Files released as Hillary
Clinton reportedly courts Kissinger's endorsement
Newly declassified papers on
the U.S. government's role in Argentina's 1976-83 "Dirty War" have
been released, detailing—among other things—how former secretary of state Henry
Kissinger stymied
attempts to end mass killings of dissidents.
The files were published just
after Politico reported that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary
Clinton is courting Kissinger's support, among
other Republican elites.
Kissinger lauded Argentina's
military dictatorship for its "campaign against terrorism," which
included the imprisonment, torture, and killings of tens of thousands of
leftist activists and students, the files reveal.
"His praise for the
Argentine government in its campaign against terrorism was the music the
Argentine government was longing to hear," one document states.
During a private meeting with
the conservative diplomat group Argentinian Council of International Relations
(CARI), Kissinger said that "in his opinion the government of Argentina
had done an outstanding job in wiping out terrorist forces."
U.S. ambassador to Buenos
Aires, Raúl Castro warned that Kissinger's praise for the military dictatorship
"may have gone to some considerable extent to his hosts' heads."
"There is some danger
that Argentines may use Kissinger's laudatory statements as justification for
hardening their human rights stance," Castro said.
Clinton herself has come under
considerable scrutiny for her role in other U.S.-backed coups in Latin America,
such as Honduras.
Further, during a presidential
debate with then-rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in February, Clinton cited
Kissinger as someone she looks to for advice and approval on foreign policy;
Sanders called that reference "rather amazing," stating, "I
happen to believe that Henry Kissinger was one of the most destructive secretaries
of state in the modern history of this country. I am proud to say that Henry
Kissinger is not my friend. I will not take advice from Kissinger."
On Tuesday, following
Politico's report, progressives called on Sanders and his surrogates to withdraw
their support of Clinton if she allies with Kissinger.
As Greg Grandin writes
at The Nation:
If Sanders stands for
anything, it is the promise of decency and civil equality, qualities that he
has worked hard to bestow on Clinton since the Democratic National Convention.
By accepting Kissinger's endorsement, Clinton wouldn't just be mocking that
gift. She'd be sending the clearest signal yet to grassroots peace and
social-justice Democrats that her presidency wouldn't be a "popular
front" against Trumpian fascism. It would be bloody business as usual.
Elsewhere in the documents—released
on President Barack Obama's order in a gesture of goodwill toward
Argentina—U.S. diplomats and officials can be seen wondering whether their
foreign policies had gotten out
of control.
The National Security
Council's Latin America director, Robert Pastor, wrote in a dispatch to
then-President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski,
"Have we gone too far? Have we pushed our policy beyond its effectiveness?
Are we pushing the Argentines over the edge and jeopardizing our future
relationship? Does the terror justify the repression?"
"I, myself, believe that
we may have...pushed too far," Pastor wrote.
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