Archer Blood

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Archer Kent Blood (1923-2004) was an American diplomat in Bangladesh. He served as the last American Consul General to Dhaka, East Pakistan. He is famous for sending the strongly-worded Blood telegram protesting against the atrocities committed in the Bangladesh Liberation War.

1 The Blood telegram
2 Brief biography
3 See also
4 References
5 Further reading

[edit] The Blood telegram

The Blood telegram (April 6, 1971) was one of the most strongly worded demarches ever written by Foreign Service Officers to the State department. It was signed by 29 Americans. The telegram stated:

Our government has failed to denounce the suppression of democracy. Our government has failed to denounce atrocities. Our government has failed to take forceful measures to protect its citizens while at the same time bending over backwards to placate the West Pak[istan] dominated government and to lessen any deservedly negative international public relations impact against them. Our government has evidenced what many will consider moral bankrupt,(...) But we have chosen not to intervene, even morally, on the grounds that the Awami conflict, in which unfortunately the overworked term genocide is applicable, is purely an internal matter of a sovereign state. Private Americans have expressed disgust. We, as professional civil servants, express our dissent with current policy and fervently hope that our true and lasting interests here can be defined and our policies redirected.

(U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Dissent from U.S. Policy Toward East Pakistan, April 6, 1971, Confidential, 5 pp. Includes Signatures from the Department of State. Source: RG 59, SN 70-73 Pol and Def. From: Pol Pak-U.S. To: Pol 17-1 Pak-U.S. Box 2535; ^[1])

In an earlier telegram (March 27, 1971), Blood wrote about American observations at Dhaka under the subject heading "Selective genocide":

1. Here in Decca we are mute and horrified witnesses to a reign of terror by the Pak[istani] Military. Evidence continues to mount that the MLA authorities have list of AWAMI League supporters whom they are systematically eliminating by seeking them out in their homes and shooting them down

2. Among those marked for extinction in addition to the A.L. hierarchy are student leaders and university faculty. In this second category we have reports that Fazlur Rahman head of the philosophy department and a Hindu, M. Abedin, head of the department of history, have been killed. Razzak of the political science department is rumored dead. Also on the list are the bulk of MNA's elect and number of MPA'a.

3. Moreover, with the support of the Pak[istani] Military. non-Bengali Muslims are systematically attacking poor people's quarters and murdering Bengalis and Hindus.

(U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Selective genocide, March 27, 1971^[2])

Although he was scheduled for another 18 month tour in Dhaka, President Richard M. Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger recalled him from that position since his opposition went against their hopes of using the support of West Pakistan for diplomatic openings to China and to counter the power of the Soviet Union.

[edit] Brief biography

Archer Blood was born in Chicago. He served in the US Navy in the North Pacific in World War II. Blood also served in Greece, Algeria, Germany, Afghanistan and ended his career as charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, retiring in 1982.

Archer Blood died of arterial sclerosis September 3, 2004 in Fort Collins, Colorado. "When Archer K. Blood died last month, in retirement in Colorado, there was family, a few old friends and an entire nation to mourn his passing, but the nation that grieved for him was not his own. It was Bangladesh."^[3] His death made headlines in Bangladesh, but was lucky to make it to the back pages of the obituary sections in American newspapers. Bangladesh sent a delegation to the funeral in Forth Collins and Mrs. Blood received numerous communiques from Bangladeshis on the occasion of Mr. Blood's passing.

On December 13, 2005, the American Center Library, U.S. Embassy Dhaka, was dedicated in the name of Archer K. Blood. Present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony were Charge d’Affaires Judith Chammas, Mrs. Margaret Blood and her children, Shireen Updegraff and Peter Blood.