Product Description

With the detention of Augusto Pinochet, and intense international pressure for the arrest of Slobodan Milosovic, the possibility of international law acting against tyrants around the world is emerging as a reality. In this incendiary book, Hitchens takes the floor as prosecuting counsel and mounts a devastating indictment of a man whose ambitions and ruthlessness have directly resulted in both individual murders and widespread, indiscriminate slaughter. He investigates and reveals Kissingers' involvement in: the deliberate mass killings of civilian populations in Indochina; the deliberate collusion in mass murder and assassination in Bangladesh; the personal suborning and planning of a murder, of a senior constitutional officer in a democratic nation that the USA was not war with - Chile; the incitement and enabling of a mass genocide in East Timor; and the personal involvement in the kidnap and murder of a journalist living in Washinton DC.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #246899 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Christopher Hitchens doesn't mince words when it comes to The Trial of Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state and national-security advisor: in his view, Kissinger deserves vigorous prosecution "for war crimes, for crimes against humanity, and for offences against common or customary or international law, including conspiracy to commit murder, kidnap, and torture." The Trial of Henry Kissinger is a polemical masterpiece; even readers who don't agree that its target is an emanation of "official evil" will appreciate the verve and style brought to Hitchens's fiery brief. ("A good liar must have a good memory: Kissinger is a stupendous liar with a remarkable memory.")

The book is best understood as a document of prosecution--both because Hitchens limits his critique to what he believes might stand up in an international court of law following precedents set at Nuremberg and elsewhere, and also because his treatment of Kissinger is far from even handed. The charges themselves are astonishing, as they link Kissinger to war casualties in Vietnam, massacres in Bangladesh and Timor, and assassinations in Chile, Cyprus, and Washington, DC. After reading this book, one wants very badly to hear a full response from the defendant. Hitchens, a writer for Vanity Fair and The Nation, is a man of the Left, though he has a history of skewering both Democrats (he is the author of a provocative book on the Clintons, No One Left to Lie To) as well as Republicans (like Kissinger).

At the root of this latest effort is moral outrage, and a call for Americans, of all people, not to ignore Kissinger's record:

They can either persist in averting their gaze from the egregious impunity enjoyed by a notorious war criminal and lawbreaker, or they can become seized by the exalted standards to which they continually hold everyone else... If the courts and lawyers of this country will not do their duty, we shall watch as the victims and survivors of this man pursue justice and vindication in their own dignified and painstaking way, and at their own expense, and we shall be put to shame.

Customer Reviews

Henry Kissinger: War Criminal?
After the character assassinations of Mother Theresa and the Clintons, Christopher Hitchens aims his sights at the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Richard Nixon's Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. As always, Hitchens refuses to pull his punches, and you are confronted with a barrage of vitriol from the outset - almost the first description of Kissinger is as "an odious schlump who made war gladly".

Indeed, this seems to be an accurate summary of Hitchens' overall position in 'The Trial of Henry Kissinger'; though he does bring wit and style to what actually amounts to a legal indictment of Kissinger for various war crimes. Following the Pinochet case, it seems that Hitchens is determined to see more international figures brought to justice for their actions. His main claim is that Kissinger deliberately prolonged the Vietnam War so that he could gain favour with Nixon and help to get the Republicans elected in 1968. As with the other claims, this is serious stuff that is being alleged and Hitchens uses all of his investigative powers to try and make his case.

All of the allegations are very intricately researched and detailed, often legalistic in the level of information and analysis that is provided. Although Hitchens never proves definitively that Kissinger is guilty of multiple war crimes, it is hard not to come away from reading this book with the conclusion that there were many atrocities committed by the American government in the name of 'realpolitik' during the late 1960's and early 1970's. There are too many awkward facts, mysterious documents and unanswered questions for this to be simply dismissed as an attack on a right-wing statesman by a political opponent.

If we ever see an active and effective international criminal court, Christopher Hitchens has provided enough material here to warrant Henry Kissinger appearing before it. And what's more, he's done so with verve and passion.

An eye-opener!
Hitchens opens by saying that he is a political opponent of Kissinger and that he dislikes him. After reading the book, it is impossible to have any form for respect for Henry Kissinger.

The book is very well written and Hitchens uses official, publizised documentation to make his case against Kissinger. A very convincing case.

Hitchens describes Kissingers role in sabotaging the Vietnam War peace negotiations in 67/68, his role in carpet-bombing Cambodia for no reason, hiring an assasin to kill a Chilean General with democratic tendencies (!) and approving Indonesias genocide in East Timor - and more!

He lists the options for taking Kissinger to court - any court - but understands that without US approval, it will never happen.

The book is well worth reading and if you didnt suspect any of this, your view on US foreign policy will probably change.

Obligatory reading for everyone interested in human rights
If George Bush Jr. is seeking advice on the terrorist mind-set, then it would appear that he can find no better advisor than "Mr." Kissinger himself. If only one or two of Mr. Hitchen's multiple accusations prove correct, then Mr. Kissinger has, in addition to his other crimes, ample experience in the financing and arming of terrorist movements around the globe.

Accusations of this magnitude, this extensively researched, must surely be taken seriously by a credible governmental administration. In any case, quite independently of whether the accusations against Kissinger are correct, this book provides a shocking insight as to how vulnerable our basic rights and freedoms are.

Regardless of the extent of Kissinger's personal involvement in the deaths of the hundreds of thousands of innocent people around the world, Mr. Hitchen clearly shows that the decisions that determined the fate of these people were ultimately in the hands of few prominent politicians.

If Mr. Kissinger chooses to brush the accusations set out in this book aside, then he is not doing not only the victims a great injustice, but also the people and institutions of America who continue to engage him.