Political visionary or warmonger? Henry Kissinger turns 100

Deutsche Welle ^

[FarCenter]

At 100, Henry Kissinger is both hailed for his diplomatic brilliance and condemned for his decisions that cost many lives. He is America’s most experienced statesman and firmly focused on the future rather than the past.

[bert]

Kissinger flanked Russia and ended the war

By visiting China, he ended the need for the war in Vietnam. China trumped Russia.

[dfwgator]

By visiting China, he ended the need for the war in Vietnam. China trumped Russia.

Too bad about those 2 million Cambodians killed in The Killing Fields, though.

[FarCenter]

The domino effect was largely BS.

Southeast Asian communism had support because it was anti-imperialist. Prior to WW I, essentially all of SE Asia except Siam was owned by one or another of the Empires. This was largely unchanged by the eve of WW II, although the Japanese had increased their holdings. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan had self-consciously modeled itself on the British Empire.

China, although nominally independent had been subdued by the Opium Wars and other European, US and Japanese military action. The US's Open Door policy helped China remain independent, but only so that it could be freely exploited by all.

[dljordan]

“He forced the loss of the vietnam war,
and now he forces Kerry to destroy farming in the USA.”

And he was Klaus Schwab’s mentor.

[raccoonradio]

Comin’ up peace, prosperity too,
went the Nixon 72 jingle Nixon Now More
Than Ever. He went on to win 49 states.
in a year when 18 yrs olds could vote
for the first time

[ifinnegan]

Corrupt narcissist.

[BigEdLB]

Happy Birthday

[plain talk]

Incredible. The guy was overweight and still managed to make it to 100!

[hardspunned]

The last year they actually drew. My birth year was the last to actually register. I think they brought back registering at a later date again. Suffice it to say, had the hell hole continued unabated, very possible without Nixon and Kissinger, that’s the draft draw that had me at #8. Funny thing, I enlisted in 1980. Thank God, I avoided the hell you saw.

[hardspunned]

The war was actually won when Nixon gave it to the South. With the American air power as a guarantee the Vietnamized effort was succeeding. The the dem congress destroyed everything we’d sacrificed for by cutting funding to zero overnight.

[Mark17]

Thank God, I avoided the hell you saw.

I wasn’t out in the field, so I didn’t see much. We did get lots of rocket attacks. That was not fun.

[ronnie raygun]

He will soon be by himself in front of his maker who knows everything hes done in his life, he got a lot of explaining to do, not that that’s going to help him

[markman46]

I think my draft number in 1973 was 41

[redfreedom]

Agreed, the war was a military success. The dems just pulled the rug out from under the South, and had no choice but to fall.

What parallels this with recent wars are the American sacrifices for what? When the South fell I had the sick feeling in my stomach. I bet when Afghanistan was just given to the Taliban those vets felt the same. Such a waste of good American lives, and materials.

[hardspunned]

Vietnam WAS a successful application of the containment doctrine. It did stop the monolithic communist movement long enough for the Chinese and Soviets to have their falling out. Had those sacrifices not been made other dominos would have fallen in the early and mid sixties. It cost us 56,000 American boys and the horrors the locals lived through but the Comintern was contained for a crucial decade. Had the communists rolled on throughout Indochina after the French left who knows if they would have been containable until Reagan came onto the scene. It’s just a damned disgrace that Vietnam ended the way it did.

[Captain Peter Blood]

That is not true and was the original Domino Theory BS to justify the war that never should have been fought. Read the two books by Col. Fletcher Prouty and you will learn a lot of history about the war you never knew. Basically it was a CIA operation all the way.

You really think the Gulf of Tonkin incident was an accident?

[Captain Peter Blood]

That wasn’t the real reason for the China initiative.

[dfwgator]

The funny thing is today Vietnam has a market economy, although the government is still authoritarian. But it’s not more authoritarian, than say, Singapore.

[dfwgator]

The mistake was allowing France to get Indochina back after the war.

[Captain Peter Blood]

It was not succeeding and never was going to. So much background and facts that were never reported on.