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Continuing Criminal AP via Yahoo 'reports' below 'reports' below. With the usual refusal to mention the POW/MIAs he
left behind. Also, failed to note that Bush will never let him
stand trial as his dad And, that Vietnam needs Kissinger because And, that the Nobel Prize was seen as a blatant
farce The "quite possibly" comment is itself an
egotistical fraud |
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Vietnam
says Kissinger should bear responsibility for Vietnam War HANOI, Vietnam - Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger should "bear responsibility" for the human suffering caused by the Vietnam War, Vietnam's government said Friday. During a speech by Kissinger in London on Wednesday, dozens of protesters outside the meeting hall accused him of war crimes for his role in U.S. actions in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia during the war. Kissinger ignored the protesters, but acknowledged in his speech that mistakes had "quite possibly" been made by administrations in which he served. Asked to comment on the accusations, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh noted that Kissinger had served as U.S. President Richard Nixon's national security adviser and secretary of state during the war. "We hold that as a key official with an important role in the U.S. administration during the time the United States waged a war of aggression against Vietnam, Mr. Kissinger should bear responsibility for the losses and suffering caused by the war to the Vietnamese people," she said in a brief statement. She did not elaborate. The war, which spilled over into neighboring Cambodia and Laos, ended with a communist victory in 1975 over the U.S.-backed government of South Vietnam. An estimated 3 million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 Americans perished in the conflict. Thousands of other Vietnamese continue to be affected by poisonous defoliants used by U.S. forces during the war, and by accidental explosions of buried bombs and shells left over from the fighting. Protesters
greet Kissinger, in Britain to give business address By SUE LEEMAN, Associated Press Writer LONDON - Former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger admitted Wednesday that mistakes were "quite possibly" made in administrations in which he served but questioned whether it was appropriate to revisit those errors in court now. As Kissinger addressed a business convention in London, dozens of protesters staged a demonstration outside the conference hall accusing him of war crimes for his role in U.S. actions in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Kissinger told the gathering that it would be impossible to recall every one of the thousands of cases he dealt with every day when he was in office. "No one can say that he served in an administration that did not make mistakes," he said. "The decisions made in high office are usually 51-49 decisions so it is quite possible that mistakes were made." "The issue is whether 30 years after the event courts are the appropriate means by which determination is made," he added. Kissinger, who is resisting a request by Spain for questioning about his alleged involvement in a plot in the 1970s and 1980s to eliminate Latin American dissidents, ignored the protesters waving a large effigy of him and chanting "war criminal." Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell made an unsuccessful legal move to have Kissinger arrested under the Geneva Convention. Kissinger said the U.S. government had decided it would deal with questions about past policies and individuals were able to add comments if they wanted to. "It is not a refusal on my part to answer questions," he said in his address to the Institute of Directors, a business group. Kissinger's appearance has caused controversy among civil rights groups and left-wing lawmakers in Britain, who question his record and his refusal to cooperate with investigations into crimes committed under military dictatorships in South America. Kissinger also has declined to testify in a lawsuit against him in the United States related to his activities as former secretary of state. Britain on Tuesday turned down a Spanish judge's request for permission to question Kissinger during his visit to London. Judge Baltasar Garzon has now approached Washington directly for leave to question the former secretary of state in connection with "Operation Condor," a plot by former military dictatorships in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay to persecute and eliminate opponents. Kissinger, who was former U.S. President Richard Nixon's national security adviser from 1969 to 1973, and secretary of state from 1973 to 1977, is not a suspect in the case. Britain said Kissinger refused to make any declarations on the allegations and noted that under British law "it is not possible to take declarations from witnesses without their consent." Garzon, a National Court magistrate, is investigating accusations against former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet of genocide and international terrorism. He is also probing the disappearance of hundreds of Spanish citizens in Argentina during the military rule from 1976 to 1983. Separately Wednesday, a British political activist failed a second time to have Kissinger arrested on war crimes charges. Bow Street Magistrates' court in London refused to grant Peter Tatchell's application for an arrest warrant against Kissinger under the Geneva Convention. Tatchell's application alleged that while Kissinger was Nixon's national security adviser and a U.S. secretary of state in 1973-1977, "he commissioned, aided and abetted and procured war crimes in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia." District Judge Nicholas Evans, who refused a similar request by Tatchell on Monday, said an arrest warrant could only be issued by Britain's chief prosecutor, the director of public prosecutions. (scl/twx/jw/bg)
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