Lon Nol coup marked

[geovalin]

Andrew Nachemson

 

Cambodian government officials and pro-government media yesterday commemorated the seldom-observed anniversary of Marshal Lon Nol’s rise to power, seizing the opportunity to once again re-litigate historical grievances with the United States.

 

In an article on Sunday, Lim Cheavutha, the CEO of government mouthpiece Fresh News, pointed to the takeover, through which the general seized power from then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk, as directly linked to US backing and the subsequent Khmer Rouge atrocities.

 

read more http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/lon-nol-coup-marked

 

 

-- © Copyright Phenom Pen Post 20/03

[Sydebolle]

For those who are interested in the real fact may want to do some heavy reading and resort to William Shawcross‘ book „Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia“. Somebody described this book most accurately as „an investigative account of the Secret War in Cambodia during the Vietnam War and the (mis-)use of power by (President) Nixon and (State Secretary) Kissinger in Indo-Chinese foreign policy. 
 

Arguably the Vietnam war was triggered off by the North Vietnamese at the time with their „Ho Chi Minh Trail“ by completely ignoring the neutrality of the (Kingdom of) Laos and the (Kingdom of) Cambodia. 
The South Vietnamese cried for help and the US was more than ready to put its nose into yet another war. Prince Sihanouk always stood on the sunny side of politics until 1970, when the US operationally installed Lon Nol. 

The US lost the war - ironically not on the battlefield but back home after 58‘000+ body bags came back across the Pacific. Like thieves they sneaked away in 1975 from South Vietnam and Cambodia. The South Vietnamese had lost the war, the North Vietnamese declared the „liberation of the country“ and they were both talking about the same historical incident. 

Cambodia was left in a power vacuum after Lon Nol got airlifted out of Phnom Penh, initially to Indonesia, then to Hawaii and finally settled down in California. Lon Nol was an American puppet left in the rain, yet still better than all those Cambodians who faced the brute genocide by the Khmer Rouge during the following four years until 1979 the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and cleaned up the American mess. Ever since Hun Sen is blowing whistles, a former Khmer Rouge who jumped sides in 1977 and was and still is an excellent political sailor who knows exactly when to turn the sail into the best possible wind. 

It remains a fact, that a war is not about winning or losing, it is about keeping it running to ensure that the „defense“ industry keeps making these billions of dollars yearly (the US „defense“ budget 2018 is a mere USD 723 billions - not millions; quite some loose change for a country‘s defense plans considering the fact, that the US has not seen a war along its borders for centuries). 

The real problem is the US, being at war for 225 years of its 241 years of existence and presently involved in 80 armed conflicts all over the world - not one of them at their doorstep (border). Go figure what will happen in the future; as far as I am concerned absolutely nothing has been learnt from history while the US „defense“ industry is minting solid gold for decades ............... 

[ThaiFelix]

13 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

For those who are interested in the real fact may want to do some heavy reading and resort to William Shawcross‘ book „Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia“. Somebody described this book most accurately as „an investigative account of the Secret War in Cambodia during the Vietnam War and the (mis-)use of power by (President) Nixon and (State Secretary) Kissinger in Indo-Chinese foreign policy. 
 

Arguably the Vietnam war was triggered off by the North Vietnamese at the time with their „Ho Chi Minh Trail“ by completely ignoring the neutrality of the (Kingdom of) Laos and the (Kingdom of) Cambodia. 
The South Vietnamese cried for help and the US was more than ready to put its nose into yet another war. Prince Sihanouk always stood on the sunny side of politics until 1970, when the US operationally installed Lon Nol. 

The US lost the war - ironically not on the battlefield but back home after 58‘000+ body bags came back across the Pacific. Like thieves they sneaked away in 1975 from South Vietnam and Cambodia. The South Vietnamese had lost the war, the North Vietnamese declared the „liberation of the country“ and they were both talking about the same historical incident. 

Cambodia was left in a power vacuum after Lon Nol got airlifted out of Phnom Penh, initially to Indonesia, then to Hawaii and finally settled down in California. Lon Nol was an American puppet left in the rain, yet still better than all those Cambodians who faced the brute genocide by the Khmer Rouge during the following four years until 1979 the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia and cleaned up the American mess. Ever since Hun Sen is blowing whistles, a former Khmer Rouge who jumped sides in 1977 and was and still is an excellent political sailor who knows exactly when to turn the sail into the best possible wind. 

It remains a fact, that a war is not about winning or losing, it is about keeping it running to ensure that the „defense“ industry keeps making these billions of dollars yearly (the US „defense“ budget 2018 is a mere USD 723 billions - not millions; quite some loose change for a country‘s defense plans considering the fact, that the US has not seen a war along its borders for centuries). 

The real problem is the US, being at war for 225 years of its 241 years of existence and presently involved in 80 armed conflicts all over the world - not one of them at their doorstep (border). Go figure what will happen in the future; as far as I am concerned absolutely nothing has been learnt from history while the US „defense“ industry is minting solid gold for decades ............... 

Very well written post but I doubt it will be included in any US or Cambodian history classes lol!