US made “great mistakes” During 1/11 by focusing more on elections: Former Diplomat

The United States made significant mistakes during Bangladesh’s 2007-08 caretaker government period by prioritizing elections over necessary reforms and failing to listen to people, former US diplomat Jon Danilowicz has said.

“Broadly speaking, I am the first to acknowledge that the United States made great mistakes in the 2007 to 2008 period,” Danilowicz said today at a discussion titled “Navigating the Dynamics of Bangladesh–US Relations After the Mass Uprising”.

The event, organized by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) Auditorium, featured Danilowicz and former US Ambassador to Bangladesh William B Milam, with CGS Executive Director Zillur Rahman moderating the discussion.

Danilowicz, who served as the political and economic counsellor at the US embassy in Dhaka from 2007 to 2011, dismissed claims that the embassy played a role in the 1/11 political shift or that “secret groups” influenced Bangladesh’s political direction.

However, he acknowledged that the US closely monitored events as the BNP-Jamaat alliance government stepped down amid violent nationwide protests, paving the way for a military-backed caretaker administration and later, an Awami League victory in the 2009 elections.

During that time, Danilowicz said, the US supported the caretaker government’s goal of restoring democracy and implementing reforms.

“So, where I give the US credit is that we supported the reform agenda… we maintained contact with all sides, but we were limited in our understanding because of the situation,” he said.

Danilowicz admitted that a key US miscalculation was listening too much to the military rather than engaging a broader spectrum of stakeholders.

“A lot of the people whose voices needed to be heard couldn’t be heard [because of the situation]. We talked with people, we talked with civil society, we talked with political parties, we talked with the caretaker government, but maybe we listened too much to the army. And I think that partially explains why perhaps things did not turn out the way we had hoped.”

Another critical mistake, he said, was placing excessive emphasis on holding elections quickly, rather than ensuring meaningful political and institutional reforms. “The caretaker government attempted to advance the reform agenda, but once it became clear that the priority was to simply hold elections and leave, they lost all of their leverage with the political parties.”

He also pointed out that many agreements made during that period were secret, leaving even the US government unaware of what was negotiated.

Danilowicz admitted that US officials at the time believed Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League had learned lessons and were committed to reforms.

“Our perception was that at that time the Awami League and Sheikh Hasina had learned lessons and were committed to reforms and would take forward the path that the caretaker government had set out. As history turned out, we were wrong in assuming that and in believing what we were being told, and then we saw the steady decline which led us to the summer of 2024.”

Comparing the past with the current interim administration led by Chief Adviser Prof Yunus, Danilowicz noted that some lessons from 2007-08 appear to have been learned.

He expressed confidence in Prof Yunus’s leadership and the government’s efforts to build national consensus on reforms, engage with political parties, and fulfill its mandate to transition power to a civilian government.

“The interim government Chief Adviser Prof Yunus has his own profile and certainly those in the interim government are capable of pursuing these reforms and fulfilling their mandate,” Danilowicz said.