Cambodia's Hun Sen criticizes Michelle Obama visit

[webfact]

Hun Sen criticizes Obama visit



PHNOM PENH: -- US first lady Michelle Obama was strongly criticized by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who yesterday accused her of making false promises during her visit to the Kingdom last weekend, The Phnom Penh Post reported.

He suggested that Obama’s visit was more about hopeful rhetoric rather than implementing concrete improvements in the country’s education sector.

During a speech at the National Institute of Education, Hun Sen told the US embassy and USAID to make good on alleged scholarship promises and front some actual cash if they want to truly make an impact on education reform in Cambodia.

He was referring to Obama’s visit to the country on Saturday, in which she met with 10 female students in Siem Reap to push the White House’s “Let Girls Learn” initiative.

“Her mission is very good, but I suggest the United States should help completely and not play like this,” he said. “It is just playing around – it is not good. What if she chose 300 students? It would be death. I don’t have that money to give,” Hun Sen was quoted by The Phnom Penh Post as saying.

US Embassy spokesman Jay Raman yesterday denied that Michelle Obama had made any pledges regarding scholarships, stressing that the Let Girls Learn initiative was primarily focused on breaking down barriers to education by promoting awarewness of access inequalities.

Raman also stressed that “it’s not just about awareness, but also action, particularly through USAID programmes that support girls’ education and at the community level through our Peace Corps volunteers and their local counterparts”.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/hun-sen-criticizes-obama-visit


-- Thai PBS 2015-03-26

[zydeco]

Well, on the bright side, at least they can keep their medical provider.

[geovalin]

Phnom Penh Post point of view is here

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/811980-hun-sen-knocks-obama-visit/

[NickJ]

She should have just stayed home and sent half the money her Cambodian visit cost and it would have paid for not 10 but the 300 Sen mentioned.

[LuckyLew]

He is just scared of women

and frightened of a woman with a brain

[Blackfish64]

She should have just stayed home and sent half the money her Cambodian visit cost and it would have paid for not 10 but the 300 Sen mentioned.

If I were Hun Sen, I would not have allowed her to land.

[butch333]

it's crazy , they just can ask money money , not enough ONG already in Cambodia . time to do it by themself i think

[zydeco]

Hun Sen, meet your new best friend, Rodner Figueroa.

[MikeOboe57]

Ah, that American thingie of "raising awareness" - instead of money. Anyone remember the "icebucket challenge" and what it was raising awareness for - without googling it? Thought so.

[spidermike007]

He is just scared of women

and frightened of a woman with a brain

Let us not forget he is one of the worlds notorious dictators, disguised as a "democratically" elected PM. He has a personal security detail of 5,000 men. That gives you an indication of just how many want this man taken out. He has spent decades building thousands of enemies and having thousands of his enemies and detractors executed. He ranks right up there with Thailand's other neighbor, Than Shwe in his ruthlessness. He steals land and earns billions. Of course he could not want a woman talking to his people about progress. He hates progress unless it means more cash in his greedy pockets. He is a heinous pig.

[bendejo]

Her real intent was to rankle the arse of a corrupt despot, and she succeeded. Good job.

[sdanielmcev]

No country likes the Obamas.

[JingerBen]

Michelle was just there for a photo op. Nothing else.

Hun Sen is a ruthless dictator who has held on to power tenaciously since 1985.

To his credit it should't be forgotten that as a young Khmer Rouge Battalion Commander he fought courageously against the foreigners who were occupying his country.

In 1977 after the Khmer Rouge had come to power and initiated mass killings, Hun Sen along with his entire KR Battalion fled to Vietnam to join the Vietnamese invasion that eventually liberated Cambodia from a murderous regime.

[Scott]

Off-topic, inflammatory posts removed.

[spidermike007]

it's crazy , they just can ask money money , not enough ONG already in Cambodia . time to do it by themself i think

Hun the despot could come up with the billions from one of many of his overseas accounts. He has been stealing from his people for decades.

[Amavel]

You want the money or not? Stop being such a whiny corrupt beatch or we take our ball and go home.

[cookee68]

Of course, the USA bombs beautiful Cambodia back into the stone age and unleashes the murderous Khmer Rouge upon her population--and now USA is there to tell them how to educate themselves and further enable an idiot like Michele Obama and her idiot husband, who aren't even capable of managing their own affairs.

Neither is Cambodia

[chuckd]

Hun Sen might not have enjoyed her visit, but my guess is the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort was pleased with her visit. She stayed in Cambodia two days yet the federal government paid for 85 single rooms, five office suites, five sleeping suites, and one conference room for 14 nights.

A rather nice Spring Break for Michelle, her mother and two daughters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hotel for Michelle O’s Cambodia Visit Cost $242,500

BY: Elizabeth Harrington

March 30, 2015 3:23 pm

Hotel accommodations for First Lady Michelle Obama’s two-day trip to Cambodia required 85 rooms and cost taxpayers $242,500, according to a government contract released Friday.

Mrs. Obama traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia on March 21 to promote a girls education initiative. A contract was awarded on March 3, citing the “unusual and compelling urgency” of the First Lady’s trip.

Mrs. Obama and a delegation of senior high-level U.S. government officials stayed at the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort, according to a justification and approval document for the visit.

http://freebeacon.com/issues/hotel-for-michelle-os-cambodia-visit-cost-242500/

[Credo]

The cost of the visit is a little off-topic, since it costs a lot whenever the first lady travels. Heck, it costs a lot when she doesn't travel.

We get it. You don't like her. Or her husband. Do you have a price tag on the air that she breathes?

Part of her visit was to promote the Let Girls Learn initiative. But I suppose a lot of our members would rather see them dumb and working in a business from which the men will gain greater pleasure.

Hun Sen having a hissy-fit is probably a good sign.

[Blackfish64]

You got it. I don't like her or her husband. Not even just a little bit.

The "Let Girls Learn Initiative" is a waste of time. It will do nothing to help the girls learn, just as any other initiative she is involved with will not help anyone accomplish anything whatever.

Assuming the girls are dumb in the first place is a bad idea. Assuming a dummy, like Michele Obama, can help anyone but herself is a bad idea.

That the likes of these two creeps and trash, Barry and Michele, can even be remotely considered for such important positions as they are now in, let alone actually being in them, is such a preposterous idea that it can hardly be believed. Yet, here they are. The world is indeed completely up side down.

[EyesWideOpen]

Hun Sen is noted for two things. First he is called Mr. Ten Percent, as nothing happens

in Cambodia that he does not rake off 10 % from. And the second is, there is a

Cambodian expression that if someone in the provinces farts, Hun Sen knows it

due to an extensive intelligence gathering operation that helps keep him in power.

So this is the guy handing out criticism about attempts to improve education ?

[Credo]

Hun Sen is noted for two things. First he is called Mr. Ten Percent, as nothing happens

in Cambodia that he does not rake off 10 % from. And the second is, there is a

Cambodian expression that if someone in the provinces farts, Hun Sen knows it

due to an extensive intelligence gathering operation that helps keep him in power.

So this is the guy handing out criticism about attempts to improve education ?

....and basically wanting them to hand over the money, but don't bother to talk to anyone. That insures his 10%.

[Blackfish64]

Hun Sen is noted for two things. First he is called Mr. Ten Percent, as nothing happens

in Cambodia that he does not rake off 10 % from. And the second is, there is a

Cambodian expression that if someone in the provinces farts, Hun Sen knows it

due to an extensive intelligence gathering operation that helps keep him in power.

So this is the guy handing out criticism about attempts to improve education ?

All States are corrupt, some more some less. No exceptions. Corruption is the very nature of the State. There is no model, no example to point to which could serve as a good model and example. It is the job of those who are governed to maintain their government. When they don't and/or when they are oppressed and cannot do so, well, you see what happens.

Mankind must wake up and realize the two great beasts, the State and the church, have all but failed to deliver anything but suffering and death in the final analysis. It's all got to go. And all their phone, incompetent leaders need be naturally reduced to the turd shovelers and street sweepers they really are.

[samran]

You got it. I don't like her or her husband. Not even just a little bit.

The "Let Girls Learn Initiative" is a waste of time. It will do nothing to help the girls learn, just as any other initiative she is involved with will not help anyone accomplish anything whatever.

Assuming the girls are dumb in the first place is a bad idea. Assuming a dummy, like Michele Obama, can help anyone but herself is a bad idea.

That the likes of these two creeps and trash, Barry and Michele, can even be remotely considered for such important positions as they are now in, let alone actually being in them, is such a preposterous idea that it can hardly be believed. Yet, here they are. The world is indeed completely up side down.

The people of the U.S. decided to elect him. Twice. Not good enough for you clearly....

[samran]

Hun Sen might not have enjoyed her visit, but my guess is the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort was pleased with her visit. She stayed in Cambodia two days yet the federal government paid for 85 single rooms, five office suites, five sleeping suites, and one conference room for 14 nights.

A rather nice Spring Break for Michelle, her mother and two daughters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hotel for Michelle Os Cambodia Visit Cost $242,500

BY: Elizabeth Harrington

March 30, 2015 3:23 pm

Hotel accommodations for First Lady Michelle Obamas two-day trip to Cambodia required 85 rooms and cost taxpayers $242,500, according to a government contract released Friday.

Mrs. Obama traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia on March 21 to promote a girls education initiative. A contract was awarded on March 3, citing the unusual and compelling urgency of the First Ladys trip.

Mrs. Obama and a delegation of senior high-level U.S. government officials stayed at the Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort, according to a justification and approval document for the visit.

http://freebeacon.com/issues/hotel-for-michelle-os-cambodia-visit-cost-242500/

That's a bit low even for you...

What did you expect her to do? Rock up at the local guesthouse and see if there were a couple of rooms.

[chuckd]

The cost of the visit is a little off-topic, since it costs a lot whenever the first lady travels. Heck, it costs a lot when she doesn't travel.

We get it. You don't like her. Or her husband. Do you have a price tag on the air that she breathes?

Part of her visit was to promote the Let Girls Learn initiative. But I suppose a lot of our members would rather see them dumb and working in a business from which the men will gain greater pleasure.

Hun Sen having a hissy-fit is probably a good sign.

When consideration is given to the amount of time she devoted to her initiative, it can barely be called anything other than what it was...a spring break sight seeing trip for the family

She spent a grand total of 33 minutes in her two days in Cambodia promoting her initiative.

From the linked article...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mrs. Obama traveled to Japan and Cambodia to promote the Let Girls Learn initiative, a global campaign to increase educational opportunities for girls. The First Lady held two public events while in Siem Reap, speaking for a total of 33 minutes.

Mrs. Obama spent 21 minutes talking with a group of 10 female students at Hun Sen Bakorng High School, according to a White House transcript on March 21. She then went back to the hotel to speak at Peace Corps Training Round Table for 12 minutes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[NeverSure]

Michelle was just there for a photo op.

Michelle is a photo op. How quaint. I wonder how much they had to pay the photographer, LOL.

[Blackfish64]

You got it. I don't like her or her husband. Not even just a little bit.

The "Let Girls Learn Initiative" is a waste of time. It will do nothing to help the girls learn, just as any other initiative she is involved with will not help anyone accomplish anything whatever.

Assuming the girls are dumb in the first place is a bad idea. Assuming a dummy, like Michele Obama, can help anyone but herself is a bad idea.

That the likes of these two creeps and trash, Barry and Michele, can even be remotely considered for such important positions as they are now in, let alone actually being in them, is such a preposterous idea that it can hardly be believed. Yet, here they are. The world is indeed completely up side down.

The people of the U.S. decided to elect him. Twice. Not good enough for you clearly....

Thank you for helping me to more clearly emphasize my point. Excellent!

[NeverSure]

That's a bit low even for you...

What did you expect her to do? Rock up at the local guesthouse and see if there were a couple of rooms.

I expect her to stay home and stop the nonsense. The Secret Service has to arrive early to set up security. They arrive on a separate USAF plane with their equipment. They have to reserve and pay for the whole hotel for security purposes.

The list goes on but as written above it cost the taxpayers almost a quarter of a million dollars and no one elected her as anything.

[NickJ]

I disagree with you Blackfish, Sorry but she has managed to teach quite a large population of US school children to hate school lunchs......

Edited March 31, 2015 by NickJ