By Yaseen Jangikhan
Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger has died at 100. Kissinger was a Jew who fled Nazi Germany with his family in his early teenage years. Henry came to the United States in 1938 as a Jewish refugee from Nazi persecution. From 1969 to 1977, Kissinger served as President Nixon’s National Security Adviser. Although Kissinger held a position of great power throughout his life, he did some questionable things during his reign as National Security Adviser and Secretary of State of the United States of America.
Henry became secretary of state on September 23, 1973. Kissinger was a key player in war crimes around the world. Kissinger led the secret bombing of Cambodia, which was called “Operation Menu”. This bombing during the Vietnam War was done in an attempt to cut off supplies to forces who were fighting to expel the U.S. from Vietnam. However, in this bombing, Kissinger took the lives of half a million Cambodians.
Kissinger also had a big role in South America. Kissinger helped a dictator named General Augusto Pinochet to overthrow an elected government in Chile. In 1970, Kissinger and President Nixon tried to sabotage Chile’s economy. Henry had tried to force socialist President Salvador Allende out of office. The CIA played a part in funding Allende’s opponents and backed several coupes. Eventually, the Pinochet Junta came into power; establishing a military dictatorship. The Pinochet Junta detained and tortured over 40,000 people and killed over 3,000 people.
In 1971, Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan. The Pakistani military had been targeting Hindus, which lasted a violent nine-month military campaign. During this gruesome campaign, the Pakistani military had inappropriately assaulted between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women, and around 3,000,000 people were killed. Kissinger sent weapons to Pakistan during that time, which was illegal under U.S. law. Henry supported the deaths of millions of Bengalis due to this sending of military aid to Pakistan.
Henry Kissinger also supported Argentina’s “Dirty War.” In 1976, Argentina’s military leaders launched a brutal crackdown on opponents. Documents had been declassified in 2014, showing that Kissinger signaled to the military leaders that the U.S. would not object to their plans. Argentina’s military Junta killed over 30,000 people between 1976 and 1983. The world will remember the war crimes Kissinger committed and the ongoing genocides he either started or supported.
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