Moriarty hints at US's 'tragic mistake'

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US ambassador James F Moriarty Wednesday hinted that his country made a "tragic mistake" by opposing the birth of Bangladesh in 1971, reports bdnews24.com.
"Senator Kennedy helped my country to correct a tragic mistake back in 1970 and 1971.
"We expressed that by quickly recognising Bangla-desh after end of the war, you all recall that," Moriarty told reporters after a discussion in memory of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, who personally supported Bangladesh's war of independence despite the Nixon administration's opposition.
"We were one of the first countries to recognise (Bangladesh)," he said at the Liberation War Museum.
But the envoy avoided saying directly that the US's Bangladesh policy was wrong.
"Ambassadors never say that their countries made a tragic mistake. They just imply it," he said.
Bangladesh came into being as an independent country on December 16, 1971 through a bloody war against the occupation Pakistan army. India and the former Soviet Union directly supported Bangladesh's freedom struggle.
The US administration headed by President Richard Nixon opposed the nine-month 1971 war against Pakistan, an ally of the US, and provided military supports to Islamabad to crush Bangladesh's freedom struggle.