Henry Kissinger, who as Richard Nixon’s secretary of state learned something about secret plans, went before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday to argue that Bush, too, has such a proposal.
“I am convinced, but I cannot base it on any necessary evidence right now,” Kissinger told the senators, “that the president will want to move toward a bipartisan consensus” to stabilize Iraq through diplomacy.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was suspicious of such assurances. “Is there any place that you’re familiar with where the administration has articulated this strategy?” he asked.
“I don’t know any place where the administration has articulated this particular strategy,” the octogenarian diplomat admitted. But he added: “From my acquaintances with some of the people, I think it is possible that they will come to this strategy.”
Obama asked Kissinger if “you are suggesting that they have some secret strategy that we have not been made privy to.”
“I would be disappointed and surprised,” he reiterated, “if they did not accept some of the elements of what has been discussed here.”
It’s hard to imagine why, exactly, the Senate would take Kissinger seriously in the first place, but the second Nixon’s former Secretary of State starts hinting at secret plans to end the war, it’s time to thank him for his time and send him on his way.
And in case that wasn’t enough, Kissinger also had an annoying habit of telling everyone how right they were.
When Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) argued that we can’t just drop everything and get out, Kissinger agreed, saying, “I believe very strongly that we cannot withdraw from the region.”
But, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) said, while we can’t withdraw from the region, we can embrace redeployment, right? Yes, Kissinger said, “of course significant American forces can be withdrawn.”
But, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) said, a precipitous withdrawal could be awful, right? Yes, Kissinger said, “that is my conviction.”
But, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said, every option includes some risks, right? Yes, Kissinger said, “absolutely.”
But, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said, escalation might allow for reconciliation and diplomacy, right? Yes, Kissinger said, “the objectives you’ve stated are compatible with what the president is attempting to do.”
First, what’s the point of even asking Kissinger to testify?
Second, have I mentioned lately that Kissinger is now advising John McCain’s presidential campaign?