A PREEMPTIVE ERUPTION BY MOUNT HENRY KISSINGER?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303320028-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 29, 2010
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: December 2, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303320028-2
ARTICL! APPEARED THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
ON PAGE
A Preemptive Eruption by Mount'
smoke and cliche hundreds of feet into the
air, Mount Kissinger entered a peculiarly
active phase. Though no actual loss of life
seems to have occurred, "Kissinger
Alr*rs" were broadcast on an hourly basis,
w> ig the populace to beware of falling
plat,-..des and other detritus from this
semi-extinct volcano.
The first eruption took place in the Lon-
don Economist, dated November 13.19, and
took the form of a "conversation" between
Viewpoint
by Alexander Cockburn
Mr. Kissinger, coyly described as "a pri-
vate citizen" and the editor of the Boone-
mist, a long-term Kissinger disciple, An-
drew Knight Over five interminable pages
the two K's rambled through the politics of
the Levant. leisurely seeking out and suc-
cessfully locating the obvious: the "fresh
beginning" now to be descried beneath the
rubble of Lebanon; the hopes, but yet the
perils offered by the Reagan plan; the pos.
sibibty -for moderate advance, yet the
ever-present menace of extremism.
Hardly had the basso rumblings died
dawn before Mount Kissinger burst into ac-
twity once more. The eruption came this
time in Newsweek. in the edition that went
on sale on November 2. That magazine's
new young editor in chief, William Broyles,
seemingly as eager an acolyte as Mr.
Knight., spread Mr. Kissinger across four
inside pages and gave him the cover as
well: "How to Deal with Moscow-Ar. Ex-
clusive Report by Henry -Kissinger."
Once again, for those foolhardy enough
to embark on the text, there was the ex-
hausting trek through slowly cooling sta.
tesnanspeak: "To bring about a genuine
change-expressed in substantial recipro-
cal arms reduction and restraint in inter-
national conduct-regwres American lead-
ership founded in firm purpose, clear con'
cept and steadfast strategy, LOtu- po)-_ -
icy must be based on strength to discour-
age adventurism yet at the same time of-
fer a vision of a better world for all
peoples. .. .
Rusks and Bundys of the world. The Kis-
singer imperial ego evidently regards this
latter course as unthinkable.
I had thought that Mr. Kissinger's cho-
sen mode, that of international superstar,
for long endure; that the decline would be
rapid, from special adviser to NBC, to
guest on the Johnny Carson show, to final
apotheosis on the Hollywood Squares. Not
SO.
Needing, by the look of his appurte-
nances and domestic requirements, at
least a million a year in income, Mr. Kis-
singer has lived by his wits with ama?+ng
success. There is now a whole range of
semi-extinct volcanoes, including Lord
Carrington and R .O. Anderson, grouped
under the generic title "Kissinger Associ'
ates" and 'charging 5250.00^ entry fee to
each, client. There art business consultan-
cies to Goldman Sachs and Chase and ad-
_ 2visoD_functions at ABC and Newsweek.
Necessary in the success of this type
of operation is the belief of client or public
that the relevant retired statesman has
anything to offer, beyond gallon jugs of
''wisdom" and "experience." The trick:
here is to ensure at least the appearance of
..briefings" or "consultancies" by. those
actually in power, and of course the possi-
bility that the retired statesman might one
day get back into power himself. Mr. Kis-
singer, hinting that he might have had a
hand in the formulation of the Reagan plan
for the Middle East., perennially bathing
himself in rumors of an emissary or more
substantial role, and at a pinch proffering
sagacious public advice, is a master at giv
ing ? the volcano at least a semblance of
life.
Yet there was more to the November
eruptions than such normal considerations.
Oddly enough, Anthony Lewis provided the
tipoff. Normally this liberal columnist is so
quick to leap on his moral high horse that
he clears the saddle by__a couple of feet,
but on November 22 he hailed Mr. Kis-
singer's utterances on the Middle East,
while adding cautiously that "on such is-
sues as Vietnam and Chile be used power
beyond the limits of decency. We can ex-
pect to learn more about his role in Chile
from a forthcoming Atlantic Monthly arti-
_.ta'be part of a normal .pattern: Mr. Otis- : - cle by. Seymour Hersh."
T
singer's perennial need to keep his name in he commotions of Mount Kissinger
the public rye as a senior statesman, and were at once, in my view, satisfactorily ex
thus 'maintain his exchange value. in a de- . plained: a preemptive strike. If a volcano
Gently ordered world Mr.'Kisstmger would . is bursting ponderously into life, you have
have at some point endowed himself with less time to inspect the pool of sewage
legal credentials and thus could now-like spreading across the backyard. The issue
Cyrus Vance or William Rogers-have re- of the Atlantic with Mr. Hersh's article in
tired to the powerful obscurity of an ob- it went on the newsstands a day or two af-
scurely powerful law firm. The alternative, ter Newsweek grandly promulgated M3.
for which no known credentials.are re-
quired, would be an academic position of ,
Halfway through November, spewing the sort now enjoyed by the Brzezinskis, Kissinger's views of the Russians.
Mr. Hersh's article has not caused
much of a stir. The Washington Post said it
contained "no smoking gun." These are
times, of course, when a gun has to ex-
plode in your hand for anyone to pay anen-
bon.Wounds are being healed, Vietnam
memorials unveiled and ex-presidents re-
habilitated at such a rate that they'll prob-
ably be reappointing Spiro Agnew soon as
secretary of commerce.
Mr. Hersh's examination of the actions
of Messrs. Nixon and Kissinger imrnedi'
ate)y before and after the popular election
of Salvador Allende in September and Oc-
tober 1970 seems to me to establish as Sol-
-idly as available historical evidence will
probably ever permit that orders for the
overthrow-and, Mr. Hersh implies, the as-
sassination of-Allende came out of the
president's office and were urged by his
national security adviser. W. Hersh also
deduces that CIA operatives were dis-
patched to Chile and that their mission ciii-
minated in the murder of Gen. Rene
Schneider, commander in chief of the Chi-
lean army. Mr. Hersh's investigation dem-
onstrates that Mr. Kissinger subsequently
lied repeatedly about his and his master's
attempts to bring down the legally elected
Chilean president. The article shows in de-
tail Messrs. Nixon and Kissinger Conspir-
ing with U.S. executives to subvert Chile.
You could argue that a man who tried
and may indeed ultimately have succeeded
in engineering the overthrow of A laude is
well qualified to assess the best manner of
dealing with the former head of the KGB.
But that is not quite how Newsweek pre-
sented Kissinger's expertise. Par the opiir
ion-forming elite, as represented by the'ed-
itors of the Economist and Newsweek, the
smoking volcano seems permanently to
overshadow the smoking gun, which shows
you can survive anything, provided you
are statesmanlike about it.
Mr. Cockburn is a columnist for The
Vulaoe Voice.
STAT
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303320028-2