The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide

Brilliantly well researched book! Exposes the deep seated racist world view of Nixon and Kissinger.

The content of the book is great and this is a great book. But the paper back version I bought was printed by Amazon and the quality of the book was not great and its letter were rather small and hard to read.

The Blood Telegram is the kind of superbly researched and written history that appears once in a decade. It is based on massive archival research and on Nixon's White House tapes, as well as interviews with a large cast of persons directly involved. The author documents the flow of events faithfully and accurately. HIs special focus is on Nixon and Kissinger, the American leaders who shaped and guided the United States' response to the unfolding political, humanitarian and finally military crisis in East Pakistan during 1971. How could the United States enable a genocide and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis? Why did Nixon and Kissinger disregard and punish U.S. Foreign Service Officers who reported the facts about the Pakistan army's slaughter of Bengali academics, university students and ultimately hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children? Why did Nixon like and admire the Pakistani military dictator, Yahya Khan, and despise Indira Gandhi, the elected leader of the world's largest democracy? Why did Nixon and Kissinger, however briefly, exercise brinkmanship that could have led to a major US-Soviet confrontation, even a wider war? I believe the answers to these questions reside in Nixon and Kissinger as leaders who responded almost entirely in terms of the geopolitical paradigm of the Cold War. Throughout, Nixon saw Pakistan as an ally that could not be undercut, or even influenced, for such steps would show weakness in the hoped-for opening to China, and confer advantage to the Soviet Union. The genocide was categorized as an 'internal affair' of Pakistan--even though there had been ample opportunity to use U.S. pressure to alleviate and possibly even prevent it. I personally experienced the events of the Blood Telegram as a member of the U.S. Agency for International Development mission, stationed at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi 1970-1972. As the crisis grew, I read the classified cable message traffic every morning, closely read all available U.S. and Indian press coverage, and discussed the situation with Embassy and USAID colleagues, many of whom were managing refugee relief programs. From that experience, I can add to the book's narrative about the U.S. Consulate General's reporting from Dacca, East Pakistan's capital. After Archer Blood was fired at Nixon's direction, his successor as Consul General was Herbert Spivack, expected to be a 'team player' in downplaying the extent of the on-going Pak army crackdown. Spivack came through New Delhi on his way to Dacca, to be briefed on how the rising tide of refugees was impacting eastern India and on U.S. food assistance to the camps. It was clear from his comments to the Delhi Americans that he understood his intended role. But, to his great credit as a Foreign Service professional, Herb Spivack's reporting from Dacca shortly after his arrival became substantively the same as that of Arch Blood's. But Kissinger couldn't very well fire him too! As seems apparent from his contemptuous and hateful comments ("What India needs is a good famine") recorded from the Oval Office, Nixon had no conception of India as a sovereign nation responding to a unique set of regional circumstances. Throughout, India's role was seen only as an extension of the Cold War chess game, as if India were merely a pawn of the Soviets. Nixon and Kissinger's cynical dismissal of the plight of the refugees--a human tide of ten million people that would have overwhelmed the capacity of even a rich nation to feed and care for--was simply sickening to 'hear' from the mouths of supposedly decent men. In fact, the emergence of Bangladesh had deep roots in regional history that had nothing to do with the Cold War. The salient aspects were the 1947 partition of British India, and the critical role played by east Bengal's mainly Muslim population in securing the very existence of Pakistan; the effort by the western part to suppress the Bengali language (spoken by a majority of the citizens of the country) in favor of Urdu; the decades-long transfer of resources from the east to finance the industrialization of the western province; and finally, the racial and religious prejudice of the western province's Punjabis and Pathans against 'the Bingos.' (Earnest prayers were offered in Karachi mosques that the Bengalis should become good Muslims!). Autonomy for East Pakistan within a federal framework, or even independence as Bangladesh, could hardly change the power calculus of the Cold War. And from their recorded comments, it appears that both Nixon and Kissinger, on some level, understood this. The real U.S. interest was in West Pakistan, holder of the nation's key asset--control of the Khyber Pass and access to Afghanistan. But this did not stop Kissinger from pulling his last petulant prank--sending the U.S.S. Enterprise, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, into the Bay of Bengal to threaten and harrass the Indians into a premature cease-fire. This move accomplished nothing except to poison U.S.-India relations for a decade.

One of the best books that speaks truly about india. Lets us to read again and again. Worth the money.

It opened my eyes about what happened, truly ugly what governments will do to accomplish their legacies. It was an easy read, never boring but very informative.

sir I find this book a very fine book on the subject. i am surprised why any book did not come by any Indian writer. only two books on the subject1 by D R Mankekar- Pakistan cut to size another by Jacob sahib is available. The present book gives details of the Pakistani Army atrocities over the Bangladesh residents and the conspiracy of President Nixon and his Security advisor Mr Henry Kissinger against India and Indians,it is clear from the book they shamefully did illegal acts, worked against the principles of Great America, they worked against the staff of the White House, against consul general at Dacca, Ambassador of USA in India. The more details of their madness will come after the documents are open after a time. India established its preeminence position in Asia after this War. They gave buff to India and tried to intimidate the great democracy who was fighting for a just cause. They both joined against the human rights and democratic rights of the people of Bangla Desh.It was India, its Great Prime Minister, its true democratic nature and fight for the just cause that defeated these two persons. Archer Blood lost his whole career Mr Kenneth B keating( American Ambassador ) fought bravely for true cause of Bangla Desh people. I strongly recommend this nice book to others who are interested to this period apart from the students of the modern history of Asia. So far best book on the subject