America Honors Its Worst
Presidential Medals of Freedom are awarded annually. They mock what they claim to represent. Many go to deplorable recipients. Previous dishonorees include GHW Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Gates, Henry Kissinger, Tony Blair, Shimon Peres, Margaret Thatcher, Alvaro Uribe, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, and Alan Greenspan among others.
Nobel Peace Prize recipients include notorious war criminals. In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt was honored. He once said "I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one." In 1919, Woodrow Wilson won. He broke his pledge to keep "us out of war." In 1953, George Marshall was honored. He helped create NATO. It's a killing machine. He was involved in aggressive war on North Korea. Other dishonorees included Kofi Annan, Al Gore, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Henry Kissinger, Barack Obama, and the EU. Peacemakers aren't considered.
Intrepid Freedom Awards are made annually. They're "presented to a national or international leader who has distinguished himself in promoting and defending the values of freedom and democracy, the core beliefs of our nation." Dishonorees include a virtual rogue's gallery of recipients. They include GW and GHW Bush, Dick Cheney, Leon Panetta, Colin Powell, David Petraeus, Margaret Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin, Newt Gingrich, Bill and Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Silvio Berlusconi, Michael Bloomberg, and Yitzhak Rabin among others.
Ceremonies will take place at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. It calls itself "one of America's leading historic, cultural and educational institutions." It's centered on the Intrepid aircraft carrier (CVS-11). During WW II, it began operating. Today it's an "educational center and a monument to all who have served our nation in uniform." Few understood their involvement in imperial wars. Annual Intrepid Freedom Award recipients bear much responsibility. Honoring them shames America. Rule of law principles and other democratic values are dishonored.
On May 23, Henry Kissinger will be the latest recipient. Kissinger's one of America's worst. On May 27, he'll be 90 years old. He was an early architect of new world order harshness. He's a notorious war criminal. His legacy includes three to four million Southeast Asian war deaths.
He was instrumental in overthrowing Chile's democratic government. Augusto Pinochet replaced Salvador Allende. A reign of terror followed. It included arrests, killings and torture. So did privatization of state enterprises, mass layoffs, sweeping deregulation, deep social spending cuts, wage freezes or cuts, unrestricted free market access for western corporations, corporate-friendly tax cuts, trade unionist crackdowns, and harsh repression against opposing a system incompatible with social democracy, civil and human rights.
Kissinger backed Suharto’s brutal dictatorship. His Kopassus special forces terrorized Indonesians. Their record includes kidnappings, rape, torture, targeted killings, sweeping violence, mass murder, and other atrocities against anyone challenging his authority. He supported his West Papua takeover. He OK'd his East Timor invasion. Over two hundred thousand East Timorese died. Around half a million more were displaced. In his memoirs, former American UN ambassador Daniel Partick Moynihan wrote:
"The United States wished things to turn out as they did, and worked to bring this about." "The Department of State desired that the United Nations prove utterly ineffective in whatever measures it undertook." "This task was given to me, and I carried it forward with no inconsiderable success."
In two months, 10% of the population was annihilated. It was prelude for what followed.
Kissinger supported the Khmer Rouge's rise to power and reign of terror. He encouraged a Kurdish revolt against Saddam Hussein. He then abandoned them. He advised Bush and Cheney on Iraq policy. He backed a 1974 Cypriot fascist coup. He defended Turkey's brutal invasion. He wanted a Washington, DC-based journalist kidnapped and killed. He was complicit in Operation Condor. Pinochet and other Latin American despots reigned terror against alleged communists and political opponents. Tens of thousands perished. He backed Pakistan’s "delicacy and tact" in overthrowing Bangladesh’s democratically elected government. Half a million deaths followed.
In 1974, his secret National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM 200) called for drastic global depopulation. Developing nations are resource rich, he said. They're vital to US growth. He wanted useless eaters eliminated. He said "Depopulation should be the highest priority of US foreign policy towards the Third World." He supported involuntary mass sterilizations. He wanted birth control made a prerequisite for US aid. He wanted hundreds of millions eliminated by 2000.
He supported the worst of Israeli crimes. Earlier, American Jewish Committee executive director David Harris said:
"Perhaps Kissinger felt that, as a Jew, he had to go the extra mile to prove to the president that there was no question where his loyalty lay."
Mortimor Zukerman, Kenneth Bialkin and James Tisch once wrote:
"Mr. Kissinger consistently played a constructive role vis-a-vis Israel both as national security adviser and secretary of state, especially when the United States extended dramatic assistance to Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War."
During the first Intifada, he advised Israel to challenge it harshly. He recommended banishing the media and suppressing what went on. He backed other deplorable schemes. He was mindless of the human toll. He wanted America benefitted at any cost. He waged war on humanity. He still advises on ways to do it.
He deplores peace. He supports war and state terror. "Afghanistan wasn't enough," he said. He endorsed waging war on Islam. His legacy includes involvement in decades of crimes of war, against humanity and genocide.
As National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, he served Nixon and Ford from January 1969 - January 1977. He advised administrations that followed. In 1982, he founded Kissinger Associates, Inc. He heads it. It's a New York-based international consulting firm. Former CIA deputy director for intelligence Judith (Jami) Miscik is president. Other noted former US government officials served earlier. They did so in managerial capacities. At least most were complicit in war crimes.
Kissinger's worst of all. He symbolizes imperial lawlessness. He waged war on humanity in and out of government. He's still doing it. On May 23, he'll again be honored. He deserves prison instead.
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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He has devoted his time and efforts to progressive causes and organizations, all involved in working for a more humane and just world for all people everywhere, but especially for the most needy, disadvantaged and oppressed. His efforts since summer 2005 have included writing on a broad range of vital topics ranging from war and peace; social, economic and political equity for all; and justice for all the oppressed peoples of the world like the long-suffering people of Haiti and the Palestinians. He also co-hosts The Global Research News Hour, gives occasional public talks, and appears frequently on radio and at times television. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. Also visit his blog and listen to The Lendman News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday - Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listening. His new book "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War" can be ordered HERE. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
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