Kissinger or CODEPINK? Who’s the “Low Life Scum”?
February 02, 2015
Kissinger or CODEPINK?
Whos the Low Life Scum?
by MEDEA BENJAMIN
A very angry Senator John McCain denounced CODEPINK activists as low-life scum for holding up signs reading Arrest Kissinger for War Crimes and dangling handcuffs next to Henry Kissingers head during a Senate hearing on January 29. McCain called the demonstration disgraceful, outrageous and despicable, accused the protesters of physically intimidating Kissinger and apologized profusely to his friend for this deeply troubling incident.
But if Senator McCain was really concerned about physical intimidation, perhaps he should have conjured up the memory of the gentle Chilean singer/songwriter Victor Jara. After Kissinger facilitated the September 11, 1973 coup against Salvador Allende that brought the ruthless Augusto Pinochet to power, Victor Jara and 5,000 others were rounded up in Chiles National Stadium. Jaras hands were smashed and his nails torn off; the sadistic guards then ordered him to play his guitar. Jara was later found dumped on the street, his dead body riddled with gunshot wounds and signs of torture.
Despite warnings by senior US officials that thousands of Chileans were being tortured and slaughtered, then Secretary of State Kissinger told Pinochet, You did a great service to the West in overthrowing Allende.
Rather than calling peaceful protesters despicable, perhaps Senator McCain should have used that term to describe Kissingers role in the brutal 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor, which took place just hours after Kissinger and President Ford visited Indonesia. They had given the Indonesian strongman the US green lightand the weaponsfor an invasion that led to a 25-year occupation in which over 100,000 soldiers and civilians were killed or starved to death. The UNs Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor (CAVR) stated that U.S. political and military support were fundamental to the Indonesian invasion and occupation of East Timor.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/02/whos-the-low-life-scum/