Why The Candidates Shouldn't Care What Kissinger Thinks

Henry Kissinger is again front and center in the news. A few days after sharing the spotlight with Sarah Palin, he got not one but five shout-outs in the first of three presidential debates. At a Council on Foreign Relations discussion last week, the normally diplomatic Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took the former secretary of state to task for not knowing the history of South Ossetia or Abkhazia. Even Ukraine Premiere Yulia Tymoshenko got caught plagiarizing Kissinger's seminal 1994 book, "Diplomacy," in a Foreign Affairs article she "wrote" last year. A friend of mine, whose office shares a swanky Park Avenue building with Kissinger Associates, says the elevator has never been so studded with A-list officials and celebs. Make no mistake: Kissinger is back.

But should Americans, much less Barack Obama, care what Kissinger thinks? Why has this squat 85-year-old has-been suddenly become our presidential candidates' ultimate aphrodisiac? One might think his relationship with Pinochet and carpet bombing of Cambodia might not endear him to future candidates with thin foreign policy résumés. Kissinger Associates, as Christopher Hitchens recently wrote in Slate, is a "firm that introduces despots to corporations." To his credit, Kissinger has come out in favor of a nuclear-free world and favors direct high-level talks with rogue states like Iran. Still, Obama should not be bragging about his ideological kinship from someone who many accuse of being a war criminal.

Indeed, it would seem only in the field of foreign policy can people be so utterly wrong all the time yet still retain their jobs and endowed chairs, still command high speaking engagement fees, and still be courted by presidential candidates. Randy Scheunemann chaired the secretive committee that led us into the disastrous war in Iraq. For his bungling, the neo-con was rewarded with the post of John McCain's chief foreign policy advisor. Jeffrey Sachs, then of Harvard, offered Moscow a dose of "shock therapy"--more of a gulp, really--in the 1990s, which almost overnight wrecked the Russian economy, yet the media and lead singer of U2 continue to gush over his tomes on how to make the world less poor (mention Russia in an interview and watch how prickly Sachs becomes). I imagine every economist who predicted that Japan would overtake the world in the 1990s still has a job and makes more bank than me. Same goes for every terrorism analyst blindsided by 9/11.

The candidates would be wise to follow this bit of advice: "Most foreign policies that history has marked highly, in whatever country, have been originated by leaders who were opposed by experts." Who said that? Henry Kissinger.

Comments

[HDR]

Many consider Kissinger a war criminal because he is one. Even by the narrowest definition he would qualify without actually being a head of state. How many countries could he fly into without being immediately arrested?

[bantrybay]

THANK YOU!!!! Kissinger is sooo overrated now and then. What a loser!

[NamKhaeng]

Talking about carpet bombing of Cambodia you should never forget the "Dirty War" when United States drop more bombs on Laos between 1964 and 1973, more bombs than the total that was drop in world war II from both side. An other trophy on the wall of Kissinger.

[flipbiscut24]

Henry Kissinger is not an American.

[1differentdrummer]

How often does Henry stop by the WH, weekly?

[OrionGal]

The debate point was about whether the President would have unconditional talks with leaders from other nations.

McCain emphatically stated no, and Obama defended his position using the example of the previous week's meeting which included Kissinger.

Ultimately, the viewing public should be aware that this particular debate point on Foreign Policy (and Kissinger's quick response back) further clarifies the GOP's flip-flop! Kissinger clearly stated one view in the previous meeting, then a week later responds after the debate with the opposite view.

[PhantomAviator]

..

Operation CONDOR. East TImor. Cambodia.

.

[Stoppassingthebuck]

Hey McCain associating yourself with Kissinger is not a good thing.
Obama Biden 08

[bobbym]

"Still, Obama should not be bragging about his ideological kinship from someone who many accuse of being a war criminal."

I don't think Obama is bragging about a kinship. I think Kissinger is used as an example of someone who wouldn't normally be agreeing with Obama. The same for Bush administration criticizing Obama for saying that we should go into Pakistan and then doing just that.

[charlietuna11]

in the past three to four years, kissenger has become more and more incoherent and confused. i too am troubled why any one would seek his council. his foreign policy blunders are well known through the world but in america he is treated like an icon. whats happened to our nation ? at the very best, he is a has been, with much innocent blood on his hands. its easy to understand why he is admired by the right wing...

[PioneerKing]

Kissenger and his failed neo-con policies. Spare us!!

[Bluedog12]

A must see on Kissinger is the 1960's State Department documentary entitled Dr. Strangelove.

[1849]

I would asked the distinguished Dr. Kissinger about Chile 1973. What did he know and when did he know it?

http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2008/judgeandthegeneral/about.html

[desthmoneses]

Kissinger supported the invasion of East Timor and gave the international go ahead. As far as I'm concerned the mans opinions are worthless on any subject.

[Ohene]

Mr. Beehner,
Many thanks for this insightful piece. If this twisted world were different, Kissinger would have long ago faced trial on CRIMES gainst humanity. He presided over some of the most grisly crimes in the twentieth-century in Africa, Asia and Latin America in particular. His "diplomacy" was a direct results of the death of millions of innocent people in those regions of the world. What makes his story so sad is that he himself ran away from Hitler's hell as a kid to find safe haven in America. Yet, he brought a bit of Hitlerism along with him. For Kissinger to be still seen as the authority to consult on foreign affairs issues tells us about the twisted world we live in. The world which killed most of the prophets of truth and peace. It was unfortunate that Obama was trying to vie with McCain on Kissinger. Yes, Kissinger has been McCain's "friend for 35 years"; small wonder McCain asserted that Musharraf came to power when Pakistan "was a failed State". The brutal dictators around the world will be praying for McCain to win.