Henry Kissinger: US Responsible for Bringing Itself to ‘Edge’ of War With China and Russia
August 14, 2022
The 99-year-old former secretary of state warned against stoking tensions with the two powers
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned of the dangers of the US policy toward Russia and China in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that was published on Friday.
“We are at the edge of war with Russia and China on issues which we partly created, without any concept of how this is going to end or what it’s supposed to lead to,” Kissinger said.
The 99-year-old former diplomat warned against changing policy toward Taiwan as Washington has been increasing support for the island, drawing the ire of China.
“The policy that was carried out by both parties has produced and allowed the progress of Taiwan into an autonomous democratic entity and has preserved peace between China and the US for 50 years,” he said. “One should be very careful, therefore, in measures that seem to change the basic structure.”
Kissinger made headlines back in May when he suggested at an address to the World Economic Forum that Ukraine should cede territory to Russia to achieve peace. He told the Journal that the US made a mistake in promising a future NATO membership to Ukraine, a position he has long held.
He said that he believed Poland and other “traditional Western countries” were logical NATO members but said Ukraine was different because many of its territories are historically Russian. “I was in favor of the full independence of Ukraine, but I thought its best role was something like Finland,” he said.
Kissinger’s overall message was that the US needs to accept that there must be “equilibrium” in the world. He said one aspect of equilibrium requires a “balance of power, with an acceptance of the legitimacy of sometimes opposing values.”
Kissinger is most infamously known for his role in leading the secret US bombing of Cambodia and Laos as President Nixon’s national security advisor. He also played a major role in opening up with China by making a secret trip to the country in 1971, one year before Nixon shook hands with Mao Zedong.
More US Lawmakers Travel to Taiwan After Pelosi Visit
The congressional delegation shows Washington has no plans to ease tensions with China
Another group of US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, only 12 days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visited the island, a sign that the US has no plans to ease tensions with Beijing.
The delegation is being led by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and is expected to meet with high-level Taiwanese officials, including President Tsai Ing-wen. The delegation also includes House Reps. John Garamendi (D-CA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Don Beyer (D-VA), and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, a Republican delegate from American Samoa.
China has yet to comment on the delegation and will likely respond with more military exercises around Taiwan. Since Pelosi visited the island, the first House speaker to do so since 1997, China responded with its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, which broke decades-old tacit understandings it had Taiwan about areas Beijing’s military would enter.
Markey didn’t announce his plans to visit Taiwan, which is typical of congressional delegations to the island. Pelosi’s visit was leaked to the press a few weeks ahead of time, giving China time to make clear that it would respond.
Congressional delegations to Taiwan have become more frequent in recent years as Washington increasingly views the island as a way to counter Beijing. To China, the delegations are a provocation because they are a sign that the US is moving away from the one-China policy. Pelosi’s trip was more provocative than other delegations since she is such a high-level official.
Nuclear Catastrophe Is Gaining Momentum in Ukraine
August 12, 2022
It is beginning to appear that beyond the increasingly likely exchange of nuclear weapons strikes between the US and Russia there is yet another scenario for a nuclear catastrophe that in recent days has presented itself in Ukraine.
According to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, “the shelling at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant Zaporizhya underlines the very real risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond.”
The obvious question is who is responsible for this shelling?
As expected, Zelensky and his Western backers, including a complicit media, immediately accused Russia of this shelling, while Moscow is accusing Ukraine.
UN officials, at least so far, have not pointed fingers at either potential culprit but have continued to express deep concern over the dire state of affairs.
Rafael Grossi commented on the crisis saying: “Since the beginning of this tragic war, the IAEA – and I personally – have been working on supporting Ukraine in keeping all its nuclear facilities safe and secure.”
Actually, the head of the IAEA has been ready to lead a mission to inspect the safety, security and safeguards of the Zaporizhya power plant but for unknown reasons this has been prevented from occurring thus far. One wonders why.
Since the Russians control this plant, and actually the whole city of Zaporizhya, it would be pretty odd if they decided to shell territory they already hold. Besides, the Russians publicly claim that they keep urging the UN to send their mission as soon as possible Up until now, those appeals have fallen on deaf ears.
Grossi says that his team would also provide impartial and independent information about the status of the Zaporizhya facility but regrettably this vital mission has not yet happened, and not because of the IAEA.
“Despite our determined efforts, it has not been possible, so far,” said Grossi. It would be interesting to know who prevents his team to take this trip.
Grossi keeps making statements that he is not going to give up and will “continue to push – and push again – for this IAEA mission to finally take place.”
Good for him, and also for UN Secretary General António Guterres, who makes similar statements but to no avail. All this is very suspicious. Apparently, some powerful folks are not interested in presenting the truth but, taking into account that this plant is the largest in Europe, its explosion would be a lot more powerful than that of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Horrifying as the thought is, maybe some people somewhere want that to happen?
As for determining the culprits of these crimes, somehow I believe we need more reliable witnesses than Zelensky to tell the truth. More and more witnesses, including Amnesty International and western journalists, report that Ukrainian army is responsible for using civilians as human shields, placing artillery near schools and hospitals, shelling of civilian targets, including water, electric, and gas infrastructure, at times using NATO-supplied weapons and petal mines which are specifically prohibited by EU-Ukraine agreements signed back in 2013 per the Ottawa Convention. Indeed, the EU and NATO were supposedly helping Ukraine destroy its petal mine stockpiles. In any event, if the UN has any relevance left at all, the immediate dispatch of an IAEA team to this nuclear power plant is long overdue.
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