Henry Kissinger, despite the fact of being one of the most well-known political analysts and an individual with wide knowledge on diplomacy and foreign policy has recently delved into geopolitics again and being branded as an “appeaser” of Kremlin for his statement during the World Economic Forum for warning the west of a disastrous consequence in Ukraine. He said, it would be fatal for the West to get swept up in the mood of the moment and forget the proper place of Russia in the European balance of power.
Dr Kissinger said the war must not be allowed to drag on for much longer, and came close to calling on the West to bully Ukraine into accepting negotiations on terms that fall very far short of its current war aims.
“Negotiations need to begin in the next two months before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome. Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante. Pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine, but a new war against Russia itself”, Dr Kissinger said.
He told the World Economic Forum that Russia had been an essential part of Europe for 400 years and had been the guarantor of the European balance of power structure at critical times. European leaders should not lose sight of the longer-term relationship, and nor should they risk pushing Russia into a permanent alliance with China.
Henry Kissinger’s comments came amid growing signs that the Western coalition against Vladimir Putin is fraying badly as the food and energy crisis deepens, and that sanctions may have reached their limits.
Criticizing Dr Kissinger’s comments, some of the western analysts said, he was appeasing Kremlin and undermining Ukraine’s ongoing “battle against Russian occupation and genocide”. They said “This is not the first time in history Kissinger has cited appeasement and a willingness to leave a smaller country out to dry against a neighboring country with imperialistic ambitions. These misguided foreign policy takes extend back to the 1960s”.
They said, “Many of his foreign policy decisions often came with controversial decisions that resulted in millions of people suffering. One such move involves the ‘One China’ policy approach during the Cold War”.
Western analysts said: “In July 1971, Henry Kissinger made a then-secret diplomatic mission to the People’s Republic of China. Looking to take advantage of the Sino-Soviet Split, his purpose was to open up a second front against the USSR. With intentions of opening up the China to the western world and democracy, these policies had a domino effect felt to this day. Despite guarantees to the Republic of China (Taiwan) that the United States wouldn’t abandon them or make policy concessions to Mao Zedong, the opposite happened. In his second visit in October of that year, Kissinger stated that the PRC should have a key role at the United Nations, leading to the gradual isolation of Taiwan. Then US ambassador George W Bush stated it was best for the US to recognize ‘two China’s’ but was scoffed at by Kissinger. Largely due to the US having effectively disavowed Taiwan as the legitimate government of China, they were ultimately voted off their UN Security Council seat, which was then taken over by the CCP. Subsequently, due in large part to the One China policy, many nations would recognize only the PRC, effectively abandoning millions of people in Taiwan”.
Western policymakers also criticize Henry Kissinger’s attitude towards the War of Independence of Bangladesh in 1971. They said: “General Yahya Khan led a brutal military dictatorship in Pakistan and held extremely prejudice views of Bengalis and Hindus. His regime was supported by the Nixon administration, which naturally backed anyone who stood opposite a Soviet-friendly state; that state being India. In the early 1970s, India and the Soviet Union shared a treaty of friendship, largely to counter the growing relationship between Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China. Kissinger is alleged to hold a racist view of Indians, once stating “the Indians are bastards.” He would later state regret at the comments and that his personal views didn’t coincide with US foreign policy, but during the Bangladeshi genocide, the US did little to curb the Pakistani military. The US Navy, as requested by Kissinger, sent Task Force 74 to the Bay of Bengal to intimidate the Indian army and prevent it from intervening in widespread massacres; New Delhi eventually called the US bluff and helped Bangladesh gain full independence”.
Dr Kissinger is also criticized of his role during the Vietnam War under the Nixon administration stating: He had expanded the Vietnam war onto Cambodia and Laos after promising the general public a drawdown. Western critics said: “In some ways, Kissinger eclipsed Nixon with regard to American war strategies in the extremely brutal war. Despite being instrumental in ordering the bombings of Cambodia and Laos, which were carpeted with incendiary bombs and Napalm, Kissinger would untimely be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. It was so controversial, two committee members walked out in protest”.
Now the main question – is Henry Kissinger wrong on his comments about Ukraine war?
According to media reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is continuing his bids as prescribed by his Nazi cohorts of shutting Russia “out of the civilized world entirely”, meaning, he has taken the agenda of further intensifying the sufferings of Ukrainian people as well pushing the world towards cruel hunger and other forms of crisis.
In his usual tour de force in a video address Zelensky said, “this is the year when we learn whether brute force will rule the world”.
He also said Russia should be shut out of the civilized world entirely, and that all trade should stop until Russian forces are driven from Ukraine.
“Sanctions should be maximum, so that Russia and every other potential aggressor that wants to wage a brutal war against its neighbor would clearly know the immediate consequences of their actions”, Zelensky said.
Meaning, Zelensky is almost trying to dictate the entire world in following his devilish desire of getting into enmity with Russia, which would significantly empower his Nazi cohorts and turn Ukraine into the safe haven for Nazis, fascists and terrorists.
Responding to EU call for imposing sanctions on Russia, India’s energy minister Shri Hardeep Puri brushed aside suggestions that his country should stop buying Russian oil. “The Europeans buy more Russian energy in an afternoon than we do in a quarter”, he said.
Analysts said, it is doubtful whether the West can maintain a united front in pursuit of such far-reaching war aims with absolutist aims. But some of the EU leaders are still pursuing their madness of pushing forward anti-Russia agenda. They say, it would require secondary sanctions against other countries, putting the West in a head on clash with China, India, and almost 60 states that refused to back a UN resolution denouncing Russia’s “invasion”.
American policymakers are saying that the US was in danger of overplaying its hand. “We have got to have multilateral support. We are already being accused of weaponizing the world’s reserve currency. Even allies and friends are starting to ask, if you are using it in this way, the US too could one day be subject to these sanctions.
The US Congress is split on the ultimate war aim. Senator Joe Manchin said the US should keep going until there was a clear “win” that restored all of Ukraine’s territory and led to the toppling of Vladimir Putin but other members of the Congress want a negotiated outcome.
In my opinion, Joe Biden’s ambition of unseating Russian President Vladimir Putin and establishing total control over Ukraine and other east European neighbors of Ukraine is a mission impossible. Truth is – Russian soldiers are achieving tremendous success in Ukraine by defeating neo-Nazis and fascists, along with Zelensky’s criminal cohorts. By meddling into Ukraine issues, Biden is certainly pushing the US towards a disastrous consequence. For this reason, despite the fact of Kissinger’s policy during Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971 extremely deplorable and grossly wrong, his prophecy on Ukraine issue is correct. Further delay in forcing Zelensky to sit with Moscow and resolve the issue through peaceful dialogue would only bring sufferings to most of the countries in the West and the world. Joe Biden and Boris Johnson should step-back from their madness of causing further sufferings to the Ukrainian people by instigating Zelensky in further intensifying assaults on Russian forces. They also need to stop using Ukraine as a tool of their political advantage.
Please follow Shoaib on Twitter @Salah_Shoaib
“For this reason, despite the fact of Kissinger’s policy during Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971 extremely deplorable and grossly wrong, his prophecy on Ukraine issue is correct.” I agree with your above statement. Did Kissinger ever apologize about his Bangladesh comment? If not, he should be blasted by the news media.