Kissinger policies protested in vigil

By Elizabeth Kassab

Daily Staff Reporter

"Try Kissinger for War Crimes" screamed a banner on the Diag. Another banner proclaimed "Ford Kissinger Public Policy = 1/2 Million Deaths."

Henry Kissinger's leadership as the U.S. Secretary of State during numerous coups and wars in Asia, South America and Africa was the target of an evening vigil in the Diag last night.

The vigil was held to remember the "uncounted numbers" of people who died as a result of Kissinger's foreign policy decisions, said Thom Saffold of the Direct Action Center, which organized the event.

Kissinger's endorsement of coups in Cambodia and Chile, which brought Pol Pot and General Augusto Pinochet to power in the 1970s as well as the 1975 Indonesian invasion of East Timor were among the policies condemned during the vigil.

"Are those policies the types of policies we want associated with our School of Public Policy?" Saffold asked the 20 onlookers burning candles in a circle around him.

Although former President Gerald Ford was not the focus of the protest, "we feel he is culpable," Saffold said.

Ford served in Congress during the Nixon administration. While he didn't play a direct role in the making or enforcement of many of the policies, he didn't do anything to stop or challenge them either, Saffold said.

"Certainly we wouldn't have done this if Kissinger hadn't come to campus," Saffold said.

The University's decision to invite Kissinger to be the keynote speaker at the renaming ceremony of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy was "a tacit endorsement of Kissinger's policies," Saffold said.

"Policy analysts are supposed to be objective," said Shawna Lee, a Public Policy and Social Work student. "Associating with Kissinger and Ford and the policies of that era" would strip the school of that unbiased stance, Lee said.

"It's truly horrifying that these men can be honored by our institution in light of the atrocities caused by their policies and decisions," LSA senior Scott Trudeau said.