ding dong

[billy rubin]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-kissinger-war-criminal-dead-1234804748/

good riddance

[Asmodean]

A hundred years is a very good run.

I did not know that he was a war criminal, but then, it is the Rolling Stone, so as likely to be a shameless lie.

[billy rubin]

kissinger enabled nixon to escalate the war in vietnam by secretly bombing neighbohring cambodia. arguably his meddling there helped lead to the ascendency of pol pot and tbe khmer rouge.

he also was i strumental in the coup in chile in which president salvadore allende was asassinated allende was a a popular socialist, but kissinger wanted something else. pinochet took power for years, and murdered and tortured thousands of citizens.

i dont know whether he was a war criminal, but he did not deserve to live to be 100 and die peacefully. if machiavelli ever had a modern follower, it was kissinger.

[Asmodean]

Ah. I see. I don't know a whole lot about the Vietnam war. Something about... The French..? In any case, indeed, he does not sound like the most well-meaning of gentlemen, but in the uncaring Universe we inhabit, little prevents the like from being so for a very, very long time.

[billy rubin]

he was very well meaning. he had brilliant and lofty goals, and he didnt care who had to die to achieve them.

his legacy in chile:

"A man has died whose historical brilliance never managed to conceal his moral wretchedness," Chile's ambassador to the United States, Juan Gabriel Valdes, wrote on X, the former Twitter.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/chile-where-kissinger-backed-coup-remembers-his-moral-wretchedness/ar-AA1kOEvq

in cambodia:

For many in the country, Kissinger's impact was not abstract but visceral and continues even after his death. Land mines planted during Cambodia's three-decade-long civil war, which was driven in part by U.S. interference, are still exploding today. In neighboring Vietnam and Laos, officials are also still undergoing the painstaking process of identifying and removing unexploded ordnance from a war that Kissinger helped to wage five decades ago.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/henry-kissinger-s-central-role-in-the-us-carpet-bombing-of-cambodia/ar-AA1kMsBY

i lived in malaysia when the US bombed cambodia and laos,  neutral third countries in the viet nam war. it was secret in the US, but my local paper published pictures of the cluster bomblets that were scattered across the country.

the khmer rouge murdered some two or three million citizens in purges reminiscent of chinas cultural revolution. kissinger had their blood on his manicured hands.

there is no big picture. the universe cares nothing for the casualties of history, but i care about pain and suffering.

[Asmodean]

That's just it though. I see what you are saying, and yet I think that... Hmm... How do I Asmo a nice turn of phrase that makes sense..? I think that they call it an act of caring. Whether or not it is an act, however, may very well be up for debate. In the long run, even on time scale of human generations, the Universe cares about acts - it does not do so about intentions.

It's easy to sit there and proclaim that, in this particular case, a man did not deserve to see tripple digits. Well, he did see them. What did you do to try and stop him? (NOT advocating that you divulge your assassination plans - looking at the broad theme of the matter)

If the answer amounts to "nothing," then what is your judgement on this matter worth? (Again, I'm philosophising in general terms, so I don't mean you specifically - or even that venomous Rolling Stone churnalist, for that matter, nor am I taking a moral stance of any kind myself - it's just... Something to consider. Think of it this way since it's far less... Murky in terms of social acceptability, let us say; if I think that you deserve a raise, but only advocate for it after you've quit the job, what is that worth?)

[zorkan]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-kissinger-war-criminal-dead-1234804748/

good riddance

He's gone to feed the worms.

[billy rubin]

That's just it though. I see what you are saying, and yet I think that... Hmm... How do I Asmo a nice turn of phrase that makes sense..? I think that they call it an act of caring. Whether or not it is an act, however, may very well be up for debate. In the long run, even on time scale of human generations, the Universe cares about acts - it does not do so about intentions.

It's easy to sit there and proclaim that, in this particular case, a man did not deserve to see tripple digits. Well, he did see them. What did you do to try and stop him? (NOT advocating that you divulge your assassination plans - looking at the broad theme of the matter)

If the answer amounts to "nothing," then what is your judgement on this matter worth? (Again, I'm philosophising in general terms, so I don't mean you specifically - or even that venomous Rolling Stone churnalist, for that matter, nor am I taking a moral stance of any kind myself - it's just... Something to consider. Think of it this way since it's far less... Murky in terms of social acceptability, let us say; if I think that you deserve a raise, but only advocate for it after you've quit the job, what is that worth?)

well, asmo, id have an answer for this, because its an important question.

but the nihilism is running pretty high this morning, and i dont have anything to say that isnt hopelessly bleak. so ill have ti leave it at that.

[Asmodean]

I think that a good answer would indeed almost have to be, as you put it, "hopelessly bleak."

We need not dwell.

[Anne D.]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/henry-kissinger-war-criminal-dead-1234804748/

good riddance

Yes. Behind the Bastards podcast has a good multi-episode summary of his doings. (Host is unsufferable but usually puts out an informative show.)

[Anne D.]

Show's take is that HK actually wasn't brilliant or an ideologue, he just liked power, lucked into getting close to men who had it, and then connived to stay in that sphere for decades.

[billy rubin]

he caused a great deal of harm.