Embassy denies US role in Lon Nol coup d’etat

[geovalin]

The US Embassy in Cambodia on Thursday claimed on its official Facebook page that there was no evidence the US government was involved in the 1970 Cambodian coup d’etat that precipitated much of the unrest that ravaged the country in the years after.

 

“We would like to highlight that the US was not involved in the coup leading to Lon Nol coming to power. Up to now, there has not been any evidence proving the US was involved."

 

“Instead, there is a lot of evidence proving that the Chinese government actively supported the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 and in eras after that,” read its statement written in Khmer.

 

read more https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/embassy-denies-us-role-lon-nol-coup-detat

[Briggsy]

Are we seeing Cambodia as a scene for a battle for influence between China and the U.S.?

 

Or are the Americans trying to head off what happened to the Thais in 2003?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Phnom_Penh_riots

 

Cambodia, an unpredictable tinder keg always ripe for some mayhem.

[Emdog]

“Instead, there is a lot of evidence proving that the Chinese government actively supported the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 and in eras after that,” read its statement written in Khmer.

And the US supported Khmer Rouge after they were thankfully thrown out by Vietnamese. That is a fact

[farq]

The US have a long and sordid history of clandestine coups all around the world over decades and that spin doctor expects people to believe that they weren't behind that one, too!! In fact they are currently up to their in 3 regime change coups. Syria, Iran and todays hot spot Ukraine!

[Sydebolle]

The US embassy might want to read William Shawcross' book "Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the destruction of Cambodia" - provided anyone there can read.
 

Lon Noi's 1970 coup against Sihanouk was the result of teaming up with Son Ngoc thanh and Sirik Matak; the CIA provided support and planning. Lon Nol had approached the US the previous year already to sound out US support to get rid of Prince Sihanouk; of course this was not done in writing nor reported in the US media; similar to the entire “Secret War in the Kingdom of Laos”. 

On 28 August 1970 US VP Agnew flew into Phnom Penh for a 4 ½ stopover between Saigon and Bangkok to firmly underline the US support of Lon Nol. Cambodia was then already known to be of survival importance in case the US would have to withdraw troops from South Vietnam. His visit was more than just a gesture to underscore that concern. Under the preamble of limiting the visible US presence in Cambodia while ensuring that the Lon Nol regime is not booted out of office - quite a diplomatic hat trick! 
 

Ambassador John Gunther Dean (born in Germany with family name "Dienstfertig") was the last ambassador prior to the vacuum the US left behind when sneaking away in 1975. Dean is still alive, maybe the sitting ambassador W Patrick Murphy would like to give his predecessor a ring for clarification purposes.

Murphy made himself as popular as a pork chop in a synagogue even before becoming ambassador already. While on a visit to the Kingdom in December of 2017, Murphy critized the arrest of former CNRP leader Kem Sokha and the subsequent dissolution of his party. At that time he urged Cambodia to “return to democracy”.

I humbly suggest that Murphy is to follow strict diplomatic  protocol of non-intervention in domestic affairs. He should  go back to his room, study Indochinese history as of 1945 and apologize to the Cambodians for the utter nonsense he so brainlessly keeps on sputtering. 

[BestB]

2 hours ago, farq said:

The US have a long and sordid history of clandestine coups all around the world over decades and that spin doctor expects people to believe that they weren't behind that one, too!! In fact they are currently up to their in 3 regime change coups. Syria, Iran and todays hot spot Ukraine!

You forgot Venezuela ????

[MuuKondiao]

2 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

The US embassy might want to read William Shawcross' book "Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the destruction of Cambodia" - provided anyone there can read.
 

Lon Noi's 1970 coup against Sihanouk was the result of teaming up with Son Ngoc thanh and Sirik Matak; the CIA provided support and planning. Lon Nol had approached the US the previous year already to sound out US support to get rid of Prince Sihanouk; of course this was not done in writing nor reported in the US media; similar to the entire “Secret War in the Kingdom of Laos”. 

On 28 August 1970 US VP Agnew flew into Phnom Penh for a 4 ½ stopover between Saigon and Bangkok to firmly underline the US support of Lon Nol. Cambodia was then already known to be of survival importance in case the US would have to withdraw troops from South Vietnam. 
 

I was in Vietnam in 1970, in the U.S. Marine Corps. We did not get sent to Cambodia earlier in 1970 - that was the U.S. Army.

What I object to in your opinion here is your statement that the U.S. might have had to withdraw troops into Cambodia. If you were alive at all in 1970 you must have known that there was no danger of the U.S. having to Withdraw anywhere. We had won every battle in that war - including the famous Tet Offensive of 1968 in which the NVA/V.C. forces gained not one square inch of territory and lost so many troops that they could not mount another offensive until after the U.S. turned the war over to the South Vietnamese.

I don't care how many books you have read - it doesn't change the reality. 

[Sydebolle]

23 hours ago, MuuKondiao said:

I was in Vietnam in 1970, in the U.S. Marine Corps. We did not get sent to Cambodia earlier in 1970 - that was the U.S. Army.

What I object to in your opinion here is your statement that the U.S. might have had to withdraw troops into Cambodia. If you were alive at all in 1970 you must have known that there was no danger of the U.S. having to Withdraw anywhere. We had won every battle in that war - including the famous Tet Offensive of 1968 in which the NVA/V.C. forces gained not one square inch of territory and lost so many troops that they could not mount another offensive until after the U.S. turned the war over to the South Vietnamese.

I don't care how many books you have read - it doesn't change the reality. 

 

 

 

Well, it is correct that the US ultimately did not withdraw through Cambodia but went straight home; 1973 from Cambodia and 1975 from Vietnam.
I remember Nixon’s televised declaration of the "successful Vietnamization of the conflict" - a very diplomatic way of admitting that the US had declared the war as lost. The defeat ironically happened not on the battle fields of Indochina but back home in the US.

 

58'220 American body bags had returned - being 58'220 too many - but it was not the US' business to get involved in a conflict on the other side of the planet which had started back in the early 50s. The US coughed up more than one trillion in today's US dollars for their Vietnam involvement - what a utter waste of money, resources and young people.

Rolling back a litte - after WW2 the French wanted to get their foot back into Vietnam which proved impossible. Eisenhower had lent a military hand to the French (out of the Philippines) without success. The French ultimately withdrew, Vietnam was split into North and South in 1954 - and the US advisors missed the departure announcement.

The subsequent Geneva Agreement of 1962 (signed by 14 parties guaranteeing  - among other things - the neutrality of Laos and Cambodia) was breached by the North Vietnamese. Kennedy, instead of addressing the issue to the United Nations, sent "advisors and observers" to South Vietnam. Johnson took over and got served blunt lies by his administration with the August 1964 incident of Tonkin and the USS Maddox which made him signing the US into war.  

Off the radar was the CIA's involvement in initially the neutral Kingdom of Laos and, later on, the neutral Kingdom of Cambodia. Both were considered of strategic importance to keep the commies on the East side of the Annamese Mountain range.

The US involvement got bigger and bigger, Nixon came to power with his puppet master Kissinger - latter ironically picking-up the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 which he shared with North Vietnamese Le Duc Tho. Latter had at least the decency to refuse acceptance of the award as there was no peace in sight. The moon landing, the Nixon visit to China, Kissingers Nobel prize, the 73 oil crisis - all smoke screen to distract the public from bigger fish being fried on the other side of the planet in the late 60s and early 70s.  

You quoted the Tet offensive 1968; today considered a victory by both sides; depending on how you look at it. 
The South Vietnamese booked it as a tactical victory under heaviest casualties of South Vietnamese and US forces, the North Vietnamese walked away with a political and strategic victory as well as reinforced self-confidence. The stark depletion of Viet Cong rang in greater use of a sheer endless supply of North Vietnamese soldiers which was the straw breaking the (South Vietnamese) camel's back. Given the technical superiority of the giant US it was amazing, how many troops were lost on the South Vietnamese and US side, possibly by Westmoreland's wrong assessment of the actual situation.

Young American soldiers were brainwashed into "fighting for the fatherland and protecting the US"; the facts are regrettably different. Of the 247 years of US existence they were 228 years at war - with countries NOT bordering the US. War is big business, very big business. Kissinger already once said that "it is not about winning or losing, it is about keeping it going". 

It is sad to see, that to this day this aggressive foreign policy of wars is going on; before Vietnam it was Korea, after Vietnam it was the Americas while, parallel to that, the support of the Shah of Persia backfired big time. Saddam Hussein was shoulder-rubbed into the Iran/Irak war from 1980 - 1988, the former friend became foe = Golf War 1 and Golf War 2 which was an US aggression and not a defence either. Afghanistan and Libya followed, possibly  Venezuela is next - endless misery and tragedy. 

If you, Sir, want to be factual, then think about the USD 723 billion (not millions) "defense budget" for 2019 - more than the next 20+ states together and, if I may humbly suggest, read and travel. 

A good read by American author Joshua Kurlantzick is "A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA", apart from the earlier on quoted work by American author Shawcross ""Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the destruction of Cambodia".  

In closing, I've been living here for 35 years, travelled overland down the entire Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk trail from Vieng Xay/Laos to Siem Pang/Cambodia, been to Khe Sanh, Long Cheng, the Hanoi Hilton, visited the recently re-opened Lima Site 85 and keep on reading and travelling.

The original posting was about the US embassy's - uncalled for - denial of their "helping" role in putting Lon Nol onto the presidential podium of the US-backed "Khmer Republic" in Phnom Penh. Sitting US-ambassador W. Patrick Murphy was just out of kindergarten in 1970 and should have looked how his predecessors William A. Heidt or the earlier on mentioned John Günther Dean handled such matters. 
 

Heidt, fluent in Khmer and an expert on Cambodia, was and still is critical about certain US-issues yet never queried the role of the US in Lon Nols ascent at the time. 

Hence best would be what the Cambodians do "let bygones be bygone"; the denial of the US in Lon Nols assignment is only of historical interest and would not change a thing today - in my humble belief and incomplete knowledge ????  Most Americans are really great people with good heart and intentions, the official US out of Washington DC though is a most dangerous evil, power hungry, creature of greed, lies and brutality which has been at the centre of too many conflicts - none of their business and not along their borders. 

[MyFriend You]

On 2/4/2019 at 2:23 PM, Emdog said:

“Instead, there is a lot of evidence proving that the Chinese government actively supported the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979 and in eras after that,” read its statement written in Khmer.

And the US supported Khmer Rouge after they were thankfully thrown out by Vietnamese. That is a fact

That my friend is not a fact, we helped Hun Sen chase Pol Pot and KR all over the country, and was there when he 'detained' in his hometown of An Long Veng, finally died and his 'house' (more like a pig pen) was torn down to keep it from being a tourist attraction - I was in Cambodia then working for the same people that started this post, followed it closely............

[MyFriend You]

On 2/5/2019 at 9:53 PM, Sydebolle said:

 

 

 

Well, it is correct that the US ultimately did not withdraw through Cambodia but went straight home; 1973 from Cambodia and 1975 from Vietnam.
I remember Nixon’s televised declaration of the "successful Vietnamization of the conflict" - a very diplomatic way of admitting that the US had declared the war as lost. The defeat ironically happened not on the battle fields of Indochina but back home in the US.

 

58'220 American body bags had returned - being 58'220 too many - but it was not the US' business to get involved in a conflict on the other side of the planet which had started back in the early 50s. The US coughed up more than one trillion in today's US dollars for their Vietnam involvement - what a utter waste of money, resources and young people.

Rolling back a litte - after WW2 the French wanted to get their foot back into Vietnam which proved impossible. Eisenhower had lent a military hand to the French (out of the Philippines) without success. The French ultimately withdrew, Vietnam was split into North and South in 1954 - and the US advisors missed the departure announcement.

The subsequent Geneva Agreement of 1962 (signed by 14 parties guaranteeing  - among other things - the neutrality of Laos and Cambodia) was breached by the North Vietnamese. Kennedy, instead of addressing the issue to the United Nations, sent "advisors and observers" to South Vietnam. Johnson took over and got served blunt lies by his administration with the August 1964 incident of Tonkin and the USS Maddox which made him signing the US into war.  

Off the radar was the CIA's involvement in initially the neutral Kingdom of Laos and, later on, the neutral Kingdom of Cambodia. Both were considered of strategic importance to keep the commies on the East side of the Annamese Mountain range.

The US involvement got bigger and bigger, Nixon came to power with his puppet master Kissinger - latter ironically picking-up the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 which he shared with North Vietnamese Le Duc Tho. Latter had at least the decency to refuse acceptance of the award as there was no peace in sight. The moon landing, the Nixon visit to China, Kissingers Nobel prize, the 73 oil crisis - all smoke screen to distract the public from bigger fish being fried on the other side of the planet in the late 60s and early 70s.  

You quoted the Tet offensive 1968; today considered a victory by both sides; depending on how you look at it. 
The South Vietnamese booked it as a tactical victory under heaviest casualties of South Vietnamese and US forces, the North Vietnamese walked away with a political and strategic victory as well as reinforced self-confidence. The stark depletion of Viet Cong rang in greater use of a sheer endless supply of North Vietnamese soldiers which was the straw breaking the (South Vietnamese) camel's back. Given the technical superiority of the giant US it was amazing, how many troops were lost on the South Vietnamese and US side, possibly by Westmoreland's wrong assessment of the actual situation.

Young American soldiers were brainwashed into "fighting for the fatherland and protecting the US"; the facts are regrettably different. Of the 247 years of US existence they were 228 years at war - with countries NOT bordering the US. War is big business, very big business. Kissinger already once said that "it is not about winning or losing, it is about keeping it going". 

It is sad to see, that to this day this aggressive foreign policy of wars is going on; before Vietnam it was Korea, after Vietnam it was the Americas while, parallel to that, the support of the Shah of Persia backfired big time. Saddam Hussein was shoulder-rubbed into the Iran/Irak war from 1980 - 1988, the former friend became foe = Golf War 1 and Golf War 2 which was an US aggression and not a defence either. Afghanistan and Libya followed, possibly  Venezuela is next - endless misery and tragedy. 

If you, Sir, want to be factual, then think about the USD 723 billion (not millions) "defense budget" for 2019 - more than the next 20+ states together and, if I may humbly suggest, read and travel. 

A good read by American author Joshua Kurlantzick is "A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA", apart from the earlier on quoted work by American author Shawcross ""Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the destruction of Cambodia".  

In closing, I've been living here for 35 years, travelled overland down the entire Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk trail from Vieng Xay/Laos to Siem Pang/Cambodia, been to Khe Sanh, Long Cheng, the Hanoi Hilton, visited the recently re-opened Lima Site 85 and keep on reading and travelling.

The original posting was about the US embassy's - uncalled for - denial of their "helping" role in putting Lon Nol onto the presidential podium of the US-backed "Khmer Republic" in Phnom Penh. Sitting US-ambassador W. Patrick Murphy was just out of kindergarten in 1970 and should have looked how his predecessors William A. Heidt or the earlier on mentioned John Günther Dean handled such matters. 
 

Heidt, fluent in Khmer and an expert on Cambodia, was and still is critical about certain US-issues yet never queried the role of the US in Lon Nols ascent at the time. 

Hence best would be what the Cambodians do "let bygones be bygone"; the denial of the US in Lon Nol's assignment is only of historical interest and would not change a thing today - in my humble belief and incomplete knowledge ????  Most Americans are really great people with good heart and intentions, the official US out of Washington DC though is a most dangerous evil, power hungry, creature of greed, lies and brutality which has been at the centre of too many conflicts - none of their business and not along their borders. 

In 1973, we had an American in the US Embassy that married a daughter of President Lon Nol, he is now deceased, but he may have had a different view on what we did as a US Govt than the current USG...............Thank you for your post, I will keep this.  I live in Vietnam in the Mekong Delta region near Tam Nong Bird Sanctuary (road to Chau Doc) which back in the 60-70;s was a major entry point into deep Southern Vietnam Ho Chi Minh Trail - you will be happy to know it is now a paved road on the Vietnamese side and still a major source of smuggling from Cambodia, usually electronics and exotic animals, birds etc et etc.

 

This gentleman I speak of was also the Communications Officer on duty the night of Tet 68 when the US Embassy Compound was attacked, they really caught us with our pants down that day............helicopters dropped ammunition for M-16's on the roof of the Embassy, and not a single M-16 in the bldg, Marines were armed with S&W .357 side arms, shotguns and M-14's.  I myself spent the entire decade of the seventies in SE Asia.  1970-1979.   Peace

[MyFriend You]

On 2/4/2019 at 6:14 PM, Sydebolle said:

The US embassy might want to read William Shawcross' book "Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the destruction of Cambodia" - provided anyone there can read.
 

Lon Noi's 1970 coup against Sihanouk was the result of teaming up with Son Ngoc thanh and Sirik Matak; the CIA provided support and planning. Lon Nol had approached the US the previous year already to sound out US support to get rid of Prince Sihanouk; of course this was not done in writing nor reported in the US media; similar to the entire “Secret War in the Kingdom of Laos”. 

On 28 August 1970 US VP Agnew flew into Phnom Penh for a 4 ½ stopover between Saigon and Bangkok to firmly underline the US support of Lon Nol. Cambodia was then already known to be of survival importance in case the US would have to withdraw troops from South Vietnam. His visit was more than just a gesture to underscore that concern. Under the preamble of limiting the visible US presence in Cambodia while ensuring that the Lon Nol regime is not booted out of office - quite a diplomatic hat trick! 
 

Ambassador John Gunther Dean (born in Germany with family name "Dienstfertig") was the last ambassador prior to the vacuum the US left behind when sneaking away in 1975. Dean is still alive, maybe the sitting ambassador W Patrick Murphy would like to give his predecessor a ring for clarification purposes.

Murphy made himself as popular as a pork chop in a synagogue even before becoming ambassador already. While on a visit to the Kingdom in December of 2017, Murphy critized the arrest of former CNRP leader Kem Sokha and the subsequent dissolution of his party. At that time he urged Cambodia to “return to democracy”.

I humbly suggest that Murphy is to follow strict diplomatic  protocol of non-intervention in domestic affairs. He should  go back to his room, study Indochinese history as of 1945 and apologize to the Cambodians for the utter nonsense he so brainlessly keeps on sputtering. 

Project SCOOT - Support Cambodia Out Of Thailand............71-73