The Kissingerian Influence, Or, That Hideous Strength



The persistence of Henry Kissinger is really quite astonishing. Truly it is. In the unfortunate instance of a nuclear winter immediately following a stateside thermonuclear detonation, the only survivors would probably be Keith Richards and an only slightly irradiated, Henry Kissinger (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment).

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's regional "Realignment" -- the rounding up and standing along with Sunni powers in the Middle East against Shi'ite expansionism -- according to Newsweek's Michael Hirsh, is directly influenced by Henry Kissinger's recent Op-Ed piece stating that a victory in Iraq is unachievable. And in his testimony yesterday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he seemed to hint that the troop surge -- though domestically quite unpalatable -- may allow the Bush Administration the maneuvering room to make diplomatic demands upon Iran.

One wonders also what -- if any -- influence Kissinger had on Vice President Cheney's trip to Saudi Arabia to persuade the Sunni kingdom to keep gas prices at around $50 a barrell (in lieu of taking sides), thus depleting the Iranian pocketbook and penchant for regional mischief. For further reference see: Thomas Friedman's First law of Petropolitics

Back to That Kissingerian Influence. From Newsweek:

"He is 83 now, very gray and a bit saggy around the edges. But nearly 40 years after he first convened the Paris Peace Talks, Henry Kissinger is still playing the globe like a three-dimensional chessboard. And judging from the moves George W. Bush has been making lately, the president appears to be following the old meister’s advice on Iran. Kissinger’s bottom line: don't negotiate with Tehran until you've realigned the forces in the Middle East so that you're negotiating from a position of strength.

"Bush is trying to realign, big time. In an extraordinary series of moves, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other U.S. officials have been seeking to create a united front of Sunni Arab regimes and Israel against Shiite Iran as part of an aggressive new approach to Tehran. Fed up with Iran’s recalcitrance in talks to curb its nuclear program, and reports of Iran’s alleged complicity in attacks inside Iraq, the Bush administration is engaged in diplomacy of truly Kissingerian complexity. This includes a new order, first reported by The Washington Post, to kill or capture Iranian operatives in Iraq; movement of a second carrier battle group to the Persian Gulf; intense pressure on banks and other financial institutions to cut off dealings with Tehran, and a new push for Israeli-Palestinian peace, among other initiatives. U.S. officials are investigating the possibility that Iran has been involved in attacks inside Iraq, including one in Karbala on Jan. 20. In that episode, Iraqis, wearing uniforms similar to those of American troops, killed five U.S. soldiers—allegedly with Tehran’s help. (Iran denies any involvement in attacks on Americans).

"What is the ultimate goal of all these moves? Bush insisted again this week that he has no intention of launching attacks inside Iran over its infiltration of Iraq.

"... In a little-noted op-ed piece he published last November in various newspapers, Kissinger sought to address this problem, counseling an approach very close to the strategy that Bush is now pursuing. Iran, Kissinger wrote, needs to be showed 'that it is still a poor country not in a position to challenge the entire world order. But such an evolution presupposes the development of a precise and concrete strategic and negotiating program by the United States and its associates.' Kissinger noted that the 'the Sunni states of the region—Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the non-Shiite government of Lebanon, the Gulf states—are terrified by the Shiite wave.' The solution, he said, was to exploit that fear and to 'rally' them into line against Iran. Rice appears to be trying to do just that."

The full article Newsweek