Posted on 09/14/2006 6:04:43 AM PDT by Esther Ruth
Kissinger warns of possible "war of civilizations" Wed Sep 13, 1:23 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger warned that Europe and the United States must unite to head off a "war of civilizations" arising from a nuclear-armed Middle East.
In an opinion column in the Washington Post, the renowned foreign policy expert said the potential for a "global catastrophe" dwarfed lingering transatlantic mistrust left over from the Iraq war.
"A common Atlantic policy backed by moderate Arab states must become a top priority, no matter how pessimistic previous experience with such projects leaves one," Kissinger wrote.
"The debate sparked by the Iraq war over American rashness vs. European escapism is dwarfed by what the world now faces.
"Both sides of the Atlantic should put their best minds together on how to deal with the common danger of a wider war merging into a war of civilizations against the background of a nuclear-armed Middle East."
Kissinger wrote that the big threat lay in the erosion of nation states and the emergence of transnational groups. Iran was at the centre of the challenge, he said, with its support for Hezbollah, radical Shiite groups in Iraq and its nuclear program.
Washington must accept that many European nations were more optimistic about talks designed to convince Iran to halt uranium enrichment -- a process Tehran denies is aimed at making weapons, he wrote.
But in return, he said, Europe should accept the process must include a "bottom line" beyond which diplomatic flexibility must not go and a time limit to ensure talks did not become a shield for "developing new assaults."
In the article, Kissinger, national security adviser for former president Richard Nixon, and secretary of state for Nixon and his successor Gerald Ford, warned the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah was still dangerous, after its month-long conflict with Israel.
"Hezbollah's next move is likely to be an attempt to dominate the Beirut government by intimidation and, using the prestige gained in the war, manipulating democratic procedures," he said.
He concluded by noting that observers wondered whether, after the Cold War, trans-Atlantic ties could survive the loss of a common enemy.
"We now know that we face the imperative of building a new world order or potential global catastrophe. It cannot be done alone by either side of the Atlantic. Is that realization sufficient to regenerate a common purpose?"
Possible?
It's already happening.
Dr. Kissinger knows what he is doing. You might read and study his words...
http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?custid=67&catid=1592
So much for what Z'biggy Brzezinski had to say yesterday.
It's not a war of civilizations. The enemy represents the end of civilization.
The Washington Post essay by Doctor Kissinger referred to by AFP is at:
http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?custid=67&catid=1592
Kissinger was not always right..but he's one of the last adults around- the world needs to listen to what he says.
Well, the admission of the "new world order." Ain't interdependency just great. We gave away our nuclear technology to China and other rogue nations. Kissinger's thought was that if every one has a gun no one will shoot. What a fool this country has been to follow a fool like Kissinger.
You have a good grasp of this....
"they hate our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ"
Not necessarily. They hate the infidel, hypocritcal lifestyle. And they have no margin for error.
Prophetic but inevitable.
Kissinger warns of possible "war of civilizations"
did he just fall off the turnip truck?
what the hell does he think we have been fighting?
This war has however started and I fear may end with a nuclear conflict in the Middle East. Iran will become a nuclear power...the diplomats and UN not withstanding... and create a potential for nuclear war between them and Israel or a terrorist nuclear attack against the US or Europe.
Mainstream Islam, by its complicity with the Islamic fascists and silence in response to their acts of terror, is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. If there is a nuclear exchange in the Middle East, I fully expect Mecca will be reduced to a pile of nuclear rubble.
Henry is very late to the party.
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