The R.I.P. thread

Yes, his most recent international activities include the visit to Beijing this July and as a virtual speaker at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore just barely 2 weeks ago.

Thereā€™s also a less than hagiographic piece in the Grauniad:

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:cry:

RIP

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Relevent I think that itā€™s written by a Brit for a mostly British audience. Itā€™s much rarer for this to come from the US media, but Ive been pleasantly surprised by what Iā€™ve seen.

This from the small selection of critical reevluations that his 100th birthday brought around

This one from today from a man who has wrestled a lot with his own role in Obamaā€™s foreign policy issues
https://x.com/brhodes/status/1730116169498345894?s=20

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I had to take some time to tamper my anger and indignation. But let me say in the most unapologetic manner, good riddance. The fact that he is celebrated in US and Western corridors of power, unlined their deep-rooted and unabashed racism.

I have seen the reporters and analysts mentioning his role in the genocide in Indochina and other atrocities around the world. But, one of his most prominent atrocities hasnā€™t been mentioned, the genocide in Bangladesh in 1971.

Three million people were murdered through genocide, starvation, and diseases. Thatā€™s the entire fucking population of West Bank wiped out in nine freaking months. Not only did he aided and abated the Pakistan junta, he urged the Chinese to intervene. When that failed, he proposed a ceasefire just weeks before we were inching to liberation. When that too failed, he positioned the Seventh Fleet in the Bay of Bengal to intimidate the Indian-Bangladesh forces.

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I can only agree with you. Heā€™s directly responsible for some of the most terrible events in the second half of the XXth century, and was directly involved with a lot of bad things happening. Of course, he wasnā€™t alone in implementing his dark strategies all over the world, but certainly oversaw them over many decades.

For me, heā€™s one of the darkest characters in the history of the second half of the XXth century, and largely contributed to the negative way US foreign politics is seen a bit everywhere. Good riddance indeed.

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Would Kissinger make the follow on acts (of Rumsfeld, Chaney and Bush II - even Trump to an extent) seem of poor standard in comparison?

like footballā€¦you cant take players from different eras and really compare.

given the state of current politics, Kissingers ā€˜potentialā€™ in this era would be unimaginableā€¦having said that, maybe in his era its was easier to ā€˜fiddle the statsā€™

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I heard an excerpt from an interview in which he defended himself by saying human rights werent so prevelent a consideration back then. You were the fucking thought leader, you cunt.

I was only following orders
Whose orders?
Mine

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Denny Laine of Wings has died.

I was just listening to the Band On The Run album this afternoon.

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Quite often , the genocide in Bangladesh is forgotten because the Western powers(US + allies) were complicit in their assistance of Pakistan.

Supporting a genocidal regime to do just that because this is opposing a country which was supposedly close to the former Soviet Union just because of cold war politics.

And people wonder why no one trusts US.

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And lest we forget

Itā€™s a complete adide, but I was reading an article a while back about the George Harrison benefit concerts for Bangladesh in 1971. Harrison and his manager at the time made some mistakes in registering the event as a charity beforehand but there was a complete lack of co-operation from the UK and US governments in releasing the funds to UNICEF. It sounds like this may have been more than simple pig-headed bureaucracy.

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Most definitely. The concert was meant to raise awareness of the genocide going on in Bangladesh or what was east Pakistan then.

This was being done by a regime which was friendly to the US. The lack of cooperation by UK/US would have to do with the above reasons and not because of bureaucracy

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No no. You just call it ā€œRealpolitikā€ and you no longer have to be accountable for your actions

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I hoped he would one day become Poet Laureateā€¦

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Why is Shane McGowanā€™s funeral being shown live on BBC and Sky? :thinking:

Seems a bit bizarre to meā€¦they didnā€™t do that for Ken Dodd.

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If it wasnā€™t for that one song (Fairytale) , Shane would still be reviled as a drunken Paddy and Provo sympathiser by the British establishment.

Cultural appropriation at its finest.

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Itā€™s not even my favourite one on that album! The Pogues were a welcome kick up the arse for the whole folk scene which had become worthy but achingly dull.

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