Over the years, Sen. John McCain has shown himself to be multi-faceted. He has always been outspoken in his moral convictions and has never hesitated to break from party lines when his conscience dictates. A former prisoner of war in North Vietnam, McCain defied his Republican colleagues and condemned the CIA’s use of torture when the Senate released its horrifying report detailing the brutal and ineffective techniques that had been employed.
He also railed against the Obama administration for nominating a soap opera producer to be the new ambassador to Hungary, in what was clearly a favor to a political donor. These are examples of McCain at his finest, demonstrating what we want most in our elected officials: a moral compass and the courage to follow it.
But McCain can also be led astray by this passion. Last week, protesters from Code Pink showed up at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to call for the arrest of Henry Kissinger, who was testifying at the hearing, for war crimes committed during his time as Secretary of State in the Nixon and Ford administrations. McCain responded by calling the protesters “low-life scum” and having them removed from the hearing.
On Sunday, McCain defended his response, calling the protesters “terrible people” for their outburst during the hearing. McCain also heaped praise on Kissinger, speculating that he might be the greatest statesman of the 20th century.
But the protesters were right to criticize the 91-year-old former Secretary of State. One of the few Nixon aides to escape the Watergate fiasco unscathed, Kissinger is one of the most despicable characters in U.S. history. During his time in office, he orchestrated (and was complicit in) atrocities all around the world. From supporting tyrannical regimes in South America, to bombing untold numbers of civilians in Cambodia and North Vietnam, and even supporting the apartheid regime in South Africa, it’s clear what little regard Kissinger held for human lives in developing countries.
It’s easy to understand why McCain would be angry over the disruption of his hearing. But can protests really be effective if they don’t disrupt anything? McCain’s anger is misplaced, and his defense of Kissinger is a part of a troubling trend of our leaders whitewashing the history of the U.S. and our allies. For instance, when King Abdullah — the leader of Saudi Arabia — died recently, our elected leaders did not criticize his long track record of human rights abuses, but rather praised him for being such a close ally to us (which means he had oil and therefore can do no wrong).
McCain’s defense of Kissinger is emblematic of our nation’s tradition of criticizing atrocities committed by our adversaries, but sweeping our own and that of our allies under the rug. No official will stand before a judge to answer for the CIA’s use of torture. No one will ever go to prison for the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo, or for nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Henry Kissinger will live out his remaining years, not behind bars, but in luxury and comfort, while we as a nation continue to look down on others from our false moral high ground, apathetic of the suffering we have caused.
Reach the columnist at hneidig@asu.edu or follow @hneidig on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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