was a grave mistake to let in so many people of totally different culture and religion and concepts because it creates a pressure group inside each country that does that,’ the 100-year-old former U.S. diplomat said in an interview with Germany’s Welt TV.
Yes, Henry the K was right about that. I hope that the Europeans were taking notes.