The Trial of Henry Kissinger – Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens goes straight for the Jugular in The Trial of Henry Kissinger. Under his fearsome gaze, the former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor is accused of being a war criminal whose reckless actions and heinous disregard for international law have led to torture, kidnapping and murder.

This book is a polemical masterpiece by a man who, for over forty years, was the Anglosphere’s pre-eminent man of letters.  In The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Hitchens’ verve, style and firebrand wit are on show at the height of their potency. 

The Trial of Henry Kissinger is certainly an eye-opening read and a devastating attack on both his character and many of his actions – which had a significant impact on thousands of lives around the world – showing him (with supporting documents) to be a morally bankrupt man.  As the quote on the back cover of the book from the Literary Review says:

‘This book is so stupidly defamatory that if Kissinger values his reputation, he really must sue’

The silence on this matter, from the Nobel Peace Prize winner himself really does speak volumes.

Chronicling the different events Kissinger was a part of – a litany of manufactured, supported and prolonged wars,  and sabotaged peace talks, all a tale of so many lives ruined and lost needlessly, – it is frightening to see how he moved through successive U.S. governments with his power intact.   Hitchens is clearly no lover of the man but as ever, his arguments are reasoned, razor-sharp and not afraid to court controversy.  There is a term ‘Hitchslap’ that does the rounds that is often used for his most incisive commentary and this is certainly a good example of the term.

One of the most telling pieces of information is that Kissinger’s papers (the ones he classified as personal, when it is suspected many are incriminating) are under lock and key at the Library of Congress and can only be opened after Kissinger dies thanks to the agreement beforehand.  Of course being in the public interest a subpoena would most likely open it up (and a huge can of worms) but there in lies the issue.

With so many powerful people having had contact with Kissinger, who is complicit in these alleged crimes?  How many people would like to keep those contents quiet and how many other people wish to turn a blind eye to this spectre?  The author reasonably states that by continuing to ignore this America at best looks hypocritical by its standards and loses face with the world.  The alternative is the possible airing of corruption of leaders, then a precedent being set for the powerful of today.  A lot of questions would be asked of many other high-profile politicians in current and former governments, if that were the case.

This is a horrifying and fascinating read, not only for its clear web of lies and war mongering but also for Hitchens’ dissection of the linguistic gymnastics of misdirection routinely employed by politicians.  I am sure a defence against this book would be an interesting read if such a tome existed.  It also highlights the question of the motives of the West when choosing to intervene in conflicts, usually after ignoring the protests of its own citizens.

The shortness of the book makes it a punchy read and for those of you interested in the Vietnam aspect, I wholeheartedly recommend the recent Ken Burns documentary on the subject, entitled unsurprisingly, Vietnam.  This 18 hour epic covers all aspects of the war, in the U.S. and abroad, it’s a thoroughly engrossing, educational, and shocking watch and a fantastic piece of television to boot. It sets the standard for war documentaries in the same way that The World at War did in the 70’s.