Most revealing article printed in 2015. It begins: "The only person Henry Kissinger flattered more than President Richard Nixon was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. In the early 1970s, the Shah, sitting atop an enormous reserve of increasingly expensive oil and a key figure in Nixon and Kissinger’s move into the Middle East, wanted to be dealt with as a serious person. He expected his country to be treated with the same respect Washington showed other key Cold War allies like West Germany and Great Britain. As Nixon’s national security adviser and, after 1973, secretary of state, Kissinger’s job was to pump up the Shah, to make him feel like he truly was the “king of kings.” Less well known about the Kissinger’s legacy is how his policies toward Iran and Saudi Arabia accelerated the radicalization in the region and how step by catastrophic step he laid the groundwork for the region’s spiraling crises of the present moment. See: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/09/28/debacle-inc-how-henry-kissinger-helped-disorder-world
It's strange how differently we can remember the same person. I remember Kissinger as being extremely intelligent. I admit I don't remember a lot of his policies but I do remember at some point thinking that he would have been a good president if only he had been born in the US. I also think it was a terrible mistake removing the Shah. Look what has happened to Iran since then.
For me, the problem with news reports, especially after the fact, is many statements get attributed to people who didn't say them at all. Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize for a reason. I never disliked him.
I'm no fan of Henry Kissinger... but there is no World Health Organization Council on Eugenics. Never was. No evidence of Kissinger ever saying that anywhere. -Snopes, ChecYourFact, Politifact, also flagged by Facebook, as part of their efforts to combat false news.
@Bess Barber Unfortunately, few paid attention at the time, when Kissinger was a great friend and ally of the Shah Pahlavi of Iran. The Shah achieved great strides forward in his Country, having been educated in USA. Unfortunately, as with most despots, it went to his head eventually. Upon being deposed as "King", he contrived, already suffering from incurable cancer, to escape Iran accompanied by his family, of course, but also followed by an unknown-size contingency of railroad cars chock full, of National Treasures, antiquities of gold, etc. Trying to find a place to settle, he wound up in several far reaches, including Mexico City, knowing he was dying. He implored his friend Kissinger to have him transported to NYC for best possible medical treatment; Henry concurred, despite the fact that firm world-wide warning had been announced by the Iranian Religious Leader Ayatollah Kohmeini of severe "dues" to be paid if USA aided the Shah. "Iranian Hostage Crisis, a diplomatic conflict caused by the holding in captivity of United States embassy personnel by Iranian militants from November 4, 1979, to January 20, 1981. The crisis was precipitated when Mohammed Riza Pahlavi , the deposed shah, was allowed into the United States for medical treatment." "The Iran hostage crisis was a 444-day period during which the new government of Iran after the Iranian Revolution held hostage 66 diplomats and citizens of the United States. It is believed by many to have caused President Jimmy Carter of the United States to lose his re-election attempt, and punctuated the first fundamentalist Islamic revolution of modern times." SEE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_hostage_crisis