Photo US Air Force

 

PHNOM PENH — A leading American activist has called on the United States to formally acknowledge and take responsibility for its destructive role in Cambodia’s violent history, particularly its actions during the Vietnam War era which helped pave the way for the rise of the Khmer Rouge.

 

John McAuliff, Executive Director of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, issued the appeal during a recent visit to Cambodia, where he highlighted Washington’s support for the 1970 coup that ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk. That move, he argues, destabilised the nation, triggered a brutal civil war, and opened the door to one of the 20th century’s deadliest regimes.

 

“The United States bears immense responsibility for what happened in Cambodia,” McAuliff told the Khmer Times. “We broke it. Now we have a responsibility to help fix it.”

 

Between 1965 and 1973, US bombers dropped more than 230,000 bombs on Cambodian territory—ostensibly to target North Vietnamese forces. But the impact on civilian life was catastrophic, and unexploded ordnance still litters the countryside, maiming and killing decades later.

McAuliff stressed that America’s military backing of the Lon Nol regime, which followed the coup, poured fuel on the fire. “Many of the weapons and landmines that still plague Cambodia came from that period,” he said.

 

While US officials eventually condemned the Khmer Rouge, McAuliff insists that meaningful intervention never followed. “Most Americans don’t even know what happened here,” he said. “But for Cambodians, the war isn’t ancient history—it’s still felt every day.”

 

His comments were echoed by Matt Meyer, Secretary-General of the International Peace Research Association, who warned that current aid from bodies like USAID remains fragile and dependent on shifting political winds in Washington.

 

McAuliff concluded that reconciliation must include long-term support for Cambodia’s future—particularly in clearing deadly ordnance, supporting education, and preserving memory. “We can’t undo the past,” he said, “but we can choose to act now, with honesty and responsibility.”

 

The message is clear: for true healing to begin, history must first be faced.

 

-2025-05-08

What America did to Cambodia was truly diabolical. They dropped more bombs on the Cambodians than all Allies did in all of WWII.

 

To this day the population of Cambodia has never recovered from the massive loss of population.

 

America should pay reparations.

 

Kissinger is in Hell now.