Henry Kissinger dead

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Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state under Richard Nixon who became one of the most prominent and controversial figures of US foreign policy in the 20th century, has died. He was 100.

His consulting firm Kissinger Associates announced his death in a statement on Wednesday evening, but did not disclose a cause.

The celebrity diplomat has advised a dozen presidents over his long career, including Joe Biden, and won a shared Nobel prize for negotiating the end to the Vietnam war.

But his legacy was also defined by his contempt for human rights and efforts to protect US corporate interests at all costs, with opponents across the world casting him as a war criminal. He supported Indonesia’s military dictator in the invasion of East Timor, backed the invasion of Angola by the apartheid regime in South Africa and worked with the CIA to overthrow the democratically-elected president of Chile. He also authorized wiretaps of reporters and his own staff.

Thoughts?

Personally I know next to nothing about him, being to young and far away in a part of the world he did not have much interest in to be affected by him and not remember news reports about him.

Better late than never.

I don't know where I got it from. "God didn't want him and the devil didn't want competition" as to why he lived so long.

honestly, assumed he was already dead.

He had a cool name, I guess.

Did he die in time to be included in the "In Memorium" segment of this year's War Criminals Awards?

I had as well.

@comp_atkins: That really was the most surprising thing about this announcement.

I didn't even know he was still alive.

Anyone interested in why Kissinger was such a terrible person, I highly recommend listening to the Behind the Bastards series on him.

These podcasts are usually done in one or two parts, but Kissinger was so terrible they did four five parts on him! I think the guests are the dudes from The Dollop, too, so it's a good one!

Behind the Bastards - Kissinger - Part 1

Behind the Bastards - Kissinger - Part 2

Behind the Bastards - Kissinger - Part 3

Behind the Bastards - Kissinger - Part 4

Behind the Bastards - Kissinger - Part 5

Honestly I really love this podcasts series. They can get a little cringe at times with the progressive politics but at the least they're well-research, concise dives into history and terrible people.

Pretty much this.

I generally view the celebrating of someone's passing as low-brow and distasteful, even if the person was a jerk, but Kissinger was a monster.

The fact that he was our (the US's/West's) monster shouldn't change how we view monsters.

The world is a worse place because he was in it, and it's a better place without him. Period.

Sounds about right lol.

Another quote from Kissinger himself is "But for the circumstances of my birth, I would have been a Nazi".

Phrasing Lo Wang: "Sayonara, scumbag!"

@mrbojangles25: How early on in his career did he say that? Imo his political career should have ended with that.

*/air horn sound

He was a great Secretary of State and presidents of both parties sought his advice on international matters. Was he always right, no. The only people who make mistakes are people who do something. Lets look at some of the secretary of states after him: Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, our current Secretary of State Blinken. These folks would't make a patch om the seat of Kissingers pants.

Wasn't Kissinger a war criminal? I'd hope they wouldn't be the same as him.

No sympathy at all.

Well to the right he was a hero, to the left a war criminal. Prolonged the Vietnam war, didn't he?

Yes. Also expanded into Cambodia.

His ice-cold heart is a bit warmer, now.

Nice of you to leave out folks like:

• Colin Powell
• Condoleezza Rice
• Rex Wayne Tillerson
• Mike Pompeo

You can criticize the folks you listed but let's not pretend they're the only bad ones because they're Democrat lol.

As for the whole attitude of "was he always right on? No. But at least he did stuff", that is overrated. The world would be better if Kissinger did nothing and was a useless rock of a man than the 20% acceptable/80% borderline genocide he tended to do. He is like a miniature, self-contained Dark Age in that he prolonged and encouraged war, added to nuclear arms proliferation, and worse...imagine the progress the world would have made in a few decades without him in it?

Kissinger wasn't alone in making these decisions, of course; but he was generally one of three people in the room helping to make those decisions. He is directly responsible for the deaths of millions of innocents, including many many many Americans, in addition to instituting regressive policies and draconian measures.