Henry Kissinger- people either like him, or hate him. My Dad can’t stand him and has long blamed the oil mess we’ve been in since 1973 on "that rat Kissinger." I’m not sure whether I agree with Dad on that one, but I guess I must say I’ve long wondered about the enigmatic Henry Kissinger. Whenever he appears on TV, I generally give him a listen, as he’s a guy who’s been involved with the geopolitical scene much of his life. This past week, he weighed in on the state of affairs of the world, especially involving our conflict in the Islamic portions of the globe-particularly Iran. From a Yahoo! news piece:
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger warned that Europe and the United States must unite to head off a "war of civilizations" arising from a nuclear-armed Middle East..In an opinion column in the Washington Post, the renowned foreign policy expert said the potential for a "global catastrophe" dwarfed lingering transatlantic mistrust left over from the Iraq war.."A common Atlantic policy backed by moderate Arab states must become a top priority, no matter how pessimistic previous experience with such projects leaves one," Kissinger wrote.."The debate sparked by the Iraq war over American rashness vs. European escapism is dwarfed by what the world now faces.."Both sides of the Atlantic should put their best minds together on how to deal with the common danger of a wider war merging into a war of civilizations against the background of a nuclear-armed Middle East.".Kissinger wrote that the big threat lay in the erosion of nation states and the emergence of transnational groups. Iran was at the centre of the challenge, he said, with its support for Hezbollah, radical Shiite groups in Iraq and its nuclear program.
With each passing day, it is becoming clearer where the new world war in which we find ourselves is ultimately leading. The battle that started in 1979 with the taking of US hostages lumbers onward…
