Blog Mirror: Henry Kissinger, 1923-2023. War criminal

I was surprised to see this article by Reich, and I thought it would be on the late stages of the Vietnam War, but I'll note that I too am not a Kissinger fan.

Henry Kissinger, 1923-2023. War criminal

Thursday, October 18, 1973. Creeping embargo and I go Pogo.

The IDF recrossing the Suez Canal.  The artillery pieces are M107's, a heavy US artillery piece much loved by the IDF. Amos1947, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Saudi Arabia cut its oil production by 10% and threatened to halt all of its oil shipments to the United States unless the US halt aid to Israel.  The United Arab Emirates completely stopped shipments to the U.S.

The Chilean Army's Caravan of Death, led by General Sergio Arellano, arrived in Antofagasta and summarily executed 56 left wing prisoners.  Military Governor of Antofagasta, General Joaquin Lagos, resigned in disgust, which actually brought to an end the Caravan.

Walt Kelly, cartoonist who started his career with Disney and the created Pogo, died of a cerebral thrombosis.

Pogo often dealt with serious themes and famously coined the phrase "we have met the enemy and he is us", a phrase truer now than ever.  "I go Pogo" was a bogus election phrases making fun of Eisenhower's "I like Ike" that also was associated with the cartoon.

Tuesday, September 11, 1973. Allende overthrown in coup.

 Although CIA did not instigate the coup that ended Allende's government on 11 September 1973, it was aware of coup-plotting by the military, had ongoing intelligence collection relationships with some plotters, and—because CIA did not discourage the takeover and had sought to instigate a coup in 1970—probably appeared to condone it.

Church Committee.

On this day in 1973 nearly the whole of the Chilean military rose up to depose Salvador Allende, the democratically elected Marxist president of the country.  The crisis had been brewing for months, and this coup was actually the second one attempted that year.

In the weeks and years to follow, hundreds would die at the hands of the military regime with many people, including the sister of a friend of mine, simply disappearing.   Allende refused to surrender himself and instead killed himself with an AK47 that had been given to him by Fidel Castro. Augusto Pinochet would become the military ruler of the country until democracy was restored in 1990.  Pinochet retired as commander of the Chilean Army in 1998.

As the Church Committee's report noted, the CIA did not initiate the coup or have a role in it, although the US has tended to be blamed for it.  The Administration was not sympathetic to Allende's regime, so the conclusion was probably natural enough.  Having said that, Allende had been in trouble for months and the coup was probably inevitable.  The coup was positively received, if not openly, by many Western nations, which saw it as preventing a Chilean descent into Communist rule.

Dealing with the coup in Chile has been problematic, with the country never getting over, for obvious reasons, the large number of people who disappeared. At the same time, support for the coup itself has grown in recent years, although it is still a minority of Chileans who feel it was justified.

Monday, September 10, 1973. News of impending coup.

A Chilean military officer reported to the US Station Officer in Chile that a coup was planned and asked for U.S. assistance.  Associasnce was refused, which is routinely ignored in stories about this event.

The US was therefore aware that it was planned, and did not warn anyone, but it did not plan it or cause it.

Sunday, March 4, 1973. Allende's minority rule.

Chilean elections resulted in the opposition Confederation of Democracy winning control of the Senate and House, but falling short of the 2/3ds necessary to impeach Salvador Allende or block his policies.

The Confederation's symbol.

While not seeking to excuse things in retroactive advance, it might be noted that this meant that Allende's left wing Popular Unit alliance was a minority government, which is very rarely noted.

The Popular Unity alliance's symbol.

Voting also took place in France but failed to yield a clear result.

The British yacht Auuralyn was struck by a whale and sunk off of Guatemala, putting Marice and Maralyn Bailey adrift for 117 days.

A large group of U.S. Air Force and Navy POWs held by North Vietnam was released, including Norman C. Gaddis and Leo K. Thorsness who would be highly decorated.

Gaddis had been in the service since 1941, with a brief post World War Two period in the reserves, having joined after Pearl Harbor.  Born into poverty in Tennessee, he lives there today at age 99.  His Distinguished Service Citation would read:

For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States. General Gaddis distinguished himself while a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam from December 1970 to February 1973. During this period, General Gaddis displayed professional competence, unwavering devotion and loyalty to his country in the execution of his duties in staff and command positions while in potentially volatile daily contact with the Vietnamese guards and officers. General Gaddis performed his duties in accord with the Code of Conduct, exhibiting leadership, courage, and determination, regardless of the cost in the many tortures and beatings which he had to endure. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Gaddis reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.

Thorsness had joined the Air Force in 1951 as an enlisted man, before returning to school after the war and later rejoining as an officer.  His Medal of Honor Citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. As pilot of an F-105 aircraft, Lt. Col. Thorsness was on a surface-to-air missile suppression mission over North Vietnam. Lt. Col. Thorsness and his wingman attacked and silenced a surface-to-air missile site with air-to-ground missiles, and then destroyed a second surface-to-air missile site with bombs. In the attack on the second missile site, Lt. Col. Thorsness' wingman was shot down by intensive antiaircraft fire, and the two crewmembers abandoned their aircraft. Lt. Col. Thorsness circled the descending parachutes to keep the crewmembers in sight and relay their position to the Search and Rescue Center. During this maneuver, a MIG-17 was sighted in the area. Lt. Col. Thorsness immediately initiated an attack and destroyed the MIG. Because his aircraft was low on fuel, he was forced to depart the area in search of a tanker. Upon being advised that two helicopters were orbiting over the downed crew's position and that there were hostile MIGs in the area posing a serious threat to the helicopters, Lt. Col. Thorsness, despite his low fuel condition, decided to return alone through a hostile environment of surface-to-air missile and antiaircraft defenses to the downed crew's position. As he approached the area, he spotted four MIG-17 aircraft and immediately initiated an attack on the MIGs, damaging one and driving the others away from the rescue scene. When it became apparent that an aircraft in the area was critically low on fuel and the crew would have to abandon the aircraft unless they could reach a tanker, Lt. Col. Thorsness, although critically short on fuel himself, helped to avert further possible loss of life and a friendly aircraft by recovering at a forward operating base, thus allowing the aircraft in emergency fuel condition to refuel safely. Lt. Col. Thorsness' extraordinary heroism, self-sacrifice, and personal bravery involving conspicuous risk of life were in the highest traditions of the military service, and have reflected great credit upon himself and the U.S. Air Force.

Other POWs released included Douglas Peterson, who was later the ambassador to Communist Vietnam and William P. Lawrence, who was later Superintendent of the Naval Academy.

Peterson, whose first wife had died, interestingly met Vietnamese born Vi Le who was serving as Australia's senior trade commissioner in the country.  They married, and he retired to Australia so that the couple could be closer to her family.

Lawrence is the author of the Tennessee state poem, which reads:

Oh Tennessee, My Tennessee

What Love and Pride I Feel for Thee.

You Proud Ole State, the Volunteer,

Your Proud Traditions I Hold Dear.

I Revere Your Heroes

Who Bravely Fought our Country's Foes.

 

Renowned Statesmen, so Wise and Strong,

Who Served our Country Well and Long.

I Thrill at Thought of Mountains Grand;

Rolling Green Hills and Fertile Farm Land; 

Earth Rich with Stone, Mineral and Ore;

Forests Dense and Wild Flowers Galore;

 

Powerful Rivers that Bring us Light;

Deep Lakes with Fish and Fowl in Flight;

Thriving Cities and Industries;

Fine Schools and Universities;

Strong Folks of Pioneer Descent,

Simple, Honest, and Reverent. 

 

Beauty and Hospitality

Are the Hallmarks of Tennessee.

 

And O'er the World as I May Roam,

No Place Exceeds my Boyhood Home.

And Oh How Much I Long to See

My Native Land, My Tennessee.

Wednesday, January 7, 1973. Statemanship.

In an act of statesmanship impossible to imagine today, the United States Senate voted unanimously to approve Senate Resolution 60 establishing a committee to investigate the Watergate scandal.

Now, this would not occur, sadly.

Equally unimaginable, one of Wyoming's long serving Senator at the time was former University of Wyoming professor, Gale McGee.

He was a Democrat.

Stern magazine exposed Sir John Ogilvy Rennie as the director of MI6, code named "M".  He was not long for the office in any event, as his son and daughter-in-law had recently been arrested for alleged involvement in a heroin smuggling effort.

The Politburo approved a Yuri Andropov recommendation to allocate $100,000 to influence the upcoming March 4 election in Chile.

Saturday, November 11, 1922. Four years after the war.

 It was Armistace Day, 1922, but Judge went to the stands with a Thanksgiving themed cover.

And The Saturday Evening Post depicted a woman dressed for cold weather.

President Harding paid his respects to the Veterans of the Great War, and in particular its dead.

The National Women's Party was holding its conference.

A magnitude 8.5 earthquake struck Chile, killing 1,000 or so people.

The Unknown Soldier of Belgium was interred at the base of the Congress Column in Brussels.

Friday, February 5, 1909. Plastic's and crimes.

At a meeting of the American Chemical Society at the Chemists' Club, Dr. Leo Baekeland announced his synthesis of a new chemical, obybenzyl-methylenglycolanhydride, which he called Bakelite, the first plastic.  It became a huge commercial success.

Clark County, Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, was created from the southern half of Lincoln County.  The legislative act was today, but it took effect on July 1.

The German embassy in Chile was destroyed by fire, and a body thought to be that of Ambassador Wilhelm Beckert was found therein.  Following the discovery of a large amount of money being embezzled and that the corpse was not Beckert's, a manhunt ensued, and he was caught in Chillán,

The deceased was Exequiel Tapia, a Chilean porter employed at the legation. 

Germany waived judicial immunity and turned Beckert over to Chile, who executed him on July 5.