DL Open Thread: Thursday, November 30, 2023

War Criminal Dead. Finally.  I mean, who gave a shit about Cambodia and Laos anyway?

As was the case with Vietnam, history has judged some of his Cold War realism in a harsher light than it was generally portrayed (weasel words for ‘the media fawned over him’) at the time. With an eye fixed on the great power rivalry, he was often willing to be crudely Machiavellian, especially when dealing with smaller nations that he often regarded as pawns in the greater battle.

He was the architect of the Nixon administration’s efforts to topple Chile’s democratically elected Socialist president, Salvador Allende.

He has been accused of breaking international law by authorizing the secret carpet-bombing of Cambodia in 1969-70, an undeclared war on an ostensibly neutral nation.  Here is an excellent piece on Kissinger’s carpet-bombing.  Read it, especially if you’re not familiar with the history.

His objective was to root out the pro-Communist Vietcong forces that were operating from bases across the border in Cambodia, but the bombing was indiscriminate: Mr. Kissinger told the military to strike “anything that flies or anything that moves.” At least 50,000 civilians were killed.

When Pakistan’s U.S.-backed military was waging a genocidal war in East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, in 1971, he and Nixon not only ignored pleas from the American consulate in East Pakistan to stop the massacre, but they approved weapons shipments to Pakistan, including the apparently illegal transfer of 10 fighter-bombers from Jordan.

Mr. Kissinger and Nixon had other priorities: supporting Pakistan’s president, who was serving as a conduit for Kissinger’s then-secret overtures to China. Again, the human cost was horrific: At least 300,000 people were killed in East Pakistan and 10 million refugees were driven into India.

In 1975, Mr. Kissinger and President Ford secretly approved the invasion of the former Portuguese colony of East Timor by Indonesia’s U.S.-backed military. After the loss of Vietnam, there were fears that East Timor’s leftist government could also go Communist.

Mr. Kissinger told Indonesia’s president that the operation needed to succeed quickly and that “it would be better if it were done after we returned” to the United States, according to declassified documents from Mr. Ford’s presidential library. More than 100,000 East Timorese were killed or starved to death.

Meet Ilhan Omar’s Primary Opponent.  Man, where do they get these people?:

To see government not be responsive like that, to the people that pay them, it is offensive to me. And to not be responsive and available to those people, to meet with them and find out what their concerns are and to answer their tough questions? To not get back to people on the phone? Who do you think you are? And who do you think you’re working for? You’re not cute enough, you don’t dress well enough, nothing about you is attractive enough to overcome that deficit.

Omar responded to Samuels’ comments in a post on X, calling them “beneath the dignity of any adult, let alone someone seeking public office” and “reminiscent of the worst kinds of lies and misogyny that we are hearing from people like Donald Trump, who think they can say anything about women and get away with it.”

Omar’s senior advisor also disputed Samuels’ claim about her alleged lack of town halls, writing on X that the congressperson “has held multiple town halls every quarter this year.” (An Eventbrite page advertising Omar’s town halls appears to show she has held six this year, five of which were in person.)

DNREC Vs. Rethug Climate Deniers.  Yes, DNREC compromised with the Flat-Earthers.  Still better than nothing, though:

DOVER — Delaware will adopt California’s Advanced Clean Car II regulations to aid its greenhouse gas reduction goals, though the zero-emission vehicle availability requirement will be capped at 82% in model year 2032, officials announced Wednesday.

Zero-emission vehicle regulations will commence at 43% in model year 2027 and increase annually before reaching a 2032 goal of 82% — a lower requirement from the previously proposed 100% goal by model year 2035.

This will allow the state to aid its climate goals, while acknowledging concerns raised in public comment (by the know-nothing mouth-breathers), the department added. By mandating this push, the availability of zero-tailpipe-emission vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will increase dramatically in the First State.

What do you want to talk about?