Rolling Stone dances on Henry Kissinger's grave with brutal 'good riddance' headline: 'Finally, the war criminal is dead'

Rolling Stone has been blasted for announcing Henry Kissinger's death with a brutal headline that labeled him a 'war criminal' and declared 'good riddance' to the 100-year-old statesman. 

The left-leaning outlet published a skewering obituary by Spencer Ackerman last night in which they said Kissinger's legacy should only be his 'confirmed kills'. 

'Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies,' read the headline. 

Ackerman compared Kissinger to domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber who killed 168 people, and said: 'The infamy of Nixon's foreign-policy architect sits, eternally, beside that of history's worst mass murderers. A deeper shame attaches to the country that celebrates him.'

Leftists applauded Rolling Stone on Twitter and the magazine retweeted some of their praise. 

Other leftists in both the UK and US joined in the dance on Kissinger's grave. 

There was vitriol on social media and even cheering on the streets of New York among protesters to the Israel-Hamas war who reacted with jubilation when an organizer announced Kissinger’s death last night.

Greg Swenson, chairman of Republicans Overseas UK, told the BBC it was ‘a bit much’ adding: ‘I’m not defending every one of his policy mistakes, but he was also a major stateman and did a lot of good for the world. Remember, this was the Cold War, there were difficult choices…there weren’t a lot of great outcomes possible.’

Tudor Dixon, a Republican former candidate for governor of Michigan, said Rolling Stone ‘should be ashamed of themselves’.

Political commentator Phumlani Majozi said: ‘Every US Secretary of State, every US President post World War II, could easily be accused of war crimes. Yet it’s only Kissinger who was singled out, labelled a 'war criminal', hounded, demonized.’

Scathing remarks by Anthony Bourdain, the beloved celebrity chef who died by suicide in 2016, also resurfaced in light of Kissinger's death. 

In 2001, Bourdain wrote: 'Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. 

'Witness what Henry did in Cambodia — the fruits of his genius for statesmanship — and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to Milosevic.' 

The death at 100 of a diplomatic giant, who remembered aged 10 hearing the news that Hitler had been elected and who went on to advise 12 presidents from JFK to Joe Biden, has divided opinion.

Ben Rhodes, a former speechwriter to Barack Obama, told the BBC Radio 4’s Today program that Kissinger was a hypocrite who ‘failed catastrophically’ in South East Asia by expanding the Vietnam War to Cambodia and Laos. Former Labour MP Chris Mullin said: ‘I see the global elite are queuing to pay tribute to that cynical old war criminal Henry Kissinger.’

But former Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: ‘With the passing of Henry Kissinger we have lost a giant of diplomacy and strategy - and peacemaking. The world needs him now. If ever there was an author of peace and lover of concord that man was Henry Kissinger.’

And security minister Tom Tugendhat wrote: ‘I’m deeply saddened by the loss of my friend Henry Kissinger. 

'He was a brilliant negotiator and an extraordinary statesman. I will always be grateful for his wisdom, and for the kindness he showed me.’