In 1971, President Nixon and his National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger got involved in a secret and dangerous strategy for the Liberation War of Bangladesh. They sent the seventh fleet to save Pakistan. The United States even supported Pakistan on the Bangladesh issue inside and outside the United Nations.
One of the US policymakers was Henry Kissinger, the national security advisor to President Nixon. Nixon himself strongly backed that policy from the beginning.
On March 6, Henry Kissinger convened a meeting of the National Security Council’s Interdepartmental Committee ‘Senior Review Group’ in the Situation Room of the White House from 11:40 am to 12:20 pm. Henry Kissinger presided over the meeting and clearly said the Nixon administration would not criticize Pakistan if military strikes were launched in Bangladesh.
The US administration, especially Henri Kissinger did not want Bangladesh to be born from Pakistan.
Fearing that Bangabandhu might announce the declaration of independence indirectly at the Race Course Maidan on March 7, US Embassy official Farland went to meet Bangabandhu at his residence on Road number 32 hours before the historic speech. On behalf of the United States, Farland warned Bangabandhu, “The United States does not want Bangladesh to break up Pakistan and become independent.”
But Bangabandhu ignored the American warning.
Even during the Liberation War, the United States openly took a stand for Pakistan. Even when Pakistani president Yahya Khan was building secret ties with China, the US administration did not condemn the brutal massacre by the Pakistani army in Bangladesh. They even did not let anyone discuss the matter in the international forum.
They put pressure on the Mujibnagar government in various ways to prevent the disintegration of Pakistan. The USA also kept India under pressure with various economic sanctions. They placed different proposals in the United Nations to prevent the disintegration of Pakistan. But the Soviet Union repeatedly vetoed the effort in the Security Council.
The United States tried to use military force after diplomatic attempts failed. The US Seventh Fleet was heading for the Bay of Bengal, but the Soviet Union prevented them in Malacca. In the meantime, Bangladesh state was born but Kissinger could not accept an independent Bangladesh. Calling it a bottomless basket, he also predicted that this state would not last.
Kissinger’s assistant Roger Morris wrote, “Kissinger hated Sheikh Mujib. He placed Sheikh Mujib on the list of foreign enemies.” He treated the birth of independent Bangladesh as his own defeat. That is why the United States has taken a strong anti-Bangladesh position since the beginning.
The US administration remains stick to the same policy against any party or force in favour of the independence of Bangladesh. The United States still cannot accept the defeat of 1971, so they want to present Bangladesh as a ‘bottomless basket’ to the world if they get any chance.