Kissinger is a German-born origin, now American Politician. There were countless attacks from left, right and center on the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Perhaps his German background prompted a writer in the ""Nation"" to draw a resemblance between Kissinger and Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Nazi foreign minister. (Couldn't they ever forget?)

In his memoirs, Kissinger alludes to the years he served as National Security adviser and one can fathom a touch of boasting on how much, in the eyes of many observers, his initiatives and allure was the main rescuing feature of an otherwise disastrous administration (Watergate!!).



His appointment as Secretary of State aroused not only favorable editorials; there was a great deal of unfriendly comments as well. Some reflected envy and grudging ill-will; there must have been many political gurus firmly convinced that they would have been able to do as good, and even a much effective, job than Kissinger.



During his time in the Nixon and Ford administrations he cut a showy personality like brightly colored movie stars, appearing at social occasions with many celebrities and in his pictures he appeared very much in joy at such gatherings; at times his name was transfused to "'Henry the Kiss"" something like a sex reference, didn't he say "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac?"" Very few photos show him frowning; otherwise his face has always been smiley. His foreign policy record made him the feared goddess of vengeance to the anti-war groups as well as to the anti-communists.



His memoirs portrays him as the devout advocate of ""Realpolitik"", and tell us how far the man played a dominant role in USA foreign policies between 1969 and 1977. In less than ten years, he `taught' the world the policy of `'détente" that led to a significant relaxation in U.S.-Soviet tensions and played a crucial role in 1971 talks with China's Premier Zhou Enlai that concluded with a rapprochement between the two countries (tennis games) and the formation of a new strategic anti-Soviet Sino-American alliance.



His help and energy to put an end to the fighting in Vietnam rewarded him the Nobel Peace Prize (1973). But the subsequent events failed him dearly when a ceasefire in Vietnam could not remain durable.



Kissinger preferred the maintenance of friendly diplomatic relationships with anti-Communist military dictatorships in many places in Latin America, however he approved of half-hidden intervention in Chilean politics. Such disguised approach caused him the accusation of encouraging and taking part in the atrocities committed by the Argentine military junta.



Looking at his accomplishment, one cannot but associate his name (and indeed his personality) mainly with:

Détente and the opening to China

Vietnam and Cambodia

1971 Indo-Pakistan War



Unfortunately his memoirs run short of two main events:

1973 Yom Kippur War

1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus



Kissinger was never connected with the Watergate scandal which eventually ruined Nixon and many of his close associates. The media labeled Kissinger as the ""clean man"" of the "Bunch""



I wonder why he did not mention in these memoirs the notion that prevailed for a short period of ending the requirement that a U.S. president be born in America. Some examined the possibility of amending the U.S. Constitution so that Kissinger could have a chance to run for President of the United States of America.



Perhaps what's missing for us in the Middle East is the 1973 Yum Kippur War. The memoirs, unfortunately, ended on the borders of 1973. From page 1290 until the end of the chapter we figure some secret channels between Sadat and Kissinger, we do not know how far such talks have led to the 1973 War. Was the war really surprising? Kissinger negotiated the end to the war, which had begun with a massive and, a so called, surprise attack against Israel by Egyptian and Syrian regular armies. According to Kissinger, if Israel had begun the war, they would not have received "so much as a nail" in aid from the United States. But since the Arabs started it all, the U.S military performed the largest military airlift in history, that led to the 1973 OPEC embargo against the United States and its Western European allies, which was lifted in March 1974.



When Israel recovered back most of the lands they lost during the initial stage of the `'surprise'' attack, the Israeli Army mounted a counter attack and regained some more territories. In this debacle Kissinger became the actual movie Star in this part of the world. USA, with the nickname: Uncle Sam became Uncle Henry (or Dear Henry).

Kissinger was able to pressure Israel to cede some of the newly captured land back to the Arabs, contributing to the first phases of lasting Israeli-Egyptian peace. The move saw a warming in U.S.-Egyptian relations, bitter since the 1950s, as the country moved away from its former pro-Soviet stance and into a close partnership with the United States.



Can we ever get the whole truth from the memoirs of shrewd politicians in the caliber of Henry Kissinger? Or only time can tell!!