Talk:Henry Kissinger

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Part of this article was copied from Citizendium and Wikipedia but the copied text was originally written by me, RJJensen (under the name Richard Jensen and rjensen) and does not include alterations made by others on that site.

RJJensen 12:43, 2 December 2008 (EST)

Quote about American friends

This statement by Kissinger is often misquoted:

“

Word should be gotten to Nixon that if Thieu meets the same fate as Diem, the word will go out to the nations of the world that it may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal.

”

The quote is from United Nations Journal: A Delegate's Odyssey (1974) by William F. Buckley. As you can see from the full quote, it refers to Kennedy's decision to overthrow South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963. PeterKa (talk) 04:25, March 4, 2025 (EST)

Noriega, Saddam, bin Laden and Gaddafi all met the same fate as Diem. Zelensky has already bought his ticket and is waiting at the train station. RobS^{Zelensky Must Go!} 12:10, March 4, 2025 (EST)

In a sense, the quote highlights a structural flaw in American foreign policy and American democracy. Authoritarian regimes with heads of state for life, for example Putin, Xi, or Queen Elizabeth II are inherently more stable in their ability to make foreign commitments. Americans, blown by the winds of doctrine which change every four years, are incapable of making lasting commitments. That's what led to the disastrous defeats both in Vietnam and now in Ukraine.

Personally, I blame the Democrats. They have a habit going back to Woodrow Wilson (maybe even the Confederacy) of politicizing foreign relations for domestic politics. They view foreign policy exclusively as a means to manipulate domestic politics and promote themselves. That's how Hunter Biden ends up being on Burisma's board. RobS^{Zelensky Must Go!} 12:24, March 4, 2025 (EST)

Illustration: When the corrupt Obama regime overthrew the corrupt Yanukovych regime in Ukraine (in violation of previous commitments) it created a power vacuum on Burisma's board (kinda like the power vacuums in Libya & Iraq when the corrupt Bush & Obama regimes overthrew those corrupt regimes). So the corrupt Board replaced corrupt Russian oligarchs with corrupt American, NATO, and Western oligarchs.

Now weather a USAID-funded coup is cheaper than a stock buyout is a matter for debate & discussion (given the complexity of compliance with international & local laws, exchange rate differentiations, etc). One thing is for certain: there are fewer civilian casualties in a stock buyout than in a regime change operation. RobS^{Zelensky Must Go!} 13:30, March 4, 2025 (EST)

Kissinger and Watergate

See here.--Geopolitician (talk) 16:55, March 24, 2025 (EDT)