Henry Kissinger died as the war on Gaza was building to apocalyptic heights. Did he ever regret his own role in Middle East power politics and his diplomatic efforts which cemented in Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank? In 1967 UN Security Council resolution 242 called for Israel's withdrawal from 'territories occupied in the recent conflict' but the peace plans based on this resolution all failed largely because Kissinger's Cold War determination to give Israel maximum latitude. In his memoirs he reflects on his time as President Nixon's National Security Advisor with surprising frankness. He made sure that peace proposals went off to the 'overcrowded limbo of aborted Middle East schemes.'

Henry Kissinger's malevolent role in Southeast Asia, included the secret carpet bombing of Cambodia in the early 70s when he talked of hitting 'anything that flies or anything that moves'. He master-minded the 1973 overthrow of President Salvadore Allende in Chile: 'I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go Communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people,' and he greenlighted the 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor, asking only that it should not happen while he and President Ford were in Jakarta.

Less well known is his role in West Papua. In 1962, The US was intent on winning Indonesia to its side of the Cold War divide and West Papua was a bargaining chip. The US backed negotiations between the colonial Dutch and Indonesia that led to the 'New York Agreement'. A temporary UN administration was set up as a precursor to an Indonesian administration.

West Papuans were excluded from the discussions despite the fact they were already making good progress towards decolonisation and independence.

While the New York Agreement bound Indonesia to conduct an act of self-determination, the so-called 'Act of Free Choice' which took place in 1969 was a sham referendum. A handpicked group of just over 1,000 Papuans 'voted' under conditions of extreme duress to stay with Indonesia.

Any who dared to express a contrary opinion met with military force and the severe repression has never let up.

Kissinger played an important back-room role as Nixon's National Security Advisor strongly supporting Indonesia's plans. Kissinger prepared President Nixon for his visit to Indonesia during the referendum assemblies which took place over several months. In a recently declassified memo from this time, Kissinger said that a direct election 'would be almost meaningless among the stone age cultures.' Tragically, the poorly resourced UN team appointed to oversee the process failed to protect the rights of the indigenous Papuans, compounding their betrayal.

Other declassified memos show that the U.S. was initially concerned that the UN might sound the alarm about the flawed process, but Ortiz Sanz the UN Representative accepted the 'political realities' ensuring the 'preordained' outcome. Declassified New Zealand documents tell a similar story. New Zealand's Ambassador to Indonesia visited West Papua and commented on 'the questionable morality of the whole process.'

The gold and copper treasure at Grasberg near Puncak Jaya mountain must have played a part in Kissinger's thinking. Indonesia signed a contract with the US firm Freeport McMoran to mine the minerals two years before the 'Act of Free/No Choice' was held. Freeport was able to dictate its own favourable terms which included the right to take land and timber and to resettle the tribal people who had no right of refusal. In 1988 Henry Kissinger joined the Freeport board. Today Freeport is the third largest gold mine in the world, now with majority Indonesian ownership it remains a multi-billion-dollar contributor to the Indonesian government and a source of environmental and social devastation to the indigenous people.

Indonesia's repressive strategy is founded on tight military and intelligence control aided indirectly by western military training and arms supplies. Israel has helped with Cellebrite surveillance technology and New Zealand trains Indonesian officers. The conflict in West Papua has remained largely under the media radar, thanks to the exclusion of international journalists.

Kissinger's immoral 'US interests first' policies did not die with him.

Isolated against most of the world, the US cannot even support the UN call for a ceasefire as Israel's genocidal rampage in Gaza continues. However, the unremitting horror has mobilised unprecedented numbers in the US and every western country, including Germany where pro-Palestine demonstrations were initially banned. These terrible times are exposing the hypocrisy of the US and its allies and their talk of a 'rules-based order'. A re-examination of Kissinger and his global role should form part of this reassessment.

[Maire Leadbeater – Human rights activist and author of 'See No Evil: New Zealand's betrayal of the people of West Papua, OUP 2018.]

Source: https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/12/17/guest-blog-maire-leadbeater-reflecting-on-henry-kissinger