To the editor: If former Occasions author Norman Kempster had reviewed paperwork unearthed over the previous few years and thought of that Henry Kissinger was most likely accountable for much more than the three million deaths attributed to him by his biographer Greg Grandin, he has written a extra balanced and fewer hagiographical obituary. by Kissinger. (“Henry Kissinger, some of the influential and controversial overseas coverage figures in American historical past, dies,” Nov. 29)
However that will have been inconceivable since Kempster himself died three years in the past.
There is no such thing as a proof that Kissinger ever expressed regret for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people around the globe—principally harmless civilians—who died on account of his recommendation to American and overseas political leaders.
So I can’t mourn Kissinger’s demise. Nor can I have fun as I look in shocked horror on the widespread bipartisan recognition accorded him by the overwhelming majority of political leaders and media homeowners.
Higher, as a substitute, to mourn his victims and the nations whose governments he undermined, after which look into our personal souls to ask why, in a rustic with such excessive beliefs and plenty of excellent individuals, we proceed to tolerate the incessant growth of our struggle machine.
Douglas W. Clark, Los Angeles
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To the editor: One in every of Kissinger’s enduring however little-known legacies was his early involvement in transferring the Panama Canal to Panamanian management.
In 1973 I used to be govt director of the International Coverage Assn. of Panama and requested to rearrange a gathering between our President and Kissinger’s principal Latin American specialists.
Kissinger’s approval opened a backdoor dialogue of how the USA could possibly be free of accountability for a extremely susceptible, growing old utility that wanted massively costly upgrading to stay related in world commerce. He thought Ronald Reagan’s characterization of the canal — “We purchased it, we paid for it, it is ours and we’ll maintain it” — was naive.
The trail to formal negotiations between the USA and Panama had been opened, resulting in the ratification of the Panama Canal Treaty in 1978 and the ultimate switch in 1999.
Godfrey Harris, Los Angeles