- On Feb. 10 2001, Henry Kissinger was installed as Chancellor
of the College. Kissinger was chosen to serve as symbolic ambassador of
the College without input from the students, alumni, faculty or staff that
he now represents. Instead, this appointment was made by the College's
Board of Visitors, whose members were appointed by the Governor of Virginia
without the involvement of the College community.
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- The rationale behind the choice of Kissinger is that
he will increase the international visibility of the College. He is the
wrong choice for this task.
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- Kissinger first came to international prominence as chief
foreign policy advisor to Senator Nelson Rockefeller. Empowered by this
position, he illegally negotiated with the North Vietnamese Government
in 1968. The purpose of these negotiations was to convince the North Vietnamese
to boycott the Paris peace talks. These talks were at the heart of Herbert
Humphrey's bid for president and his campaign promise that the democrats
could bring peace.
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- Kissinger convinced the North Vietnamese that by undermining
Humphrey they would help elect Richard Nixon, who would give them a better
peace deal. This plan was successful; the North Vietnamese withdrew from
the talks and Nixon won the election.
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- In return for his help, Nixon appointed Kissinger to
several positions in his administration, including Secretary of State.
In this role Kissinger extended the Vietnam War for several years, during
which time 20,000 Americans were killed along with untold hundreds of thousands
of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians. In addition, Kissinger extended
the war illegally into the neutral countries of Cambodia and Laos, by ordering
bombings of jungle areas, which supposedly harbored North Vietnamese supply
lines. In order to gain support for these bombings he lied to Congress,
claiming that the areas being bombed were "unpopulated." Declassified
documents, including internal White House memos, show that he knew otherwise
the entire time.
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- In addition to these acts, Kissinger used his power and
position to order, plan and support assassinations of military and political
leaders in the peaceful democratic nation of Chile. He also arranged U.S.
support for genocides and other crimes against humanity in East Timor,
Bangladesh, Cypress and Angola. These allegations are supported by strong
evidence including Kissinger's own memoirs, and recently declassified documents
from the Nixon administration.
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- He has offered no plausible defense or denial of these
charges, other than excusing them as justified by the political climate
of the cold war. Additionally, he has gone to great lengths to prevent
release of documents that would further implicate him.
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- Kissinger is easily the most controversial figure in
American foreign policy of the last 50 years. He has recently been subpoenaed
to testify about his actions by courts in France, Argentina and Chile.
He has ignored these subpoenas. However he legally cannot ignore a case
pending in U.S. court where he has recently been indicted on wrongful death
charges for ordering, funding and supplying weapons for the murder of the
commander of the Chilean armed forces, General Rene Schneider.
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- In light of this record Henry Kissinger is the wrong
choice for chancellor of the College. The reputation and actions of this
man are grossly out of line with the values of our College. We hold students
to an honor code and expel those who lie, cheat and steal. We should expect
no less from the person who represents us to the world.
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- Today there is a student movement organized to make it
known that Henry Kissinger does not reflect or represent the College. We
ask that he have the decency to resign this post immediately. If he will
not, we ask that the BOV remove him as Chancellor and that a new representative
be chosen with direct democratic involvement of the students, alumni, faculty
and staff of the College whom this person will represent.
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- As part of this effort a website has been created, www.kissinger.20m.com,
which contains links to a number of educational sites with information
about Henry Kissinger's record. His actions speak volumes; this man does
not represent our college. Please take the time to educate yourself.
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- Jason Maxfield is a guest columnist. His views do not
necessarily represent those of The Flat Hat.
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