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Henry Kissinger was a colossus who bestrode a century
Daily Mail ^ | 30th November 2023 | Niall Ferguson

Posted on 12/01/2023 9:31:15 AM PST by Ennis85

Henry Kissinger, who died on Wednesday night at the age of 100, was the most enduringly influential secretary of state in the history of the United States. He was also the most controversial. But the influence matters far more than the controversy.

His critics have wasted no time in ignoring the old injunction that no ill should be spoken of the recently deceased. The scurrilous magazine Rolling Stone led with the repulsive headline 'Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America's Ruling Class, Finally Dies'.

At a time when anti-Semitism has again reared its ugly head in the wake of the October 7 atrocities in Israel, we should pause to ask ourselves why for decades hack journalists on both the Left and the Right have used such odious and historically inaccurate language so frequently about Henry Kissinger but never about other American diplomats.

Kissinger's life was a series of extraordinary improbabilities. What were the chances of a German Jew born in Bavaria in 1923 living to be 20, much less 100? More than a dozen members of his family died in the Holocaust.

What were the chances of a teenage refugee who arrived in New York in 1938 - who started his life in America working in a shaving-brush factory - going on to hold the highest office in the executive branch of government for which a foreign-born citizen is eligible?

And what were the chances of Kissinger surviving service as an American rifleman at the Battle of the Bulge? Had the Germans captured him, they would have executed him without hesitation, as they regarded naturalised Americans of German-Jewish origin as traitors as well as racial enemies.

What were the chances of such a man not merely gaining admission to study at Harvard, America's most prestigious university, but going on to

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; henrykissinger; kissinger; niallferguson; nixon; richardnixon; vietnam

1 posted on 12/01/2023 9:31:15 AM PST by Ennis85
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To: Ennis85

Now he is in hell.


2 posted on 12/01/2023 9:32:15 AM PST by MNDude
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To: Ennis85

Ole Henry certainly profited handsomely from all his “diplomacy” and consulting. One can always judge the stature of a man by the company he keeps. In Henry’s case........


3 posted on 12/01/2023 9:38:36 AM PST by Rlsau1
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To: Ennis85

National Security Memorandum 200


4 posted on 12/01/2023 9:39:03 AM PST by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)
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To: MNDude

Why?


5 posted on 12/01/2023 9:44:22 AM PST by Ennis85
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To: Ennis85

>>What were the chances of such a man not merely gaining admission to study at Harvard, America’s most prestigious university,

Pretty good if he was talent-spotted during WW II while working in Army intelligence. He undoubtedly had some sponsor.


6 posted on 12/01/2023 9:48:53 AM PST by FarCenter
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To: Ennis85; MNDude

Because St. Peter subcontracted the keys to the Kingdom to MNDude???


7 posted on 12/01/2023 9:51:38 AM PST by gov_bean_ counter (Eccl 10:2 - The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left )
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: MNDude

Now why would anyone say that? We as mere humans cannot question the determinations of any deity, as we have not the means of arriving at that judgment. “God has a special providence for fools, drunkards, and the United States of America”, which Henry Kissinger had adopted as his chosen home, and he was a shining example of the Horatio Alger paragon of excellence as a guiding principle.

Now maybe Otto von Bismarck never uttered or put down on paper that quote, but it rings surprisingly applicable in relation to the vast good fortune the United States has enjoyed throughout its history. And Henry Kissinger was but one example of the right man at the right time in building that legacy.


9 posted on 12/01/2023 9:53:14 AM PST by alloysteel (Most people slog through life without ever knowing the wonders of true insanity.)
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To: Ennis85

If Kissinger were the genius he thought he was, he would have played the Russia card against China, not the China card against Russia.


10 posted on 12/01/2023 9:54:26 AM PST by omega4412
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To: gov_bean_ counter

OKAYYY..every human that lives will go to heaven. Happy?


11 posted on 12/01/2023 9:55:07 AM PST by MNDude
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To: MNDude

He may or may not be. But none of us can presume to know this, let alone empirically state it. God is his eternal Judge, not you or I.


12 posted on 12/01/2023 10:00:40 AM PST by fidelis (Ecce Crucem Domini! Fugite partes adversae! Vicit Leo de tribu Juda, Radix David! Alleluia!)
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13 posted on 12/01/2023 10:06:37 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: Ennis85

More influential than the first Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson? Or John Quincy Adams (treaty with Spain that garnered Florida for the US) or William Seward (gained Alaska) or George C. Marshall (the Marshall Plan)?


14 posted on 12/01/2023 11:43:20 AM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Ennis85
Henry Kissinger was a colossus..."

Henry Kissinger was a colostomy bag...

15 posted on 12/01/2023 11:58:51 AM PST by SuperLuminal (Where is the next Sam Adams when we so desperately need him)
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To: Ennis85

He helped sell out South Vietnam when the war was nearly won from Operation Linebacker II at Christmas 1972 just to get POWs back.


16 posted on 12/01/2023 12:21:21 PM PST by Midwesterner53
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To: Ennis85

Kissinger was not a colossus and he certainly did not bestride a century. People do like to be dramatic.

Reagan kept him out of the government when he was president.


17 posted on 12/01/2023 1:55:03 PM PST by odawg
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To: MNDude

Kissinger policies helped kill millions and destabilize many countries.


18 posted on 12/02/2023 3:51:59 PM PST by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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