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Blood, Archer K The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project ARCHER K. BLOOD Interviewed by: Henry Precht Initial interview date: June 27, 1989 Copyright 1998 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Decision to enter the Foreign Service Succession of posts Foreign service class 1947) Thessaloniki, Greece 1947-1949 Political situation ).S. aid to Greece George Polk murder case Principal duties Munich 1949-19,1 Displaced Persons Program Considered leaving Foreign Service .outine work Algiers 19,0 Mid-career course Consular officer 1isenhower cut2acks Transfer to Bonn Bonn 19,0-19,, Chief of Official .eception Briefing officer Army liaison officer .elationship with German military 3ristoni4ation McCarthy period and allegations Inspector6s rating 3ashington 19,7-1972 1 19ecutive Secretariat 1ditor of top-secret staff summary Impressions of Secretary Dulles Mr. Herter Cyprus Desk Officer 19,8) ).S. policy toward Cyprus Greek vs. Turkish position Greek domestic pressure Dacca, Pakistan 1972-1974 Political officer and Deputy Principal Officer Political work Bengali grievances .elationship with 1m2assy AID vs. Foreign Service Opportunity to travel 3ashington 1974-197, Army 3ar College Head of N1A personnel branch DCM in Ka2ul 197,-1978 Open access to foreigners in Afghanistan .elationship with Soviets ).S. policy in Afghanistan Political Counselor in Athens 1978-1970 Pro2lems in Athens Post divided over support of ruling junta CIA support for junta Lack of am2assador Discussion of junta Consul General in Dacca, Pakistan 1970-1971 Change in Pakistan Cyclone of Novem2er of 1970 The Awami league De2ate over separation of Pakistan Pakistani politics Military crackdown ).S. policy during crackdown Political murders Question of evacuation Har2oring of Bengalis 1vacuation of Consulate General personnel and Americans 2 ).S. Government6s attempt to keep unrest quiet Importance of independent communications Pro2lems with Consulate General The dissident message 1ffect of dissident message 3ashington 1971-1977 .eaction to dissident message in 3ashington Senate testimony Personnel testimony Personnel assignment .eflections on Pakistan .eorgani4ation of assignment section Acting Director General of the Foreign Service Pro2lems with Kissinger Army 3ar College DCM in New Delhi 1977-1981 Impressions of New Delhi India vs. Pakistan Indian decision to develop a nuclear capa2ility Nuclear Proliferation Act of 1978 ).S. AIndian nuclear relations ).S.-Soviet relationship in India Impre0ssions of Mrs. Gandhi Bisit to Hafi4ullah Amin Soviet invasion of Afghanistan .ejection by Soviets of Ka2ul Charge appointment Deteriorating relations with India Conclusion Failure to be appointed am2assador Changes in the Foreign Service Low morale among junior officers Politici4ation of the upper ranks The press 1valuation of Kissinger INTERVIEW CNoteD This transcript has not been edited by Consul General BloodE 3 $: I am Henry Precht, a retired Foreign Service officer. I)m interviewing Archer Blood, another retired Foreign Service officer with extensive experience in South Asia. The interview ta-es place on June 27, 1989, at his home in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Perhaps, Arch, to start with you could give a brief summary of your career for the benefit of those people who will be using this material. BLOODD I entered the Foreign Service in Fuly 29, 1947. My reasons for doing so are still very vague in my own mind. IGd never been a2road e9cept in the Navy in the Aleutians. IGd never known any2ody in the Foreign Service. But I had developed in my teens an interest in the Foreign Service, and when I entered college, I put that down as my career preference. Then I began to alternate with law. And I was in law school at the )niversity of Birginia when I passed my orals for the Foreign Service. I had to make a quick decision as to which way I would go, and I opted for the Foreign Service. It was a good time to enter the Service because it was e9panding. There were forty people in our class, and there was a class of almost forty during the summer of 1947. My first post was Thessaloniki, Greece, at the time of the civil war against the communist-supported insurgents who were trying to topple the Greek government. $: Before we get into any of the detail, why don)t you just run through the succession of posts that you had. BLOODD Okay. First post was ThessalonikiH then Munich, GermanyH then back to Greece to AthensH then to Algiers after a mid-career course at the Foreign Service Institute. Then after a very brief stay in Algiers, my position was eliminated, and I was transferred to Bonn. From Bonn, I returned to the State Department for four and a half years, half of which was in the 19ecutive Secretariat, and half of which was as the Cyprus desk officer. I then went out to Dacca. $: 0hat year is that1 BLOODD In 1970. That was my first e9posure to South Asia was the assignment to Dacca as political officer and deputy principal officer in the consulate general there. After two years, I was assigned to the Army 3ar College as a student. Then I went to Personnel and headed up the N1A branch in assignments. From there, I went to Afghanistan to Ka2ul as deputy chief of mission. After three years, I was assigned as political counselor in Athens. I was there not quite two years and was transferred directly to Dacca again, 1ast Pakistan, as consul general. There I was caught up in the Bangladesh crisis and spent less than two years, returning to Personnel, where I was for a2out two and a half years and then went to the Army 3ar College as deputy commandant for international affairs. I spent three and a half years there waiting out Dr. KissingerGs departure from the State Department and then went to New Delhi as deputy chief of mission. 4 3hile in New Delhi I also, at the DepartmentGs request, went up to Ka2ul again to take over the em2assy briefly while the-- $: In which year was that1 BLOODD This was 1979, Octo2er-Novem2er G79, just weeks before the Soviet invasion. And when I left New Delhi in the end of Septem2er 1981 and returned to 3ashington, I agreed to go again to Afghanistan as chargI and was studying Dari at the Foreign Service Institute preparing to go out there in Fe2ruary of 1982, but the communist government of Afghanistan refused to issue me a visa and that assignment fell through. In May of 1982, I retired from the Foreign Service and su2sequently ended up at Allegheny College as diplomat in residence and visiting professor of political science. $: 2ood. Now, let)s go bac- to the beginning. 0hen you joined the Foreign Service, I wonder if you give us some of your impressions of the forty people who joined44or the thirty4nine who joined44with you and the group that you immediately came to -now. 0hat -ind of Service was it1 0as it much different from what it is today, or how would you characteri5e the people who were with you in that group1 BLOODD 3ell, first of all, it was an all-male class. All white. Some very, very a2le people. Hermann 1ilts was later am2assador in Saudi Ara2ia and 1gypt was a mem2er of that class. There was a lot of considera2le talent in that group, and it was a group in which I was very proud to be associate with from the very beginning. At the same time, there were in that class, several people who struck me as outright jerks who--and I wondered how they had gotten in. I suppose they had done well on the e9ams, but I couldnGt imagine how they had passed the screening of the oral. And in two cases I have in mind, both of those officers were out of the Service within two years for various reasons such as falling in love with the daughters of communist officials or other unaccepta2le acts. But it was an e9citing time to be entering the Foreign Service, and we knew that the )nited States was developing responsi2ilities all over the world. You knew you were in a growth industry. $: 0as there a great deal of area expertise among the people in your group1 BLOODD Yes there was. Of course, Hermann 1ilts himself had spent many years as a youth in the Middle 1ast. Many of them, like Sid So2er, had e9cellent French or other language. Lee Andorus also had e9cellent language capa2ilities. All of us, of course, had 2een in the military service and had some e9periences outside the )nited States, although mine was confined to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, but others had spent time in 1urope or the Far 1ast. 5 $: 0as it true that this was the time when people were recruited from the northeastern establishment or was it broadly geographic in its representation1 BLOODD 1ven then it was broadly geographic. I suppose the majority of our class were from the east coast, but they were--I mean, it was a representative grouping e9cept for the fact that there were no minorities or no-- $: 0omen. BLOODD Females, women, in that class. $: And what about the security factor1 I mean, this was the time when anti4communism was becoming a very important consideration in government service. Do you recall anybody scrutini5ing your records especially closely for leftist leanings1 BLOODD No, that came later. That came during the McCarthy period when I was serving in Germany at the time and was very much aware of the witch hunts, you might say, for alleged communists in the Foreign Service. But at the time I entered, we went through security checks but certainly were not aware of anything very e9tensive or demanding. $: Then you were off to Thessaloni-i. The 2ree- civil war was on at that time, wasn)t it1 BLOODD ThatGs right.
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