An authorised biography of the Machiavellian,
Kissinger, by a historian who infamously sees British imperialism, despite its
greed for wealth, land and labour, its use of weapons, massacres, concentration
camps and torture, as a force for good, who supported the Republican candidates,
McCain and Romney against Obama in the 2008 and 2012 elections, and whose advice
on the history curriculum for schools to then Education Secretary Gove was
criticised so much by British historians and teachers, should not attract
favourable reviews, and Greg Grandin duly obliged (Kissinger 1923-1968:The
Idealist by Niall Ferguson,17/10/15).
A defence of Kissinger`s "war crimes",
based on the premise that other policymakers "can just as easily be accused",
smacks of disingenuity of the highest order, whilst the absurdity of claiming
that responsibility for atrocities and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of
people should not influence "how we assess his legacy" beggars belief. Somehow,
loss of life in so-called "strategically marginal countries" didn`t matter as
long as the cold war was won, a point which is not only abhorrent in its
substance, but the epitome of selective use of evidence, as it conveniently
ignores the fact that the bombing of Laos and Cambodia did not prevent America`s
defeat in Vietnam.
The public have been badly served by historians
like Ferguson, who misuse historical evidence, for too long, and hopefully,
sales figures of this example of biased history will indicate that the penny has
finally dropped.
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