পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড).pdf/৪১০

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ ত্রয়োদশ খণ্ড
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 At the same time, tensions between India and Pakistan continue to mount, and these two traditionally hostile neighbors may well reach a point of outright war. The ominous implications for the great powers in such a development are frightening.

 The horror of Bangladesh must not be permitted to continue. Some affirmative steps have apparently been taken by the administration, and I commend them. On Sunday, August 1, it was announced that an international group of 156 civilians constituting a relief and rehabilitation force were to be sent to East Pakistan under United Nations auspices.

 This group will include 73 monitors to be stationed at four area offices in Dacca. Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, and 69 other locations. Their purpose will be to report on local conditions. Hopefully, their presence will help abate the violence and reprisals. In addition, the United Nations sponsored force will concern itself with helping the Pakistani authorities alleviate the threat of starvation and disease, and with rehabilitating homes and shelter for the millions who are now homeless. Insofar as the U. S. Government has been instrumental in launching this effort, I believe it has acted wisely and properly.

 However, other actions by the administration cannot be countenanced.

 The administration has failed to halt arms shipments to Pakistan, and it apparently has sought to deceived the American public concerning its actions. On April 12, a Department of State spokesman claimed that there had been “an embargo since 1965” on military assistance to Pakistan, and a follow up statement of April 15 by a Department spokesman said:

 In short, no arms have been provided to the Government of Pakistan since the beginning of this crisis, and the question of deliveries will be kept under review in light of developments.

 On April 23, Assistant Secretary of State David. Abshire wrote the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator FULBRIGHT, and stated:

 We have been informed by the Department of Defense that no military items had been provided to the Government of Pakistan or its agents since the outbreak of fighting in East Pakistan on March 25 and nothing is now scheduled for delivery.

 On May 6, Assistant Secretary Abshire wrote again to the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee claiming:

 As you know, we terminated all grant military assistance to Pakistan and India, as consequence of the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war. We have provided no weapons to either country since then. The only measure of grant military assistance which we have reinstituted since 1965 has been a modest program of military training. With respect to military supply, as the Department's spokesman announced of on April 15, the Department of Defense has informed us that no spare parts and ammunition have been provided since the beginning of the crisis and the question of deliveries is under review.

 Yet, at the same time that the State Department was claiming that no arms were being shipped to Pakistan, that is, the West Pakistan Government, arms were in fact being