US Ambassador does not agree with the former monarch

In King-Father's letter posted on his website in September 2007, King-Father wrote in his second post-scriptum (left hand side):
P.S. 2 - It is the USA, the Lonnolians, and the other pro-Lon Nol countries which should be judged by the ECCC UN, and not me. (Signed) Norodom Sihanouk

17 September 2007
By Huy Vannak
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

"Yes, just like I usually said it, it is normal for people to claim that they are victims and that they are not responsible for their own actions." - US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli

In the morning of 17 September, the US ambassador to Cambodia declared that he does not agree with the royal desire of the former monarch, King Norodom Sihanouk, who wrote a footnote on an article published on his website that the US should be brought to face justice in the KR Tribunal (KRT) also.

US Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli said that he respects and loves the Hero-King who was a good king, however, he does not agree with the former monarch’s idea.

Mussomeli said: “I love the Hero-King who is a wonderful man in many ways, but on this issue, we do not agree with each other. Do you know that the Nazi claimed that the Versailles Treaty was not fair, that was why they killed almost 6 million Jewish people (during World War II). These killers always try to find an excuse for their mistakes. Whether, we are angry with our wife, or we are moody about a problem at work, or because we lost our job, human beings tend to find an excuse on what is wrong with them. In his case, there is no excuse for them, they are all killers and they must be brought to justice!”

In response to the question on the claim made by KR leaders who said that the bombings of the US military in Cambodia were the cause for the formation of the KR resistance movement, and the birth of the killing fields in Cambodia, Ambassador Mussomeli said: “Yes, just like I usually said it, it is normal for people to claim that they are victims and that they are not responsible for their own actions. This is not a good thing, and it does not show that these people are taking their own responsibility, furthermore, this is not a way to explain one’s action through some other consequence.”

Ambassador Mussomeli added: “The KR crimes are the KR crimes, others should not be blamed for these, if anything, they should blame themselves. It’s true that they can say that it was because of the US or China, or other people did this wrong or did this rights, etc… but, in the end, it is the responsibility of each individual. Those who killed others must be charged for these killings, they should not blame others to make up an excuse for their own mistakes.”

Mussomeli also indicated that, in view of the rapid progress of the KRT in the past few months, the US is reviewing the possibility to provide funds for the ECCC.

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KI-Media Note: The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. It was signed exactly 5 years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the event that triggered the start of the war. Although the armistice signed on November 11, 1918 put an end to the actual fighting, it took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude a peace treaty. Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial provisions required Germany and its allies to accept full responsibility for causing the war and, under the terms of articles 231-248, disarm, make substantial territorial concessions and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Allies. The Treaty was undermined by subsequent events starting as early as 1922 and was widely flouted by the mid thirties. (Source: Wikipedia.org)