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From the Publisher:
"His own lonely impunity is rank; it smells to heaven. If it is allowed to
persist then we shall shamefully vindicate the ancient philosopher
Anacharsis, who maintained that laws were like cobwebs; strong enough to
detain only the weak, and too weak to hold the strong. In the name of
innumerable victims known and unknown, it is time for justice to take a
hand."
With the detention of Augusto Pinochet, and intense international pressure
for the arrest of Slobodan Milosevic, the possibility of international law
acting against tyrants around the world is emerging as a reality. Yet, as
Christopher Hitchens demonstrates in this compact, incendiary book, the West
need not look far to find suitable candidates for the dock. The United
States is home to an individual whose record of war crimes bears comparison
with the worst dictators of recent history. Please stand, ex-Secretary of
State and National Security Advisor, Henry A. Kissinger.
Weighing the evidence with judicial care, and developing his case with
scrupulous parsing of the written record, Hitchens takes the floor as
prosecuting counsel. He investigates, in turn, Kissinger's involvement in
the war in Indochina, mass murder in Bangladesh, planned assassinations in
Santiago, Nicosia and Washington, D.C., and genocide in East Timor. Drawing
on first-hand testimony, previously unpublished documentation, and broad
sweeps through material released under the Freedom of Information Act, he
mounts a devastating indictment of a man whose ambition and ruthlessness
have directly resulted in both individual murders and widespread,
indiscriminate slaughter.
"This is a disturbing glimpse into the dark side of American power, whose
consequences in remote corners of the globe are all too often ignored. Its
countless victims have found an impassioned and skilful advocate in
Christopher Hitchens." - The Sunday Times
"An eloquent and devastating indictment of Henry Kissinger's involvement in
the war in Indochina, genocide in East Timor and many other acts of
indiscriminate murder." - The Village Voice
"Hitchens is a brilliant polemicist and a tireless reporter. Both sets of
skills are on display throughout this book as he presents damning
documentary evidence against Kissinger in case after case." - San
Francisco Chronicle
It is shaming that Harper's and the Guardian excerpted this
book. It is so contemptible that it almost makes a case for judicial
book-burning." - Conrad Black, The Spectator
Christopher Hitchens lives in Washington, D.C. and writes columns for
Vanity Fair and The Nation.
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