1971 Indo-Pak War and foreign involvement

average american

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Forget all the reasons for the war. Average American, why are you shying away from answering my initial question? Why did the US back off after trying to intimidate with the ACBG? Did they think India would bow to their intimidation? Did Kissinger shit himself when he realized that Indira meant business?
I am sure we were scared to death of India and turned tail and ran, your air force could not even handle Pakistan and you were five times their size. I am real sure the USA was scared to death.
 
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1971 INDO PAK WAR---HOW RUSSIA COUNTERED US MOVES---SOME ASTONISHING FACTS! | Sulekha Creative

1971 INDO PAK WAR---HOW RUSSIA COUNTERED US MOVES




1971 Indo Pak War is seen as a grandiose victory of Indian army. But a lesser known fact is the Russian hand in this, when USA and UK had threatened to invade India to relieve pressure off East Pakistan ( Now Bangla Desh). 40 Years after the war, when documents by respective nations have been released---it is now emerging into public domain as to how Russia prevented USA-UK combine.

It seemed USA had moved its nuclear powered aircraft Carrier "Enterprise" into Indian Ocean with the explicit purpose of blackmailing and pressurising India so as to prevent collapse of PAKISTAN ARMY. UK's aircraft carrier "Eagle" had also joined Enterprise. And France was being pressurised to join the US forces.The British and the Americans had planned a coordinated pincer to intimidate India: while the British ships in the Arabian Sea would target India's western coast, the Americans would make a dash into the Bay of Bengal in the east where 100,000 Pakistani troops were caught between the advancing Indian troops and the sea.


To counter this two-pronged British-American threat, Russia dispatched a nuclear-armed flotilla from Vladivostok on December 13 under the overall command of Admiral Vladimir Kruglyakov, the Commander of the 10th Operative Battle Group (Pacific Fleet). Russia's entry thwarted a scenario that could have led to multiple pincer movements against India.

Besides USA, China and UK, it seems some other countries had also come forward to help Pakistan. The Pakistani military was being bolstered by aircraft from Jordan, Iran, Turkey and France. Moral and military support was amply provided by the US, China and the UK. It is now revealed that the UAE had sent in half a squadron of fighter aircraft and the Indonesians dispatched at least one naval vessel to fight alongside the Pakistani Navy.
Read this article, based on recently released Top Secret documents by various nations involved in the conflict. This article is by Rakesh Krishnan Simha, a Newzealand based, journalist of Indian origin:-

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

1971 War: How Russia Sank Nixon's Gunboat Diplomacy

By Rakesh Krishnan Simha


Exactly 40 years ago, India won a famous victory over Pakistan due to its brilliant soldiers, an unwavering political leadership, and strong diplomatic support from Moscow. Less well known is Russia's power play that prevented a joint British-American attack on India.

Washington DC, December 3, 1971, 10:45am.
US President Richard Nixon is on the phone with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, hours after Pakistan launched simultaneous attacks on six Indian airfields, a reckless act that prompted India to declare war.

Nixon: So West Pakistan giving trouble there.
Kissinger: If they lose half of their country without fighting they will be destroyed. They may also be destroyed this way but they will go down fighting.
Nixon: The Pakistan thing makes your heart sick. For them to be done so by the Indians and after we have warned the bitch (reference to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi). Tell them that when India talks about West Pakistan attacking them it's like Russia claiming to be attacked by Finland.

Washington, December 10, 1971, 10:51am.
A week later the war is not going very well for Pakistan, as Indian armour scythes through East Pakistan and the Pakistan Air Force is blown out of the subcontinent's sky. Meanwhile, the Pakistani military in the west is demoralised and on the verge of collapse as the Indian Army and Air Force attack round the clock.

Nixon: Our desire is to save West Pakistan. That's all.
Kissinger: That's right. That is exactly right.
Nixon: All right. Keep those carriers moving now.
Kissinger: The carriers—everything is moving. Four Jordanian planes have already moved to Pakistan, 22 more are coming. We're talking to the Saudis, the Turks we've now found are willing to give five. So we're going to keep that moving until there's a settlement.
Nixon: Could you tell the Chinese it would be very helpful if they could move some forces or threaten to move some forces?
Kissinger: Absolutely.
Nixon: They've got to threaten or they've got to move, one of the two. You know what I mean?
Kissinger: Yeah.
Nixon: How about getting the French to sell some planes to the Paks?
Kissinger: Yeah. They're already doing it.
Nixon: This should have been done long ago. The Chinese have not warned the Indians.
Kissinger: Oh, yeah.
Nixon: All they've got to do is move something. Move a division. You know, move some trucks. Fly some planes. You know, some symbolic act. We're not doing a goddamn thing, Henry, you know that.
Kissinger: Yeah.
Nixon: But these Indians are cowards. Right?
Kissinger: Right. But with Russian backing. You see, the Russians have sent notes to Iran, Turkey, to a lot of countries threatening them. The Russians have played a miserable game.

If the two American leaders were calling Indians cowards, a few months earlier the Indians were a different breed altogether. This phone call is from May 1971.

Nixon: The Indians need—what they need really is a—
Kissinger: They're such bastards.
Nixon: A mass famine. But they aren't going to get that"¦But if they're not going to have a famine the last thing they need is another war. Let the goddamn Indians fight a war.
Kissinger: They are the most aggressive goddamn people around there.

The 1971 war is considered to be modern India's finest hour, in military terms. The clinical professionalism of the Indian army, navy and air force; a charismatic brass led by the legendary Sam Maneckshaw; and ceaseless international lobbying by the political leadership worked brilliantly to set up a famous victory. After two weeks of vicious land, air and sea battles, nearly 100,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered before India's rampaging army, the largest such capitulation since General Paulus' surrender at Stalingrad in 1943. However, it could all have come unstuck without help from veto-wielding Moscow, with which New Delhi had the foresight to sign a security treaty in 1970.

As Nixon's conversations with the wily Kissinger show, the forces arrayed against India were formidable. The Pakistani military was being bolstered by aircraft from Jordan, Iran, Turkey and France. Moral and military support was amply provided by the US, China and the UK. Though not mentioned in the conversations here, the UAE sent in half a squadron of fighter aircraft and the Indonesians dispatched at least one naval vessel to fight alongside the Pakistani Navy.

However, Russia's entry thwarted a scenario that could have led to multiple pincer movements against India.

Superpowers face-off
On December 10, even as Nixon and Kissinger were frothing at the mouth, Indian intelligence intercepted an American message, indicating that the US Seventh Fleet was steaming into the war zone. The Seventh Fleet, which was then stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin, was led by the 75,000 ton nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise. The world's largest warship, it carried more than 70 fighters and bombers. The Seventh Fleet also included the guided missile cruiser USS King, guided missile destroyers USS Decatur, Parsons and Tartar Sam, and a large amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli.

Standing between the Indian cities and the American ships was the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet led by the 20,000-ton aircraft carrier, Vikrant, with barely 20 light fighter aircraft. When asked if India's Eastern Fleet would take on the Seventh Fleet, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Vice Admiral N. Krishnan, said: "Just give us the orders." The Indian Air Force, having wiped out the Pakistani Air Force within the first week of the war, was reported to be on alert for any possible intervention by aircraft from the Enterprise.

Meanwhile, Soviet intelligence reported that a British naval group led by the aircraft carrier Eagle had moved closer to India's territorial waters. This was perhaps one of the most ironic events in modern history where the Western world's two leading democracies were threatening the world's largest democracy in order to protect the perpetrators of the largest genocide since the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. However, India did not panic. It quietly sent Moscow a request to activate a secret provision of the Indo-Soviet security treaty, under which Russia was bound to defend India in case of any external aggression.

The British and the Americans had planned a coordinated pincer to intimidate India: while the British ships in the Arabian Sea would target India's western coast, the Americans would make a dash into the Bay of Bengal in the east where 100,000 Pakistani troops were caught between the advancing Indian troops and the sea.

To counter this two-pronged British-American threat, Russia dispatched a nuclear-armed flotilla from Vladivostok on December 13 under the overall command of Admiral Vladimir Kruglyakov, the Commander of the 10th Operative Battle Group (Pacific Fleet). Though the Russian fleet comprised a good number of nuclear-armed ships and atomic submarines, their missiles were of limited range (less than 300 km). Hence to effectively counter the British and American fleets the Russian commanders had to undertake the risk of encircling them to bring them within their target. This they did with military precision.

In an interview to a Russian TV program after his retirement, Admiral Kruglyakov, who commanded the Pacific Fleet from 1970 to 1975, recalled that Moscow ordered the Russian ships to prevent the Americans and British from getting closer to "Indian military objects". The genial Kruglyakov added: "The Chief Commander's order was that our submarines should surface when the Americans appear. It was done to demonstrate to them that we had nuclear submarines in the Indian Ocean. So when our subs surfaced, they recognised us. In the way of the American Navy stood the Soviet cruisers, destroyers and atomic submarines equipped with anti-ship missiles. We encircled them and trained our missiles at the Enterprise. We blocked them and did not allow them to close in on Karachi, Chittagong or Dhaka."

At this point, the Russians intercepted a communication from the commander of the British carrier battle group, Admiral Dimon Gordon, to the Seventh Fleet commander: "Sir, we are too late. There are the Russian atomic submarines here, and a big collection of battleships." The British ships fled towards Madagascar while the larger US task force stopped before entering the Bay of Bengal.

The Russian manoeuvres clearly helped prevent a direct clash between India and the US-UK combine. Newly declassified documents reveal that the Indian Prime Minister went ahead with her plan to liberate Bangladesh despite inputs that the Americans had kept three battalions of Marines on standby to deter India, and that the American aircraft carrier USS Enterprise had orders to target the Indian Army, which had broken through the Pakistani Army's defences and was thundering down the highway to the gates of Lahore, West Pakistan's second largest city.According to a six-page note prepared by India's foreign ministry, "The bomber force aboard the Enterprise had the US President's authority to undertake bombing of the Indian Army's communications, if necessary."

China in the box
Despite Kissinger's goading and desperate Pakistani calls for help, the Chinese did nothing. US diplomatic documents reveal that Indira Gandhi knew the Soviets had factored in the possibility of Chinese intervention. According to a cable referring to an Indian cabinet meeting held on December 10, "If the Chinese were to become directly involved in the conflict, Indira Gandhi said, the Chinese know that the Soviet Union would act in the Sinkiang region. Soviet air support may be made available to India at that time."

Interestingly, while the cable is declassified, the source and extensive details of the Indian Prime Minister's briefing remain classified. "He is a reliable source" is all that the document says. There was very clearly a cabinet level mole the Americans were getting their information from.

Intolerable hatred
On December 14, General A.A.K. Niazi, Pakistan's military commander in East Pakistan, told the American consul-general in Dhaka that he was willing to surrender. The message was relayed to Washington, but it took the US 19 hours to relay it to New Delhi. Files suggest senior Indian diplomats suspected the delay was because Washington was possibly contemplating military action against India.

Kissinger went so far as to call the crisis "our Rhineland" a reference to Hitler's militarisation of German Rhineland at the outset of World War II. This kind of powerful imagery indicates how strongly Kissinger and Nixon came to see Indians as a threat.

An Indian University study of the conflict says: "The violation of human rights on a massive scale—described in a March 30 US cable as "selective genocide"—and the complete disregard for democracy were irrelevant to Nixon and Kissinger. In fact, the non-democratic aspects of Pakistani dictator Yahya Khan's behaviour seemed to be what impressed them the most. As evidence mounted of military atrocities in East Pakistan, Nixon and Kissinger remained unmoved. In a Senior Review Group meeting, Kissinger commented at news of significant casualties at a university that, 'The British didn't dominate 400 million Indians all those years by being gentle'."

Nixon and Kissinger phoned Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev and asked for guarantees that India would not attack West Pakistan. "Nixon was ready to link the future summit in Moscow to Soviet behaviour on this issue," writes professor Vladislav M. Zubok in A Failed Empire. "The Soviets could not see why the White House supported Pakistan, who they believed had started the war against India. Brezhnev, puzzled at first, was soon enraged. In his narrow circle, he even suggested giving India the secret of the atomic bomb. His advisers did their best to kill this idea. Several years later, Brezhnev still reacted angrily and spoke spitefully about American behaviour."

Cold Warriors
Another telephone conversation between the scheming duo reveals a lot about the mindset of those at the highest echelons of American decision making:

Kissinger: And the point you made yesterday, we have to continue to squeeze the Indians even when this thing is settled.
Nixon: We've got to for rehabilitation. I mean, Jesus Christ, they've bombed—I want all the war damage; I want to help Pakistan on the war damage in Karachi and other areas, see?
Kissinger: Yeah
Nixon: I don't want the Indians to be happy. I want a public relations program developed to piss on the Indians.
Kissinger: Yeah.
Nixon: I want to piss on them for their responsibility. Get a white paper out. Put down, White paper. White paper. Understand that?
Kissinger: Oh, yeah.
Nixon: I don't mean for just your reading. But a white paper on this.
Kissinger: No, no. I know.
Nixon: I want the Indians blamed for this, you know what I mean? We can't let these goddamn, sanctimonious Indians get away with this. They've pissed on us on Vietnam for 5 years, Henry.
Kissinger: Yeah.
Nixon: Aren't the Indians killing a lot of these people?
Kissinger: Well, we don't know the facts yet. But I'm sure they're not as stupid as the West Pakistanis—they don't let the press in. The idiot Paks have the press all over their place.

The 1971 war victory is a tribute to India's amazing plurality. The entire war planning was conducted by Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw (a Zoroastrian); the Eastern Army that liberated Bangladesh was headed by Chief of Staff of the Indian Army's Eastern Command Jacob-Farj-Rafael Jacob (a Jew); the head of ground forces in the east was General Jagjit Singh Aurora (a Sikh); the man who set alight Karachi for a week was Chief of Staff of the Indian Navy, Admiral H.M. Nanda (a Hindu); and the entire team was given ample freedom for their military operations by a Hindu Prime Minister.

About the author: Rakesh Krishnan Simha is a New Zealand-based writer and columnist for Russia Beyond the Headlines. He has previously worked with Businessworld, India Today and Hindustan Times, and was news editor with the Financial Express.
 
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Forget all the reasons for the war. Average American, why are you shying away from answering my initial question? Why did the US back off after trying to intimidate with the ACBG? Did they think India would bow to their intimidation? Did Kissinger shit himself when he realized that Indira meant business?
The young people Hippies or whatever you want to call them were against the Genocide in
Bangladesh and were opposed to US siding with mass murderers. And US was facing big losses
in Vietnam that made them think twice about getting involved in Asia.

http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/?page_id=54

Bangladesh Genocide Archive

The Concert for Bangladesh

The US government was against the Bangladesh's liberation war in 1971. They were allies of Pakistan and even sent the 7th fleet to intimidate India for not interfering with the events.

But it was the peace loving people of US who created the forum "Americans for Bangladesh" and arranged a poetry recital program on 20th November 1971 in Saint George Church, New York. Among the poets who performed were Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovski, Ed Sanders etc. Ginsberg wrote and recited the famous poem "September on Jessore Road".

But the greatest effort was the "Concert for Bangladesh". George Harrison of the beatles with the help of Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, Mr. Klein and Joan Baes arranged the phenomenal fund raising event in 1st of August 1971 in Madison Square Garden, New York. Some 40,000 peoples attended and $243,418.50 was collected from the event and was given to Unicef for the war affected children of Bangladesh.
 
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EzioAltaïr

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1971 INDO PAK WAR---HOW RUSSIA COUNTERED US MOVES---SOME ASTONISHING FACTS! | Sulekha Creative

1971 INDO PAK WAR---HOW RUSSIA COUNTERED US MOVES




1971 Indo Pak War is seen as a grandiose victory of Indian army. But a lesser known fact is the Russian hand in this, when USA and UK had threatened to invade India to relieve pressure off East Pakistan ( Now Bangla Desh). 40 Years after the war, when documents by respective nations have been released---it is now emerging into public domain as to how Russia prevented USA-UK combine.

It seemed USA had moved its nuclear powered aircraft Carrier "Enterprise" into Indian Ocean with the explicit purpose of blackmailing and pressurising India so as to prevent collapse of PAKISTAN ARMY. UK's aircraft carrier "Eagle" had also joined Enterprise. And France was being pressurised to join the US forces.The British and the Americans had planned a coordinated pincer to intimidate India: while the British ships in the Arabian Sea would target India's western coast, the Americans would make a dash into the Bay of Bengal in the east where 100,000 Pakistani troops were caught between the advancing Indian troops and the sea.


To counter this two-pronged British-American threat, Russia dispatched a nuclear-armed flotilla from Vladivostok on December 13 under the overall command of Admiral Vladimir Kruglyakov, the Commander of the 10th Operative Battle Group (Pacific Fleet). Russia's entry thwarted a scenario that could have led to multiple pincer movements against India.

Besides USA, China and UK, it seems some other countries had also come forward to help Pakistan. The Pakistani military was being bolstered by aircraft from Jordan, Iran, Turkey and France. Moral and military support was amply provided by the US, China and the UK. It is now revealed that the UAE had sent in half a squadron of fighter aircraft and the Indonesians dispatched at least one naval vessel to fight alongside the Pakistani Navy.
Read this article, based on recently released Top Secret documents by various nations involved in the conflict. This article is by Rakesh Krishnan Simha, a Newzealand based, journalist of Indian origin:-

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

1971 War: How Russia Sank Nixon's Gunboat Diplomacy

By Rakesh Krishnan Simha


Exactly 40 years ago, India won a famous victory over Pakistan due to its brilliant soldiers, an unwavering political leadership, and strong diplomatic support from Moscow. Less well known is Russia's power play that prevented a joint British-American attack on India.

Washington DC, December 3, 1971, 10:45am.
US President Richard Nixon is on the phone with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, hours after Pakistan launched simultaneous attacks on six Indian airfields, a reckless act that prompted India to declare war.

Nixon: So West Pakistan giving trouble there.
Kissinger: If they lose half of their country without fighting they will be destroyed. They may also be destroyed this way but they will go down fighting.
Nixon: The Pakistan thing makes your heart sick. For them to be done so by the Indians and after we have warned the bitch (reference to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi). Tell them that when India talks about West Pakistan attacking them it's like Russia claiming to be attacked by Finland.

Washington, December 10, 1971, 10:51am.
A week later the war is not going very well for Pakistan, as Indian armour scythes through East Pakistan and the Pakistan Air Force is blown out of the subcontinent's sky. Meanwhile, the Pakistani military in the west is demoralised and on the verge of collapse as the Indian Army and Air Force attack round the clock.

Nixon: Our desire is to save West Pakistan. That's all.
Kissinger: That's right. That is exactly right.
Nixon: All right. Keep those carriers moving now.
Kissinger: The carriers—everything is moving. Four Jordanian planes have already moved to Pakistan, 22 more are coming. We're talking to the Saudis, the Turks we've now found are willing to give five. So we're going to keep that moving until there's a settlement.
Nixon: Could you tell the Chinese it would be very helpful if they could move some forces or threaten to move some forces?
Kissinger: Absolutely.
Nixon: They've got to threaten or they've got to move, one of the two. You know what I mean?
Kissinger: Yeah.
Nixon: How about getting the French to sell some planes to the Paks?
Kissinger: Yeah. They're already doing it.
Nixon: This should have been done long ago. The Chinese have not warned the Indians.
Kissinger: Oh, yeah.
Nixon: All they've got to do is move something. Move a division. You know, move some trucks. Fly some planes. You know, some symbolic act. We're not doing a goddamn thing, Henry, you know that.
Kissinger: Yeah.
Nixon: But these Indians are cowards. Right?
Kissinger: Right. But with Russian backing. You see, the Russians have sent notes to Iran, Turkey, to a lot of countries threatening them. The Russians have played a miserable game.

If the two American leaders were calling Indians cowards, a few months earlier the Indians were a different breed altogether. This phone call is from May 1971.

Nixon: The Indians need—what they need really is a—
Kissinger: They're such bastards.
Nixon: A mass famine. But they aren't going to get that"¦But if they're not going to have a famine the last thing they need is another war. Let the goddamn Indians fight a war.
Kissinger: They are the most aggressive goddamn people around there.

The 1971 war is considered to be modern India's finest hour, in military terms. The clinical professionalism of the Indian army, navy and air force; a charismatic brass led by the legendary Sam Maneckshaw; and ceaseless international lobbying by the political leadership worked brilliantly to set up a famous victory. After two weeks of vicious land, air and sea battles, nearly 100,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered before India's rampaging army, the largest such capitulation since General Paulus' surrender at Stalingrad in 1943. However, it could all have come unstuck without help from veto-wielding Moscow, with which New Delhi had the foresight to sign a security treaty in 1970.

As Nixon's conversations with the wily Kissinger show, the forces arrayed against India were formidable. The Pakistani military was being bolstered by aircraft from Jordan, Iran, Turkey and France. Moral and military support was amply provided by the US, China and the UK. Though not mentioned in the conversations here, the UAE sent in half a squadron of fighter aircraft and the Indonesians dispatched at least one naval vessel to fight alongside the Pakistani Navy.

However, Russia's entry thwarted a scenario that could have led to multiple pincer movements against India.

Superpowers face-off
On December 10, even as Nixon and Kissinger were frothing at the mouth, Indian intelligence intercepted an American message, indicating that the US Seventh Fleet was steaming into the war zone. The Seventh Fleet, which was then stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin, was led by the 75,000 ton nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise. The world's largest warship, it carried more than 70 fighters and bombers. The Seventh Fleet also included the guided missile cruiser USS King, guided missile destroyers USS Decatur, Parsons and Tartar Sam, and a large amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli.

Standing between the Indian cities and the American ships was the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet led by the 20,000-ton aircraft carrier, Vikrant, with barely 20 light fighter aircraft. When asked if India's Eastern Fleet would take on the Seventh Fleet, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Vice Admiral N. Krishnan, said: "Just give us the orders." The Indian Air Force, having wiped out the Pakistani Air Force within the first week of the war, was reported to be on alert for any possible intervention by aircraft from the Enterprise.

Meanwhile, Soviet intelligence reported that a British naval group led by the aircraft carrier Eagle had moved closer to India's territorial waters. This was perhaps one of the most ironic events in modern history where the Western world's two leading democracies were threatening the world's largest democracy in order to protect the perpetrators of the largest genocide since the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. However, India did not panic. It quietly sent Moscow a request to activate a secret provision of the Indo-Soviet security treaty, under which Russia was bound to defend India in case of any external aggression.

The British and the Americans had planned a coordinated pincer to intimidate India: while the British ships in the Arabian Sea would target India's western coast, the Americans would make a dash into the Bay of Bengal in the east where 100,000 Pakistani troops were caught between the advancing Indian troops and the sea.

To counter this two-pronged British-American threat, Russia dispatched a nuclear-armed flotilla from Vladivostok on December 13 under the overall command of Admiral Vladimir Kruglyakov, the Commander of the 10th Operative Battle Group (Pacific Fleet). Though the Russian fleet comprised a good number of nuclear-armed ships and atomic submarines, their missiles were of limited range (less than 300 km). Hence to effectively counter the British and American fleets the Russian commanders had to undertake the risk of encircling them to bring them within their target. This they did with military precision.

In an interview to a Russian TV program after his retirement, Admiral Kruglyakov, who commanded the Pacific Fleet from 1970 to 1975, recalled that Moscow ordered the Russian ships to prevent the Americans and British from getting closer to "Indian military objects". The genial Kruglyakov added: "The Chief Commander's order was that our submarines should surface when the Americans appear. It was done to demonstrate to them that we had nuclear submarines in the Indian Ocean. So when our subs surfaced, they recognised us. In the way of the American Navy stood the Soviet cruisers, destroyers and atomic submarines equipped with anti-ship missiles. We encircled them and trained our missiles at the Enterprise. We blocked them and did not allow them to close in on Karachi, Chittagong or Dhaka."

At this point, the Russians intercepted a communication from the commander of the British carrier battle group, Admiral Dimon Gordon, to the Seventh Fleet commander: "Sir, we are too late. There are the Russian atomic submarines here, and a big collection of battleships." The British ships fled towards Madagascar while the larger US task force stopped before entering the Bay of Bengal.

The Russian manoeuvres clearly helped prevent a direct clash between India and the US-UK combine. Newly declassified documents reveal that the Indian Prime Minister went ahead with her plan to liberate Bangladesh despite inputs that the Americans had kept three battalions of Marines on standby to deter India, and that the American aircraft carrier USS Enterprise had orders to target the Indian Army, which had broken through the Pakistani Army's defences and was thundering down the highway to the gates of Lahore, West Pakistan's second largest city.According to a six-page note prepared by India's foreign ministry, "The bomber force aboard the Enterprise had the US President's authority to undertake bombing of the Indian Army's communications, if necessary."

China in the box
Despite Kissinger's goading and desperate Pakistani calls for help, the Chinese did nothing. US diplomatic documents reveal that Indira Gandhi knew the Soviets had factored in the possibility of Chinese intervention. According to a cable referring to an Indian cabinet meeting held on December 10, "If the Chinese were to become directly involved in the conflict, Indira Gandhi said, the Chinese know that the Soviet Union would act in the Sinkiang region. Soviet air support may be made available to India at that time."

Interestingly, while the cable is declassified, the source and extensive details of the Indian Prime Minister's briefing remain classified. "He is a reliable source" is all that the document says. There was very clearly a cabinet level mole the Americans were getting their information from.

Intolerable hatred
On December 14, General A.A.K. Niazi, Pakistan's military commander in East Pakistan, told the American consul-general in Dhaka that he was willing to surrender. The message was relayed to Washington, but it took the US 19 hours to relay it to New Delhi. Files suggest senior Indian diplomats suspected the delay was because Washington was possibly contemplating military action against India.

Kissinger went so far as to call the crisis "our Rhineland" a reference to Hitler's militarisation of German Rhineland at the outset of World War II. This kind of powerful imagery indicates how strongly Kissinger and Nixon came to see Indians as a threat.

An Indian University study of the conflict says: "The violation of human rights on a massive scale—described in a March 30 US cable as "selective genocide"—and the complete disregard for democracy were irrelevant to Nixon and Kissinger. In fact, the non-democratic aspects of Pakistani dictator Yahya Khan's behaviour seemed to be what impressed them the most. As evidence mounted of military atrocities in East Pakistan, Nixon and Kissinger remained unmoved. In a Senior Review Group meeting, Kissinger commented at news of significant casualties at a university that, 'The British didn't dominate 400 million Indians all those years by being gentle'."

Nixon and Kissinger phoned Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev and asked for guarantees that India would not attack West Pakistan. "Nixon was ready to link the future summit in Moscow to Soviet behaviour on this issue," writes professor Vladislav M. Zubok in A Failed Empire. "The Soviets could not see why the White House supported Pakistan, who they believed had started the war against India. Brezhnev, puzzled at first, was soon enraged. In his narrow circle, he even suggested giving India the secret of the atomic bomb. His advisers did their best to kill this idea. Several years later, Brezhnev still reacted angrily and spoke spitefully about American behaviour."

Cold Warriors
Another telephone conversation between the scheming duo reveals a lot about the mindset of those at the highest echelons of American decision making:

Kissinger: And the point you made yesterday, we have to continue to squeeze the Indians even when this thing is settled.
Nixon: We've got to for rehabilitation. I mean, Jesus Christ, they've bombed—I want all the war damage; I want to help Pakistan on the war damage in Karachi and other areas, see?
Kissinger: Yeah
Nixon: I don't want the Indians to be happy. I want a public relations program developed to piss on the Indians.
Kissinger: Yeah.
Nixon: I want to piss on them for their responsibility. Get a white paper out. Put down, White paper. White paper. Understand that?
Kissinger: Oh, yeah.
Nixon: I don't mean for just your reading. But a white paper on this.
Kissinger: No, no. I know.
Nixon: I want the Indians blamed for this, you know what I mean? We can't let these goddamn, sanctimonious Indians get away with this. They've pissed on us on Vietnam for 5 years, Henry.
Kissinger: Yeah.
Nixon: Aren't the Indians killing a lot of these people?
Kissinger: Well, we don't know the facts yet. But I'm sure they're not as stupid as the West Pakistanis—they don't let the press in. The idiot Paks have the press all over their place.

The 1971 war victory is a tribute to India's amazing plurality. The entire war planning was conducted by Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw (a Zoroastrian); the Eastern Army that liberated Bangladesh was headed by Chief of Staff of the Indian Army's Eastern Command Jacob-Farj-Rafael Jacob (a Jew); the head of ground forces in the east was General Jagjit Singh Aurora (a Sikh); the man who set alight Karachi for a week was Chief of Staff of the Indian Navy, Admiral H.M. Nanda (a Hindu); and the entire team was given ample freedom for their military operations by a Hindu Prime Minister.

About the author: Rakesh Krishnan Simha is a New Zealand-based writer and columnist for Russia Beyond the Headlines. He has previously worked with Businessworld, India Today and Hindustan Times, and was news editor with the Financial Express.
F***ing hypocrites. These Americans are really backstabbers. After 1965 they had supposedly declared a 10-year embargo on Pakistan. What happened of that? They just ignored their own rules 'cause they wanted a different game? Thank goodness Russia helped us.
 

average american

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As the death toll mounts—as many as 25 million in the former Soviet Union, 65 million in China, 1.7 million in Cambodia, and on and on—the authors systematically show how and why, wherever the millenarian ideology of Communism was established, it quickly led to crime, terror, and repression
The Black Book of Communism — Stéphane Courtois, Nicolas Werth, Jean-Louis Panné, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, Jean-Louis Margolin, Mark Kramer | Harvard University Press

They were our enemy and they were your friend, not something I would be proud of,, and promised to bury the USA, . They lost you lost, and thats history........The USA did not back down from the USSR and the USA certainly did not back down from India. .
 
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Bangalorean

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As the death toll mounts—as many as 25 million in the former Soviet Union, 65 million in China, 1.7 million in Cambodia, and on and on—the authors systematically show how and why, wherever the millenarian ideology of Communism was established, it quickly led to crime, terror, and repression
The Black Book of Communism — Stéphane Courtois, Nicolas Werth, Jean-Louis Panné, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, Jean-Louis Margolin, Mark Kramer | Harvard University Press

They were our enemy and they were your friend, not something I would be proud of,, and promised to bury the USA, . They lost you lost, and thats history........The USA did not back down from the USSR and the USA certainly did not back down from India. .
Agreed about the commie genocides, but as you are proud of the fact that you brought down the commies, are you equally ashamed of having supported the Pakis in their Bangadesh genocide in 1971? Do you agree?

I can very well say, "they lost, you lost, and that is history - India crushed the Pakis and certainly did not back down from the USA.". You have absolutely no moral standing in this case.

It is a closed chapter, but you need to have the moral decency to admit that it was a foul thing to support the genocidal Paki army in 1971.
 
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average american

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Agreed about the commie genocides, but as you are proud of the fact that you brought down the commies, are you equally ashamed of having supported the Pakis in their Bangadesh genocide in 1971? Do you agree?

I can very well say, "they lost, you lost, and that is history - India crushed the Pakis and certainly did not back down from the USA.". You have absolutely no moral standing in this case.

It is a closed chapter, but you need to have the moral decency to admit that it was a foul thing to support the genocidal Paki army in 1971.
I could agree with that if thats the way it really was.
 

pmaitra

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I could agree with that if thats the way it really was.
That's the way it was, and it has been admitted by the US Congress then. It was Nixon, who decided to do whatever he felt like, but then, don't many US Presidents go around invading countries without the Congress' approval? It has been like that for decades now.

It's about time Americans started making their Presidents diligently obey the Constitution.
 

EzioAltaïr

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As the death toll mounts—as many as 25 million in the former Soviet Union, 65 million in China, 1.7 million in Cambodia, and on and on—the authors systematically show how and why, wherever the millenarian ideology of Communism was established, it quickly led to crime, terror, and repression
The Black Book of Communism — Stéphane Courtois, Nicolas Werth, Jean-Louis Panné, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, Jean-Louis Margolin, Mark Kramer | Harvard University Press

They were our enemy and they were your friend, not something I would be proud of,, and promised to bury the USA, . They lost you lost, and thats history........The USA did not back down from the USSR and the USA certainly did not back down from India. .
They backed down 'cause they didn't want a nuclear war with Russia simply 'cause one of their "allies" had gone on a maniacal genocide.
 

aerokan

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As the death toll mounts—as many as 25 million in the former Soviet Union, 65 million in China, 1.7 million in Cambodia, and on and on—the authors systematically show how and why, wherever the millenarian ideology of Communism was established, it quickly led to crime, terror, and repression
The Black Book of Communism — Stéphane Courtois, Nicolas Werth, Jean-Louis Panné, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek, Jean-Louis Margolin, Mark Kramer | Harvard University Press

They were our enemy and they were your friend, not something I would be proud of,, and promised to bury the USA, . They lost you lost, and thats history........The USA did not back down from the USSR and the USA certainly did not back down from India. .
It's a good thing that you have understood the effects of communism. Communists are the worst. Now understand the other side, which you are part of. The then president of the USSR in 1971 got so mad at the blatant support of the US to the genocide of millions that he was angry at US for years. That's US for you. If US is hated for it's support of it's atrocities by the worst commies, what category should i keep the US in??


A few questions to think for you. How many countries does US intervene in ? How many years of it's history is free from war? How many people died as a result of it's actions?


Just a small insight: History of U.S. Military Interventions since 1890
 

trackwhack

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I am sure we were scared to death of India and turned tail and ran, your air force could not even handle Pakistan and you were five times their size. I am real sure the USA was scared to death.
You were obviously worried about the damage to your CBG's reputation. Of course you would have dropped a hell of a lotta firepower. But there is no way you would have gotten back alive. Your CBG would have found a nice grave in the Bay of Bengal. So you ran away. You can sugar coat it any which way you want. But the truth is that after sending a CBG to BoB, neither Nixon nor Kissinger had the steel to see it through.

American allies did not learn their lesson that day, they still have not. America will execute its duties as an ally if and only if it is convinced that it wont suffer the humiliation of defeat. Today Israel is reaping the fruits of being an American ally. Philippines and Japan are too.

A country like Iran is bullying you and Obama looks like a deer in headlights. What hope do the Philippines have against China? Japan can still save herself by going nuclear and fast.
 

Cliff@sea

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I could agree with that if thats the way it really was.
The 'Blood Telegram' sent by Archer Kent Blood to the US state department , The last American Consul General to Dhaka, East Pakistan

The Telegram was signed by 29 Americans




the Text ::

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 bankruptcy,(...) 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.
In an earlier telegram dated 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's.
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)
From : Archer Blood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

average american

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The 'Blood Telegram' sent by Archer Kent Blood to the US state department , The last American Consul General to Dhaka, East Pakistan

The Telegram was signed by 29 Americans




the Text ::



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


From : Archer Blood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I expect thats the reason the USA backed off, not fear of USSR and certainly not any fear of India.


Here is what was going on in the US at that time according to history..
1971
Events of 1971, from Wikipedia
Payoff to the Vice President
The Attica, New York, Prison Revolt
Plan of Attica Prison
The Attica Prison Insurrection 1971
Governor Nelson Rockefeller and he Attica Prison Riot, September 9-13, 1971 The Attica Prison Insurrection
Attica Revisited. Bibliography
13 June The Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers
The New York Times v. United States, (1971) ["The Pentagon Papers" decision]
The Trial of Charles Manson
1972
Events of 1972, from Wikipedia
Records of Secret Nixon-Zhou en-Lai Talks held in February
June 22 Hurricane Agnes Hits Pennsylvania
1972 Olympics
1972 Olympics
Olympic Hostages Killed in Gun Battle
Who murdered the athletes of the Israeli 1972 Olympic Team in Munich?
Mark Spitz Wins Seven Olympic Medals
USA Basketball Team Loses to Soviet Team
M*A*S*H* Premieres September 1, 1972
The Election of 1972
Your little war was not even worth mentioning in the scheme of things.
 

arkem8

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I expect thats the reason the USA backed off, not fear of USSR and certainly not any fear of India.
TheYanks did not want to be seen to be embarrassed by "poor and dirty" India, not after their failure in Vietnam, the latter happening at the same time period.

Here is what was going on in the US at that time according to history..
1971
Events of 1971, from Wikipedia
Payoff to the Vice President
The Attica, New York, Prison Revolt
Plan of Attica Prison
The Attica Prison Insurrection 1971
Governor Nelson Rockefeller and he Attica Prison Riot, September 9-13, 1971 The Attica Prison Insurrection
Attica Revisited. Bibliography
13 June The Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers
The New York Times v. United States, (1971) ["The Pentagon Papers" decision]
The Trial of Charles Manson
1972
Events of 1972, from Wikipedia
Records of Secret Nixon-Zhou en-Lai Talks held in February
June 22 Hurricane Agnes Hits Pennsylvania
1972 Olympics
1972 Olympics
Olympic Hostages Killed in Gun Battle
Who murdered the athletes of the Israeli 1972 Olympic Team in Munich?
Mark Spitz Wins Seven Olympic Medals
USA Basketball Team Loses to Soviet Team
M*A*S*H* Premieres September 1, 1972
The Election of 1972
Your little war was not even worth mentioning in the scheme of things:shocked:.
I have highlighted a few of these petty incidents that you quote here to belittle the complete and total mauling of a MAJOR American ally, even today the Americans have worked hard to downplay the Indo_pak wars to avoid losing face and looking like they failed their vassals.

Also there a small matter of India detonating its first nuclear device in '73. The event not being totally unrelated to the American intervention in Indian affairs just 2 years prior.
 
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arkem8

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I am sure we were scared to death of India and turned tail and ran, your air force could not even handle Pakistan and you were five times their size. I am real sure the USA was scared to death.
93,000 POWS, their country divided in two like Germany at the end of WW2. Puny?? Our Air Force could not handle Pakistan?? The IAF had complete Air_Superiority in both East and West Paki?? Thats how the war was won in 15 days.
 

Hari Sud

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Sir,

Would somebody post the 'Anderson Papers' , which brought out the duplicity of Nixon/Kissinger to the American people during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The New York Times or the washington Post carried it.

I believe the New York Times presses were on strike, hence only typed or cyclo version of the newspaper was published. Hence I am unable to find these on the web.

All the foregoing info in this thread is great. Adding Anderson Papers will further enhance it.

Cheers.
 

A chauhan

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I expect thats the reason the USA backed off, not fear of USSR and certainly not any fear of India. ....
Ok US didn't fear India but a single attack on USSR submarine battle group or vice versa could have turned into a full scale war or even into a world war, that time Soviet Union was not dissolved, and certainly a top notch super power, it's ignorance and over-confidence to say that US never feared of USSR.
 

Virendra

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Sir,

Would somebody post the 'Anderson Papers' , which brought out the duplicity of Nixon/Kissinger to the American people during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The New York Times or the washington Post carried it.

I believe the New York Times presses were on strike, hence only typed or cyclo version of the newspaper was published. Hence I am unable to find these on the web.

All the foregoing info in this thread is great. Adding Anderson Papers will further enhance it.

Cheers.
You mean the De-classified documents? They're everywhere on the net.
 

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