Book Review: The Blood Telegram - Nixon, Kissinger and a forgotten genocide by Gary J. Bass

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18213097-the-blood-telegram?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=LXrck1oS36&rank=1

The Blood Telegram by Garry J. Bass is a riveting account of large scale killings of civilians in 1971 on ethnic and religious grounds in what was then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) under the brutal Pakistani dictatorship of Yahya Khan strongly backed by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger the then US President and National Security Advisor. The book derives its account from many secret tapes and documents that have now been made public in US and India. Also with their eye towards an opening with Maoist China and to undermine Soviet Union, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger gave a free reign to Yahya Khan and gave approval of illegal arms sales to Pakistan. Their admiration of Yahya was to the point of affection and deference. Yahya did not honor the election results of 1970 that gave a clear majority to the Bengali leader, Mujib ur Rahman. This created a catastrophe in east Pakistan where the army killed  hundreds of thousands of people and because of the reign of terror, millions poured into India as refugees. India was overwhelmed immediately as it did not have any resources to house and feed these refugees. Despite admonitions and strong pressure from the White house to keep quiet, the US diplomats in East Pakistan were appalled and horrified by the open killings and sent multiple telegrams to the US State Department and White house about the genocide. Archer Blood was  the principal diplomat at the US consulate in Dakha. He went against the wishes of his government and highlighted the dire situation through various telegrams he sent back home to the US Government. Unfortunately in the end he paid a big price with his career as he was forced out of the US government by Nixon and Kissinger.  Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was under immense public pressure to do something for the Bengalis. For some time she was resistant to get involved in the other country's civil war. However with the refugee situation worsening and her own position in India in jeopardy due to overwhelming public opinion, the only option left for India was to go to war with its arch enemy Pakistan and free east Pakistan which then would stem the tide of refugees into India. But before India could, Pakistan attacked India in Kashmir which then forced the the war on both nations.

Nixon and Kissinger's disdain of India and Indians was pretty remarkable and they even directed the US nuclear 7th fleet in the Indian Ocean to move towards India to threaten it.  They asked Turkey and Iran to send their US made airplanes to Pakistan which was also against US law. They also encouraged China to amass troops in the Northern border of India and start a war with it. Nixon and Kissinger had pretty nasty language for Indians and especially Indira Gandhi whom they always called "The Old Bitch". Luckily the Indian army prevailed and won a short war with Pakistan that liberated the Bengalis of East Pakistan who were then able to form the independent nation of Bangladesh. This book proves beyond a doubt that Nixon and Kissinger broke the law and were complicit in the mass killings despite their efforts in later years to burnish their image as true statesmen.  Don't be fooled. This one is a must read!

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