In just over a year, the United States has lost two of its most prominent centenarians: Henry Kissinger and Jimmy Carter. The former Secretary of State under Nixon and Ford and the former president, both Nobel Peace Prize laureates, were polar opposites: a highly successful “son of a bitch” and a saintly man with little success. Yet, they agreed on one point (as did any reasonable politician or diplomat of their time): one talks to everyone—friends and foes alike—and negotiates with the enemy because no one gets to choose their adversaries. Yesterday, as newspapers praised Kissinger as the “man of dialogue with China,” they also lauded Carter as the “president of peace” who brokered the 1978 Camp David Accords, ending a 30-year war between Israel and Egypt with the signatures of Begin and Sadat. These accolades appeared on even-numbered pages. Odd-numbered pages, meanwhile, repeated the usual nonsense about current wars: defeating Russia and China, never speaking to Putin, refusing to negotiate with the enemy, insisting negotiations would mean surrender, and demanding a “just peace” (one imposed by the victor on the defeated). The exception is Israel, which is seemingly free to invade and annihilate at will.
Meanwhile, negotiations occur with Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Qatar (their financiers), the Taliban, ISIS, and al-Qaeda in Syria. To reduce dependency on Russian oil and gas, substantial sums are paid to regimes as bad as or worse than Moscow’s: Egypt, Algeria, Angola, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Congo, the UAE, and Turkey. Yet, Russia remains off-limits. At the cost of condemning Europe’s economy, remaining funds are squandered on arms, inventing imminent Russian invasions without reason or motive, gifting half of Africa to Putin, and campaigning for fascist and anti-European parties who, when they win, are dismissed as the result of “Putin” or “TikTok.” Having followed “Rimbambiden” (Sleepy Joe) to the nursing home without a word of dissent in an almost comical pro-Americanism, the EU now discovers its anti-Americanism as Trump seeks to end the lost war and normalize ties with Moscow to sever its alignment with Beijing. The EU seems eager to finance an endless conflict. Intellectuals, rather than exposing the lies of Bomberleyen, Rutte, and their cronies, feed them these falsehoods instead. “Kyiv is losing because we’re not helping enough” (as if $300 billion over three years is negligible). Yet, Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive failed at the height of arms and financial aid. “Ukrainian resistance wants to keep fighting,” but polls suggest otherwise: recruits flee or injure themselves, and soldiers desert. “Zelensky’s leadership must be strengthened,” but it’s up to Ukrainians to choose their president, whose term expired in May. In the afterlife, Kissinger and Carter might not know whether to laugh or cry.
Il Fatto Quotidiano, December 31, 2024
