The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide by Gary J. Bass

The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide by Gary J. Bass is a powerful and unsettling account of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, exposing the U.S. government’s complicity in one of the 20th century’s most overlooked genocides. Drawing on newly declassified documents and firsthand accounts, Bass reveals the political maneuvering, moral compromises, and human suffering that defined this dark chapter. Synopsis The book centers on the brutal crackdown by Pakistan’s military on Bengali civilians in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), which led to mass killings, rapes, and one of the largest refugee crises in modern history. While U.S. diplomats on the ground—most notably Archer Blood, the American consul in Dhaka—sent urgent telegrams condemning the atrocities, President Richard Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger chose to ignore these warnings. Instead, they prioritized their strategic alliance with Pakistan and its dictator, Yahya Khan, in order to preserve their geopolitical opening to China. Key Features & Themes

• Genocide and Atrocity: Harrowing documentation of the massacres in East Pakistan.
• Moral Dissent: Archer Blood’s courageous telegrams against U.S. policy.
• Cold War Politics: How Nixon and Kissinger’s priorities shaped their indifference.
• Humanitarian Crisis: The displacement of millions of refugees into India.
• Accountability: A critique of realpolitik and its devastating human costs.

Why Read It?

• Offers a deeply researched and emotionally compelling history of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
• Sheds light on the ethical failures of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War.
• Provides valuable lessons on the dangers of sacrificing human rights for strategic gain.
• Essential for readers of history, diplomacy, and international relations.

The Blood Telegram is both a searing indictment of U.S. complicity in genocide and a tribute to those who dared to speak out, making it a landmark work on morality and power in global politics.