It really sucks to be a firsthand witness to evil. I started reading a new book a couple days
ago called The Blood Telegram, by Gary J. Bass, in which he talks about the systematic
genocide of the Pakistani army in Bangladesh during March of 1971. Archer Blood was
the chief diplomat at the American consulate in Daka, the capitol of Bangladesh (at the
time it was known as East Pakistan, since it was controlled by the Pakistani government
following the British Partition of 1947). In the fall of 1970, Pakistan had had its first
free and democratic elections since the military had declared marital law and seized
the government in 1958. The East Pakistan province, commonly referred to by locals
as Bangladesh, was a densely-populated and highly underrepresented part of Pakistan
that had hoped to gain some more autonomy, if not outright independence, through the
elections. When the results were announced, it was a landslide victory for the Bengali
nationalists as they swept control of the Pakistani parliament.
Unfortunately, this is not a story about the beauty of democratic ideals. Since the United
States had a cozy relationship with the military dictator of Pakistan, and since he was
using his influence in the region to help Nixon broker a backroom deal with the Chinese,
the U.S. decided that Pakistan simply couldn’t be allowed to break up. Henry Kissinger,
the Secretary of Defense, convinced Nixon that it would be a good idea to simply violate
our arms embargo with Pakistan (not the last time that the Nixon administration would
flagrantly violate the law) and start arming the Pakistani military with all manner of
tanks, bombers, and heavy and light machine guns for “defense against the Indian threat.”
India was a democratic nation with only limited ties to the Soviet Union; yet because
Nixon had arbitrarily picked Pakistan as his proverbial horse in the race, he and Kissinger
chose to throw the full weight of the US Government behind the military dictatorship.
Knowing full well that they were essentially signing the death warrants of the Bengali
nationalists, the US government transferred literally tons of weapons and ammunition to
Pakistan in order to secure our interests in the region.
What followed next was sadly predictable. The Pakistani military (led by an ambitious
and somewhat alcoholic general by the name of Yahya Khan) decided to postpone the
convening of the newly-elected Parliament for “security reasons” after inventing some
threats from the Indian government. When the Bengalis took to the streets in protest (the
majority of which was non-violent), the Pakistani military then mobilized its newly-
equipped army and began to impose strict curfews on the region of East Pakistan. As
the postponement of the new government continued, tensions naturally began to mount.
Eventually, The Bengalis decided to stop the military buildup in their region by non-violently blocking the unloading of arms and ammunition from ships and airplanes
which were arriving in Daka every day. The military then opened fire on the crowds.
After the shooting started, there was no going back. Pakistani troops were ordered into
the university at the heart of the capitol of Daka, the perceived nexus of the resistance
movement, and they began systematically executing students and professors.
Over the course of the next two weeks, the Pakistani military went on a spree of
destruction and pillaging and rape which claimed the lives of anywhere from half a
million to two million people, and all the while Archer Blood was sitting inside the
US consulate office sending desperate cables to his superiors at the State Department
chronicling the violence. Despite all of his urgent pleas and fastidious documentation,
the US Government remained deafeningly silent to the ongoing massacres. It seemed
the President and the Secretary of Defense were too concerned about things like China,
Vietnam, and the Soviets to be bothered with a little tiny region like Bangladesh. Blood
and his Consular staff were eventually smuggled quietly out of the country and shoved
into dead-end desk jobs in Washington, where they could be closely monitored and
prevented from leaking information to the press. Fortunately, the American Ambassador
to India was also a witness to these atrocities, and unlike his counterparts in Pakistan who
were being censored, he had the freedom in India to say whatever he wanted. Despite
his vocal and public condemnation of US policy, the American people were never made
aware of the depths of their government’s moral bankruptcy, because frankly nobody
cared. Vietnam was the hot-button issue of the day, and anything else was considered
“white noise” by the media.
America has paid lip service to democratic ideals for over two centuries. Yet time and
again we have thrown our political weight behind some of the most despotic and evil
people in the world, ostensibly for the sake of “ensuring regional stability.” This trend
didn’t even start in the last century, but rather it has been a longstanding fixture of
American policy that whenever and wherever our National and/or economic interests
conflict with the wishes of a local populace, we will simply sweep them aside in favor of
those who will bend to our will. It seems we’ve always had a bit of a double standard as
far as the importance we place on democratic freedom.
Isaiah 58 talks about the importance of “true fasting.” While the Israelite people were
so busy focusing on the appearance of piety and self-denial, they were in fact guilty of
the worst kind of hypocrisy by ignoring the plight of the poor and oppressed in their
land. As we spend the next few weeks engaging in fasts and acts of service, I hope that
we will remember that true faith leads to far more than spending a few hours in a soup
kitchen; it may lead to being an outspoken critic of an establishment which most people
consider too sacred to question. Like Archer Blood, who torpedoed his career because he
refused to remain silent in the midst of an American-backed genocide, you too may one
day be forced to choose between saving your soul, or saving your own skin. Make the
hard choice, because as one American Ambassador said in his criticism of US diplomatic
efforts, “principles have always made the best policy.”
ago called The Blood Telegram, by Gary J. Bass, in which he talks about the systematic
genocide of the Pakistani army in Bangladesh during March of 1971. Archer Blood was
the chief diplomat at the American consulate in Daka, the capitol of Bangladesh (at the
time it was known as East Pakistan, since it was controlled by the Pakistani government
following the British Partition of 1947). In the fall of 1970, Pakistan had had its first
free and democratic elections since the military had declared marital law and seized
the government in 1958. The East Pakistan province, commonly referred to by locals
as Bangladesh, was a densely-populated and highly underrepresented part of Pakistan
that had hoped to gain some more autonomy, if not outright independence, through the
elections. When the results were announced, it was a landslide victory for the Bengali
nationalists as they swept control of the Pakistani parliament.
Unfortunately, this is not a story about the beauty of democratic ideals. Since the United
States had a cozy relationship with the military dictator of Pakistan, and since he was
using his influence in the region to help Nixon broker a backroom deal with the Chinese,
the U.S. decided that Pakistan simply couldn’t be allowed to break up. Henry Kissinger,
the Secretary of Defense, convinced Nixon that it would be a good idea to simply violate
our arms embargo with Pakistan (not the last time that the Nixon administration would
flagrantly violate the law) and start arming the Pakistani military with all manner of
tanks, bombers, and heavy and light machine guns for “defense against the Indian threat.”
India was a democratic nation with only limited ties to the Soviet Union; yet because
Nixon had arbitrarily picked Pakistan as his proverbial horse in the race, he and Kissinger
chose to throw the full weight of the US Government behind the military dictatorship.
Knowing full well that they were essentially signing the death warrants of the Bengali
nationalists, the US government transferred literally tons of weapons and ammunition to
Pakistan in order to secure our interests in the region.
What followed next was sadly predictable. The Pakistani military (led by an ambitious
and somewhat alcoholic general by the name of Yahya Khan) decided to postpone the
convening of the newly-elected Parliament for “security reasons” after inventing some
threats from the Indian government. When the Bengalis took to the streets in protest (the
majority of which was non-violent), the Pakistani military then mobilized its newly-
equipped army and began to impose strict curfews on the region of East Pakistan. As
the postponement of the new government continued, tensions naturally began to mount.
Eventually, The Bengalis decided to stop the military buildup in their region by non-violently blocking the unloading of arms and ammunition from ships and airplanes
which were arriving in Daka every day. The military then opened fire on the crowds.
After the shooting started, there was no going back. Pakistani troops were ordered into
the university at the heart of the capitol of Daka, the perceived nexus of the resistance
movement, and they began systematically executing students and professors.
Over the course of the next two weeks, the Pakistani military went on a spree of
destruction and pillaging and rape which claimed the lives of anywhere from half a
million to two million people, and all the while Archer Blood was sitting inside the
US consulate office sending desperate cables to his superiors at the State Department
chronicling the violence. Despite all of his urgent pleas and fastidious documentation,
the US Government remained deafeningly silent to the ongoing massacres. It seemed
the President and the Secretary of Defense were too concerned about things like China,
Vietnam, and the Soviets to be bothered with a little tiny region like Bangladesh. Blood
and his Consular staff were eventually smuggled quietly out of the country and shoved
into dead-end desk jobs in Washington, where they could be closely monitored and
prevented from leaking information to the press. Fortunately, the American Ambassador
to India was also a witness to these atrocities, and unlike his counterparts in Pakistan who
were being censored, he had the freedom in India to say whatever he wanted. Despite
his vocal and public condemnation of US policy, the American people were never made
aware of the depths of their government’s moral bankruptcy, because frankly nobody
cared. Vietnam was the hot-button issue of the day, and anything else was considered
“white noise” by the media.
America has paid lip service to democratic ideals for over two centuries. Yet time and
again we have thrown our political weight behind some of the most despotic and evil
people in the world, ostensibly for the sake of “ensuring regional stability.” This trend
didn’t even start in the last century, but rather it has been a longstanding fixture of
American policy that whenever and wherever our National and/or economic interests
conflict with the wishes of a local populace, we will simply sweep them aside in favor of
those who will bend to our will. It seems we’ve always had a bit of a double standard as
far as the importance we place on democratic freedom.
Isaiah 58 talks about the importance of “true fasting.” While the Israelite people were
so busy focusing on the appearance of piety and self-denial, they were in fact guilty of
the worst kind of hypocrisy by ignoring the plight of the poor and oppressed in their
land. As we spend the next few weeks engaging in fasts and acts of service, I hope that
we will remember that true faith leads to far more than spending a few hours in a soup
kitchen; it may lead to being an outspoken critic of an establishment which most people
consider too sacred to question. Like Archer Blood, who torpedoed his career because he
refused to remain silent in the midst of an American-backed genocide, you too may one
day be forced to choose between saving your soul, or saving your own skin. Make the
hard choice, because as one American Ambassador said in his criticism of US diplomatic
efforts, “principles have always made the best policy.”
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