Few sounds are more terrifying than the hum of a squadron of B-52 Stratofortresses. It begins low, distant, as the roughly 80-ton aircraft come into hearing range before building, slowly reaching higher and higher pitches as they approach. And then the hum explodes into a cacophony of destruction.
For many, it is among the last sounds they ever hear. That was certainly the case for tens of thousands of Cambodian civilians murdered in Operation Freedom Deal, an American military campaign carried out between May 1970 and August 1973 under the direction of the late Henry Kissinger.
In the wake of Mr Kissinger’s death, the long-running controversy surrounding the former United States National Security Advisor and Secretary of State has bubbled to the fore.
Rolling Stone magazine headlined their story on Mr Kissinger’s death with “Henry Kissinger, war criminal beloved by America’s ruling class, finally dies.” Chile’s ambassador to the United States called Mr Kissinger “a man whose historical brilliance could never conceal his profound moral wretchedness.”
Dr Sophal Ear, a Cambodian-American political scientist who fled the country’s genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, described Mr Kissinger’s legacy in Cambodia as one of “deaths and continuing unexploded ordnances littering the country, the physical maiming, loss of human capital, and the mental health toll that millions suffer.”
Read more: Humza Yousaf and why he can't deal with the crises besetting him
Yet, many world leaders gushed over Mr Kissinger last week. Boris Johnson called him “a giant of diplomacy and strategy – and peace-making.” Tony Blair said he was “in........