Kissinger Protested

Letter to New York Times 
December 2, 2002

Kissinger: Right Man for the Job? 

To the Editor:

President Bush’s decision to name former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, who spent his entire public career protecting the executive branch from public scrutiny of its actions, to head the 9/11 commission is bitterly ironic (front page, Nov. 28). Perhaps Mr. Kissinger, who oversaw the illegal, secret bombing of Cambodia and acquiesced to Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor is uniquely qualified to investigate the terrorist tragedy of Sept. 11. Not of 2001, however, but of 1973, when the government of Salvador Allende in Chile was overthrown by Pinochet, a goal Mr.Kissinger had long supported. Now the question is, who will investigate the investigator?

BRAD SIMPSON 
New York

Brad Simpson is a long-time member of ETAN.

Kissinger Protested in Westchester, NY

On Saturday, October 26, ETAN members and friends gathered in Dobbs Ferry, north of New York City, to protest a speech by Henry Kissinger at the Masters School. A majority of the passing motorists (most going to Kissinger’s speech) honked their horns or gave a thumbs up to demonstrators, who wore Henry Kissinger masks and raised hands soaked in red paint. Many parents of the students, who were required to attend, were supportive. One parent said when his son asked him who Henry Kissinger was, he replied “a war criminal.” Kissinger was speaking at the 125th anniversary of the elite private school, where his wife, a former student, is a trustee. The talk was not open to the public and he took no questions. The protest was sponsored by the East Timor Action Network/NY and Casa Westchester. For more informaton about Kissinger and East Timor see www.etan.org/news/kissinger.

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