Cambodia marks fall of Pol Pot

[IndianaGreen]

The United States supported the Khmer Rouge and condemned Vietnam for toppling the evil Pol Pot from power.

Last Updated: Wednesday, 7 January, 2004, 03:56 GMT
Cambodia marks fall of Pol Pot
By Kylie Morris
BBC South-East Asia correspondent

Thousands of officials in Cambodia are expected to gather in Phnom Penh on Wednesday to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge.

It was on this day in 1979 that Vietnam invaded Cambodia and ended the rule of the brutal regime led by Pol Pot.

But the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians have barely been acknowledged by those responsible.

After years of impunity, now the government says justice is imminent.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3374575.stm

[IndianaGreen]

1. Background on US support for Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot

War Criminals: Real and Imagined
by Gregory Elich

Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), globalresearch.ca 18 November 2001

Cambodian Cauldron

In 1975, Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge; virtually the entire country was turned into a forced labor camp as they implemented a primitive agrarian economy. Over the next four years as many as two million Cambodians perished from starvation, disease and executions. Several hundred thousand people were tortured and murdered. Here was crime against humanity on a grand scale. Following a Khmer Rouge invasion of Vietnam, counter-attacking Vietnamese forces, in conjunction with an uprising of the Cambodian people, drove the Khmer Rouge from power in January 1979. A socialist government led by Hun Sen was established as Cambodia began its long road back to recovery. Khmer Rouge troops, in alliance with right-wing forces, launched a fierce guerrilla war against the new Cambodian government which lasted several years. Prince Norodom Sihanouk and Son Sann joined the Khmer Rouge in forming a Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, which at Western insistence, represented Cambodia at the United Nations in place of the government of Cambodia. (11) This provided a fig leaf of legitimacy for Western support of a movement dominated by the Khmer Rouge. American and British advisors and arms shipments aided Sihanouk’s and Sann’s forces, which carried out coordinated military operations with Khmer Rouge troops and were often commanded by Khmer Rouge officers. Western arms frequently found their way into Khmer Rouge arsenals as many members of Sihanouk’s and Sann’s organizations belonged to the Khmer Rouge. U.S. officials pressured humanitarian groups to supply food and aid to help sustain the Khmer Rouge.(12)

After the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Vietnam maintained a troop presence in Cambodia in order to help defend the fledging Hun Sen government and prevent the return to power of mass murderers. American officials were outraged, and spared no effort to reverse the situation. Western sponsored peace negotiations in 1989-1990 succeeded in obtaining the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops. The second goal of Western negotiators was to replace or weaken socialist forces in Cambodia. Under pressure, Cambodia was obliged to bring officials from Son Sann’s and Norodom Sihanouk’s organizations into the government. Cambodia was also compelled to restore the monarchy and place Sihanouk back on the throne. During the peace negotiations, American officials insisted that the Khmer Rouge be given a prominent role in the new governing coalition. (13) As one U.S. negotiator explained, “No Khmer Rouge, no deal.” (14) The Khmer Rouge, fiercely anti-Vietnamese, still harbored dreams of seizing territory from Vietnam. This harmonized with U.S. goals in the region, also fiercely anti-Vietnamese. A Hun Sen government in Cambodia friendly to Vietnam was impermissible. Vietnam had to be isolated, even if it meant risking the return to power of executioners in Cambodia. Only Khmer Rouge intransigence failed to bring about the realization of the Western demand for the inclusion of Khmer Rouge officials in the government. Preferring to continue the guerrilla struggle, the Khmer Rouge hoped to grab sole control of governing reins through force of arms.

As Cambodian government troops closed in on the last remnants of Khmer Rouge forces in March 1998, Khmer Rouge warlord Ta Mok communicated an offer through Thai military channels to turn the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, over to the United States. Taken by surprise, U.S. officials turned down the offer. (15) No desire for a tribunal here. They didn’t want him. But Cambodia wanted him, so the U.S. had to act to prevent that eventuality. The U.S. needed time to structure proceedings, presumably in order to ensure that the American role in support of Pol Pot would not surface during a trial. While U.S. officials worked on arrangements for a trial on their terms, Pol Pot committed suicide. (16)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/ELI111A.html

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2. I think they named it Pot Pie day. n/t