October 14, 2009By Gaffar Peang-Meth
Guest Commentary
UPI Asia Online
Washington, DC, United States, — Cambodia’s missteps in the pursuit of a foreign policy of neutrality led to the removal from power of the Cambodian head of state, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, in a U.S.-backed military coup in 1970, and the Vietnam War spread into Cambodia. The 1970s brought 35,000 to 40,000 Vietnamese communist forces onto 3,500 square kilometers of Khmer territory.
History is often recorded and interpreted according to ideological or political motives. It is common practice to cite declassified U.S. documents on the tonnage of bombs dropped on Cambodia as a catalyst for the rise and reign of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, and the ensuing brutality that resulted in the deaths of some 1.7 to 2.5 million people.
It is dreadful to imagine that from 1965 to 1973 the United States dropped more than 2.7 million tons of bombs on Cambodia. This is 17 times more than the tonnage dropped on Japan from 1942 to 1945.
But did Cambodians rush to join the mysterious Khmer Rouge, led by men they did not know, to fight the perpetrators? Or did they brave obstacles and hardships to join their revered god king, Prince Sihanouk, whose radio broadcasts from Beijing called on everyone in Cambodia to oppose the government that had unpardonably overthrown him?
Sihanouk, who quickly allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, once told reporters that he knew as long as he was useful to the Khmer Rouge they would keep and honor him in their struggle, and when his usefulness ended, they would “spit me out like a cherry pit” – which they eventually did.
With Sihanouk on their side bestowing the prestige, popularity, and legitimacy they lacked, the Khmer Rouge proceeded with their genocidal agenda and increased their numbers.
Theoretically, it was Sihanouk’s FUNK, a French acronym for his National United Front of Kampuchea that “won” victory over Lon Nol in 1975. But in reality FUNK was controlled, since 1973, by the radical faction of the Khmer Communist Party led by Pol Pot. After their victory the radicals brought Sihanouk back to the royal palace, where he learned the fate of many of his relatives and loyal supporters.
Records show that by the end of 1970 North Vietnam had four regular combat divisions in Cambodia. It was these battle-seasoned North Vietnamese troops – and not Pol Pot’s peasant-guerillas – that crushed Lon Nol’s trained and best-equipped units.
North Vietnamese Defense Minister Vo Nguyen Giap revealed in 1971 that the Vietnamese Communist Lao Dong had taken 6,000 to 8,000 Cambodians to Hanoi after the 1954 Geneva Accords to train at the Son Tay Military Academy, an infantry training school, and the Nguyen Ai Quoc political school.
The Khmer Viet Minh were infiltrated back to Cambodia before and after 1970, but never succeeded in wresting control of the Cambodian communist party from Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, who referred to the KVMs as Cambodians with Khmer bodies and Vietnamese heads.
The ultranationalist Khmer Rouge arrested and purged the KVM before and after 1975, and talked of its desire to recover Kampuchea Krom, the Khmer territory, which the French ceded to Vietnam.
In 1977 Pol Pot’s armed units entered Vietnam’s An Giang and Chau Doc provinces, burned houses and killed civilians. In December 1977, border fighting broke out between the two communist groups.
On Christmas Eve 1978, Vietnam’s army invaded Cambodia and quickly sent Pol Pot and his guerrillas fleeing towns and cities. They installed a subservient regime in Phnom Penh in January 1979.
In revenge, Pol Pot’s Chinese backers did “teach a lesson” to Vietnam with a Chinese invasion in February 1979, but Hanoi’s troops remained as occupiers in Cambodia for 10 years, making a mockery of Vietnam’s professed altruistic motive to “liberate” Cambodians from Pol Pot’s genocide.
On Sept. 14 Raoul-Marc Jennar, a consultant to the U.N. tribunal that is trying Khmer Rouge leaders, gave a powerful and instructive testimony on the nature of “Polpotism” in the trial of a former Khmer Rouge director of the notorious S-21 prison. He called it state terrorism with an expansionist nationalism characterized by irredentist claims; an oligarchy that removed and annihilated all in its way, within and outside party ranks; an autarchy with a besieged mentality, a reliance on its own strength, and a suspicion of all.
With a racist dimension, Jennar said, Polpotism sought the “purity of the Khmer race” through eliminating ethnic human subgroups considered not pure Khmer; it imposed a radical collectivization and demanded total dispossession – including dispossession of people’s identity, time and relationships. Polpotism sought to build a new society regardless of costs.
The roots of Polpotism, ideologically and organizationally, go back to the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, Jennar said. Those who were to become leaders of Democratic Kampuchea formed a circle of Marxist Khmer students in Paris as early as 1951, among them Pol Pot, Leng Sary, Leng Thirith and Son Sen.
Several of the students were members of the French Communist Party, which owed unconditional loyalty to Moscow and Premier Joseph Stalin. Jennar cited Lenin’s 21 conditions for becoming a member of the Communist International, which believed in using all available means against the bourgeoisie, including “iron discipline” and “periodic purges” as laid down by Lenin.
Key leaders of Democratic Kampuchea, who wanted Bolshevism and Stalinism practiced in Cambodia, produced many slogans, including: “It’s better to arrest ten people wrongly than to release one by mistake,” and “It’s better to kill an innocent man than to keep alive an enemy,” explained Jennar.
In explaining terror as a method adopted by the government in Cambodia, Jennar said that political violence was a part of the Khmer social fabric where, among other things, political leaders and opposition journalists were murdered or shot, executions were shown in newsreels, editors of leftist press were arrested and tortured, and opposition newspapers were closed.
Khieu Samphan, director of “The Observer,” suffered humiliation in public in 1960 – he was beaten and his trousers were removed. But this culture of violence was “not a new phenomenon,” said Jennar.
This leaves readers to answer whether Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge needed a U.S. invasion or tons of U.S. bombs dropped on Cambodia to become radicalized, barbarous and genocidal?
Regardless of what environmental catalyst might have provoked their primitive, bloodthirsty regime, there should be more speedy trials of the remaining Pol Pot Khmer Rouge totalitarians.
--
(Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. He currently lives in the United States. He can be contacted at peangmeth@gmail.com. Copyright Gaffar Peang-Meth.)
History is often recorded and interpreted according to ideological or political motives. It is common practice to cite declassified U.S. documents on the tonnage of bombs dropped on Cambodia as a catalyst for the rise and reign of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979, and the ensuing brutality that resulted in the deaths of some 1.7 to 2.5 million people.
It is dreadful to imagine that from 1965 to 1973 the United States dropped more than 2.7 million tons of bombs on Cambodia. This is 17 times more than the tonnage dropped on Japan from 1942 to 1945.
But did Cambodians rush to join the mysterious Khmer Rouge, led by men they did not know, to fight the perpetrators? Or did they brave obstacles and hardships to join their revered god king, Prince Sihanouk, whose radio broadcasts from Beijing called on everyone in Cambodia to oppose the government that had unpardonably overthrown him?
Sihanouk, who quickly allied himself with the Khmer Rouge, once told reporters that he knew as long as he was useful to the Khmer Rouge they would keep and honor him in their struggle, and when his usefulness ended, they would “spit me out like a cherry pit” – which they eventually did.
With Sihanouk on their side bestowing the prestige, popularity, and legitimacy they lacked, the Khmer Rouge proceeded with their genocidal agenda and increased their numbers.
Theoretically, it was Sihanouk’s FUNK, a French acronym for his National United Front of Kampuchea that “won” victory over Lon Nol in 1975. But in reality FUNK was controlled, since 1973, by the radical faction of the Khmer Communist Party led by Pol Pot. After their victory the radicals brought Sihanouk back to the royal palace, where he learned the fate of many of his relatives and loyal supporters.
Records show that by the end of 1970 North Vietnam had four regular combat divisions in Cambodia. It was these battle-seasoned North Vietnamese troops – and not Pol Pot’s peasant-guerillas – that crushed Lon Nol’s trained and best-equipped units.
North Vietnamese Defense Minister Vo Nguyen Giap revealed in 1971 that the Vietnamese Communist Lao Dong had taken 6,000 to 8,000 Cambodians to Hanoi after the 1954 Geneva Accords to train at the Son Tay Military Academy, an infantry training school, and the Nguyen Ai Quoc political school.
The Khmer Viet Minh were infiltrated back to Cambodia before and after 1970, but never succeeded in wresting control of the Cambodian communist party from Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, who referred to the KVMs as Cambodians with Khmer bodies and Vietnamese heads.
The ultranationalist Khmer Rouge arrested and purged the KVM before and after 1975, and talked of its desire to recover Kampuchea Krom, the Khmer territory, which the French ceded to Vietnam.
In 1977 Pol Pot’s armed units entered Vietnam’s An Giang and Chau Doc provinces, burned houses and killed civilians. In December 1977, border fighting broke out between the two communist groups.
On Christmas Eve 1978, Vietnam’s army invaded Cambodia and quickly sent Pol Pot and his guerrillas fleeing towns and cities. They installed a subservient regime in Phnom Penh in January 1979.
In revenge, Pol Pot’s Chinese backers did “teach a lesson” to Vietnam with a Chinese invasion in February 1979, but Hanoi’s troops remained as occupiers in Cambodia for 10 years, making a mockery of Vietnam’s professed altruistic motive to “liberate” Cambodians from Pol Pot’s genocide.
On Sept. 14 Raoul-Marc Jennar, a consultant to the U.N. tribunal that is trying Khmer Rouge leaders, gave a powerful and instructive testimony on the nature of “Polpotism” in the trial of a former Khmer Rouge director of the notorious S-21 prison. He called it state terrorism with an expansionist nationalism characterized by irredentist claims; an oligarchy that removed and annihilated all in its way, within and outside party ranks; an autarchy with a besieged mentality, a reliance on its own strength, and a suspicion of all.
With a racist dimension, Jennar said, Polpotism sought the “purity of the Khmer race” through eliminating ethnic human subgroups considered not pure Khmer; it imposed a radical collectivization and demanded total dispossession – including dispossession of people’s identity, time and relationships. Polpotism sought to build a new society regardless of costs.
The roots of Polpotism, ideologically and organizationally, go back to the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, Jennar said. Those who were to become leaders of Democratic Kampuchea formed a circle of Marxist Khmer students in Paris as early as 1951, among them Pol Pot, Leng Sary, Leng Thirith and Son Sen.
Several of the students were members of the French Communist Party, which owed unconditional loyalty to Moscow and Premier Joseph Stalin. Jennar cited Lenin’s 21 conditions for becoming a member of the Communist International, which believed in using all available means against the bourgeoisie, including “iron discipline” and “periodic purges” as laid down by Lenin.
Key leaders of Democratic Kampuchea, who wanted Bolshevism and Stalinism practiced in Cambodia, produced many slogans, including: “It’s better to arrest ten people wrongly than to release one by mistake,” and “It’s better to kill an innocent man than to keep alive an enemy,” explained Jennar.
In explaining terror as a method adopted by the government in Cambodia, Jennar said that political violence was a part of the Khmer social fabric where, among other things, political leaders and opposition journalists were murdered or shot, executions were shown in newsreels, editors of leftist press were arrested and tortured, and opposition newspapers were closed.
Khieu Samphan, director of “The Observer,” suffered humiliation in public in 1960 – he was beaten and his trousers were removed. But this culture of violence was “not a new phenomenon,” said Jennar.
This leaves readers to answer whether Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge needed a U.S. invasion or tons of U.S. bombs dropped on Cambodia to become radicalized, barbarous and genocidal?
Regardless of what environmental catalyst might have provoked their primitive, bloodthirsty regime, there should be more speedy trials of the remaining Pol Pot Khmer Rouge totalitarians.
--
(Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. He currently lives in the United States. He can be contacted at peangmeth@gmail.com. Copyright Gaffar Peang-Meth.)
14 comments:
Bring HUN SEN to KHMER ROUGE COURT AND ASK HIM ABOUT his troops activity along KHMER-VIETNAM BORDER. He was killing Khmer and telling the Vietnamese to invade Cambodia. Why cause he was promised power by HANOI.
KHMER ROUGE KILL HALF AND HUN SEN KILL HALF OF THE KHMER POPULATION. HUN SEN IS AS BAD AS POL POT HIMSELF. BUT EXCEPT FOR HUN SEN IS ONE-EYED!
Cambodia Town
Long beach, Ca
Today, Cambodia need to rebuild infrastructure, so it is time to ask for assistant, from country that bombed our motherland.
New Phally
How about USA bombed in Cambodia country you motherfucker don't say nothing.
To New Phally a dandruff cpp dog? Just shut up the enemy of democratic world.4:22 ask your lekeu sdach ta did he invite the State to drop it?
Or it appear to be Cambodia pull the fire from Viet Nam war to burn Cambodia it self?
US not that part of accusation.
history of cambodia has shown that when you have only one absolute ruler in the past, that ruler can make mistake. after all, we are all human being, and to error is human. it was just happened to cost cambodia dearly for our ruler's mistake of the past foreign policy strategy. the best we all can do now is to learn from history and strive to improve our national strategy better this time around. thank god, that was history now, although a costly one at that! god bless cambodia.
ps: i think khmer people do not dislike their leaders, they just dislike the way the leaders are thinking and heading in the wrong direction for not consulting with others. thus, i think it is smart and clever for cambodia to learn from history and learn from other nations and other people of the world, really. it's called reform and cleverness, etc... adaptation to new concept, philosophy, etc is always smart thing to do for cambodia. thank you all for waking up by now. god bless our beloved country of cambodia.
TO: NEW PHALLY, TELL HUN SEN TO GIVE ME BACK ALL THE MONEY AND LIVES HE STOLE FROM MY FAMILY. THEN I CAN THINK ABOUT GIVING HIM A GOOD RESTING GROUND. OTHER THAN THAT DREAM ON ABOUT CAMBODIA BEING RICH LIKE BEFORE CAUSE ME AND MY FAMILY IS NO LONGER THERE TO BUILD CAMBODIA FOR YOU HUN SEN FOLKS NO MORE!
To be an effective gov't, all political leaders must come together as a team, it is very important to have 1) good communication skills-by listening, understanding and reflective response 2) be open minded, willing to accept and learn new skills, e.g it is very significant to increase in population growth, by doing so is to have a pool full of armies so that they can help the gov't to protect the border, nation and country 3)the need to create a common law to protect all for one and one for all and that everyone is "equally important" doesn't matter who they are or where they come from (look at Aust, NZ, USA, Singa, Japan; they all are in the same boat "multicultural" works). At the moment there are 86M+Youn, almost 66M Thai, Chinese roughly about 2Billions, now the one that has the most population is the strongest one of all. Now, our aim is to do the same, if you want to keep the Khmer empire alive, this is what the government should do as well as be focusing on putting new infrastructures to meet the people’s need. In addition, every nation is depending on their good leaders and good leaders would give zero tolerant to corruption. And say if other countries can create a safe heaven for their people, so can we! By doing so is to keep our own nation in place and enjoy like the rest of the world. Aust
3:40 AM,
The US has donated more enough to rebuild Cambodia. But ah kwack hun sen cannot do jack shit....
Sihanouk is always me me me first and others last. More or less, he has role in destroying Cambodia.
The poor Cambodian citizen placed their trust and confidence in him but he took advantage of their senserity....that is why, Cambodia continues to fail because of trust in their leaders who either in the classic times and present have not done so to reprsent Cambodians and their motherland. This is the weakest link that the Viet Cong. has seen as an opportunity.
In revenge, Pol Pot’s Chinese backers did “teach a lesson” to Vietnam with a Chinese invasion in February 1979, but Hanoi’s troops remained as occupiers in Cambodia for 10 years, making a mockery of Vietnam’s professed altruistic motive to “liberate” Cambodians from Pol Pot’s genocide.
All Asian Nations should become one just like European Nations, having a one currency "Euro" as well as having a common goal and common interest. Let say if one country is getting in trouble then the rest will come together as one and help that nation. All nations need come together to create a common law to protect everyone equally and that everyone is “equally important” If Asian people don't look for ways to unite, we will be wiped out by other nation just like that and it is happening now to some countries right in front of your eyes already. Asian Nations, you all should be smarter by now, too. I give you one question why do European Nations create a common goal and common interest? It is because they don’t want the super power nations like Russia, China or USA one day decided to attack them. You see , their aim is to secure each other from being such attack. If our Asian Nations don't prepare into this position ASAP then who knows we be going back to World War 1 and world war 2 and this means we are (in the 21st century) getting dumber and dumber. We Asian nations must learn from the past mistakes and turn it into a positive learning outcome! Don't try to get outsiders for help on how to build the relationships between Asian Nations because base on human instinct no one nation want other nation to be better off than them in any way, simple as! Otherwise they wouldn’t have this Englo Saxon in the first place. Englo Saxon includes; England, Canada, USA, Aust, NZ, and more, all have common goal and common interest. Asian Nations need to do the same and be smarter by now, OK, cheers.
Another selective history full with bias from this guy. He has lost credibility in the public eyes. So he keeps writing the same crap again in again in a different version to regain acceptance to his lopsided views. Some people even said that they don't even want see his face.
Whose ass does he try to kiss?
I really respect Dr. Peang but I totally disagree with him with regard to his comments on King Sihanouk. Dr. Peang cut off the part of the Communist Youn Rouge were created long before Khmer Rouge. The quiet occupation in Cambodia by the Viets along with the French; the cold war and the ambitions of Ho Chi Minh to take Laos and Cambodia supported by Stalin and Mao. Dr. Peang believed that the King and Lon Nol were enemies? wrong big time.
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