Even Greener Pastures

A friend of mine visited an art exhibition in Copenhagen and photographed a letter of Kissinger.
She photographed it and asked me to translate it.
It’s completely out of context and difficult to understand what he refers to.
The letter is dated May 20, 1970
The letter is written to a journalist called Leonard Lyons who wrote, during 40 years a gossip column in the New York Post (Wikipedia).

Here the message of Henry Kissinger to  Leonard Lyons:
Dear Leonard, you must be a kind of fiend. I would choose your ballets over contemplation of Cambodia any day - - if only I were given the choice.

Keep tempting me; one day perhaps I will succumb. Warm regards
——————————-

My questions. I understand the word fiend = devil
What are the ballets over Cambodia? I first thought it was a report of a military operation in Vietnam. But the journalist was a gossip writer not a war reporter.
Has Kissinger been to Cambodia?
What is the meaning of OVER int the message? Does it mean instead of?
Any idea? Apparently Kissinger loved ballet and his friend kept sending him invitations to performances.

By the way the letter was included in an a piece of art by a Vietnamese artist

Any idea ?

Leonard Lyons was a Broadway columnist, reporting on music, theater, ballet etc.



So he must have been a ballet fan asking Kissenger to go with him.

Choosing "over" means he would prefer one to another, preferring ballet to problems in Cambodia.

Instead of, definitely a preference for one 'over' the other.  The one over has the 'top spot', a preferred position in his mind, that sort of thing :-)

And don’t listen to Neal tell you the Democrats caused the Vietnam War.

JFK sent 'advisers' as he called them to Vietnam. JFK was a Democrat. A very conservative D but still a D. There come the facts again, Steve. Better duck.