[AnotherUnixGeek]

I'd say that his most lasting accomplishment was as the architect of the China-appeasement and nurturing strategy that has been followed by Nixon and every subsequent US president - the outcome has been a Communist rival that threatens the US militarily and economically.

I have no love whatsoever for Kissinger. That said, I won't join the leftists in rejoicing over his death - the time to oppose a man's actions and policies is when he is enacting them, not decades later when he dies of old age. And in any event, today's Left is a far bigger threat to world democracy than Kissinger ever was.

[basalt]

China stunned the world with their nuclear detonation in 1964....no one could believe such an isolated country could pull off such a technical acheivement. I mean, some of their infantry were still on horse back. It was only a matter of time until they started making real advancements militarily...Nixon and Kissinger understood this....you simply just cant ignore a country of over a billion people that are now nuclear armed.