 |
 |
Kissinger Confronted in Cork
Call to arrest Kissinger on visit (Irish Times) 'War crimes' protest as Kissinger visits Cork (Irish Times) Radio putting 'war crimes' in the dock (Irish Times) War Criminal Met with Huge Protests in Cork (participants account) outside link A Sad and Wicked Example of Humanity - Henry Kissinger's Proposed Visit to Cork The Irish Times Call to arrest Kissinger on visit A claim that Henry Kissinger is "a war criminal" who should be arrested by the Irish authorities when he arrives to deliver a lecture at University College Cork today has come from the justice and peace organisation, Action from Ireland (AfrI). An AfrI spokesperson, Joe Murray, said the former US Secretary of State's trip to Ireland is an important opportunity for the Government to demonstrate its even-handed commitment to principles of international law. Mr Murray said Kissinger was directly responsible for the bombing of Cambodia between 1969 and 1973, causing the death of up to three quarters of a million peasants. He also accused the former US National Security Advisor of being complicit in the overthrow of the elected government of Chile in 1973. The Irish Times 'War crimes' protest as Kissinger visits Cork By OLIVIA KELLEHER CORK Former US Secretary of State Dr Henry Kissinger denied he was a war criminal yesterday, saying it was an insult to human intelligence for protesters in Cork to compare him to Slobodan Milosevic. Protesters at University College Cork chanted and waved banners bearing the words "The Milosevic of Manhattan" prior to the arrival of the 56th US Secretary of State, who was in office during the controversial Nixon administration. Dr Kissinger said he was pleased to discover that even in Ireland people were not indifferent to him. However, he said he was incensed at comparisons made between him and known war criminals. "These people are throwing around allegedly criminal charges without a shred of real evidence. I don't know who they (the protesters) represent, but I wish their knowledge equalled their passion." Dr Kissinger, who was visiting the university to deliver a speech at an MBA Association of Ireland business conference, said he had never replied to derogatory remarks made about him in the media. "I consider them (the accusations) fundamentally beneath contempt. They are based on distortions and misrepresentations." The focus of his address was on US foreign policy, particularly in the post September 11th world climate. Dr Kissinger said the international scene was experiencing extraordinary change for which there is no historical precedent. One of the biggest challenges facing the US administration, he said, was to bring countries together to prevent the spread of biological and chemical weapons. "It requires global action. There is no way this can be done by one nation on its own. The hardest thing for America is to get a focus on the important, not the urgent - to get a sense of where you are going to be three or four years from now." Dr Kissinger said there were countries capable of transforming and becoming powerful enough to make what happened at the Twin Towers look like a tea party. "The American people have pulled together in an amazing way and have shown a spirit of patriotism I haven't seen since the second World War. But nobody can conceive that we can deal with these problems all by ourselves." He commended the performance of President Bush in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, saying he had handled the situation remarkably well. However, he argued the attacks were a tremendous shock to most Americans, who never believed their country could be vulnerable to such atrocities. Dr Kissinger's visit to Cork has been condemned by human rights organisations which say he has frequently flouted international law in his dealings with Bangladesh, Chile and East Timor. Cork Sinn F in councillor Mr Jonathan O'Brien told a recent council meeting that Dr Kissinger was not welcome in the city, and called on UCC to cancel his invitation. The controversial speaker is the subject of a recent book by best-selling author Christopher Hitchens, The Trial of Henry Kissinger. Hitchens has said Dr Kissinger should go on trial as a war criminal for his role in the bombing of Cambodia between 1969 and 1973. The former Secretary of State has also been accused of being complicit in the overthrow of the government of Chile in 1973 by the dictator Augusto Pinochet. Dr Kissinger began his career as a lecturer at Harvard from the late 1950s until 1969 when he was appointed assistant for national security affairs in the Nixon administration. As US Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977 he played a major role in formulating US foreign policy, helping to initiate Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union, and arranging President Nixon's visit to China in 1972. Dr Kissinger was a key negotiator of the withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973. Since 1977 he has lectured and served as a consultant on international affairs. The Irish Times Radio putting 'war crimes' in the dock By HARRY BROWNE Who knows if Cathal Mac Coille started his interview with Henry Kissinger planning to ask that awkward "war criminal" question. Whether he did or not, the way this Morning Ireland (RT Radio 1, Monday to Friday) conversation with the not-so-good doctor proceeded, I've little doubt that Mac Coille not only relished asking Kissinger what he thought of the opinion that he should be in the dock in the Hague, but would have been prepared to effect the extradition personally, preferably employing really uncomfortable handcuffs. To some extent, this Kissinger belied his reputation - not the war-criminal part of that reputation, which he brusquely refused to discuss, and which we can only fervently hope catches up with him before he is, like his old comrade Pinochet, considered too old and sick for a bright, well-ventilated dungeon. No, what didn't fit about this Kissinger is that he was a thoroughly obnoxious so-and-so, nothing like the old charmer beloved of sycophantic hacks. Perhaps if Mac Coille had been a woman . . . Yes, it could be said (by a far crueller reviewer than yours truly) that Mac Coille and the Morning Ireland team were authors of their own misfortune. The interviewer did launch the segment with a Kissinger quotation about Afghanistan that turned out to be of confusing provenance. But, really and truly, it was not a controversial quote (not in the warped world of Dr K, anyway), and Kissinger seemed deliberately to disrupt the interview by pedantically returning to it, in the process treating Mac Coille like a sloppy postgrad. The interviewer did falter under this pressure - being nitpicked on national radio by an international legend can't be a comfortable experience - but Mac Coille rose magnificently to his final question, getting in all the relevant condemnation, even after Kissinger had already grunted his refusal to be drawn into responding to such "lies". Enclosed is a letter to the Bank who supported HK's visit to Cork, and also a Press Release Dear Mr Mason, I work with the Atlantis Foundation a Human Rights group that works on issues relating to Colombia, and also in other countries. We have been very happy to have our bank account with the Bank of Ireland in the South Mall, and have even invested a lot of the Foundation's money in Saving Schemes with the Bank of Ireland. We have always been happy with the help recieved from the Bank staff especially frpm Richard Brewster and Helen Gleasure. We have recently learned that the regional bank is part sponsoring the visit of Dr Henry Kissinger to Cork next week. This is absolutely unacceptable to us and I enclose a press release written by ourselves relating to Dr Kissinger's overt and complicit part in many wars. Perhaps you have not been aware of this man's history? I would respectfully ask that the Bank of Ireland show initiative and respect for the millions of victims of various wars that this man has aided, and immediately withdraw financial support for this event, otherwise we are left with the unsavoury fact that the Bank is supprting a war criminal. There are lots of wothwhile humanitarion issues that SHOULD and NEED to be helped and supported by people like yourselves. I would greatly appreciate a speedy response, Yours Sincerely, Mary Kelly and Rebecca Garcia A SAD AND WICKED EXAMPLE OF HUMANITY -HENRY KISSINGER'S PROPOSED VISIT TO CORK On The 27 of February Dr Henry Kissinger will be speaking at the Boole Lecture hall UCC by invitation of the University and Tom McCarthy, Cork Developer and Master's in Business Association.( MBA ) The conference titled "The competitive positioning of Irish companies in a changing world economy" will be hosted by Enterprise Ireland, Esat Business, McCarthy Developments, Banta Global turnkey Group, and UCC Executive MBA.Assisting Dr Kissinger in his lecture will be Sir George Quigley, Chairman of Bombardier and Aerospace Shorts, Dr William Harris, Director General. Science Foundation Ireland and Mr Hugh Friel, Kerry Group plc. An Tanaiste, Mary Harney is due to open the conference, with Olivia O Leary as chairperson. Peace campaigners, Human Rights workers and Trade Union activists are questioning the visit of one of the world's most noted war criminals to Ireland. In May last year while visiting Paris, Dr. Kissinger was summoned to appear at The French Palace of Justice about the disappearance of 5 French nationals during the US supported coup of Augusto Pinochet in Chile.Dr Kissinger left France the following day, and we suspect, has no plans to return. Some aspects of his Curriculum Vitae have evaded any legal challenge so far; 1. His prominent involvement in the US wars against Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, now widely recognised as a futile and unjust war, involving genocide, carpet bombing, and napalm, where ancient civilisations were ravaged and brutalised from which they are only now recovering. Vietnamese officials estimate the continued dangerous presence of 3.5 million landmines left from the war, which continue to kill thousands of peasants and their families each year.5 million Southeast Asians were killed by the US and its allies during the active war years. 2. According to declassified documents that anyone can access, Henry Kissinger, and C.I.A. director Richard Helms provided the weaponry and ordered a coup in Chile even before Allende assumed office. General Rene Schneider, a leader of the Chilean Army refused to assist in the overthrow of his country's democracy. Kissinger lead a covert campaign to have him assassinated.US media reports have been uniformly silent on the responsibility of the US Government for the 1973 coup. Declassified CIA documents from 1970 state " It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup...We are to continue to generate maximum pressure toward this end utilising every appropriate resource. It is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the US Government and the American hand are well hidden". 3. On September 7, 24 hours after President Ford and Dr Kissinger had been in Jakarta, 30,000 Indonesian troops landed in East Timor. Using weapons, chemical defoliants, napalm, phosphorous bombs and warplanes provided by the US, tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the conflict. Whatever way you look at it, this International Statesman has the blood of Innocents on his hands. Now this man is to come to Cork to lecture our business community on "US foreign policy and the implications for nations". What exactly does this mean?Napalm production by the River Lee? Electronic circuit boards for Smart bombs? A noted American black humorist said;" When they gave Henry Kissinger the Nobel Peace Prize I gave up telling jokes as I could not top that!" The Cork Peace Alliance are calling for nationwide support in opposing the visit of this war criminal to Cork. For more information contact; Joe Moore, President of Cork Trade'sCouncil Union, 021 4282234. Stuart McIntyre 021 4509493 Mary Kelly, 086 3479640 e-mail: atlantisfoundation@eircom.net War Criminal Met with Huge Protests in Cork (Mary Kelly's account) outside link
Return to Kissinger menu |
|
