Comment by jryle70 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jryle70 | Hacker News Reader

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That may strengthen their stand, but far from a key factor. Khmer Rouge was China's puppet and would not be able to come to power and carry out the genocide without China's support:

> In April 1975, Khmer Rouge seized power in Cambodia, and in January, 1976, Democratic Kampuchea was established. During the Cambodian genocide, the CPC was the main international patron of the Khmer Rouge, supplying "more than 15,000 military advisers" and most of its external aid. It is estimated that at least 90% of the foreign aid to Khmer Rouge came from China, with 1975 alone seeing US$1 billion in interest-free economics and military aid and US$20 million gift, which was "the biggest aid ever given to any one country by China". In June 1975, Pol Pot and other officials of Khmer Rouge met with Mao Zedong in Beijing, receiving Mao's approval and advice; in addition, Mao also taught Pot his "Theory of Continuing Revolution under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat（无产阶级专政下继续革命理论）". High-ranking CPC officials such as Zhang Chunqiao later visited Cambodia to offer help [0]

Khmer Rouge was also North Vietnam's ally since they both fought against US-backed governments in South Vietnam and Cambodia. They only became enemies after winning their respective wars [1], caused by in no small part the deteriorating China-Vietnam relation.

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_Rouge [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot

It was a proxy war, a point which you've just made half of the case for.

The US bombing of Cambodia was without a doubt a defining factor in this event. It killed between 100,000 and 400,000 Cambodians, how could it not be? I have met people in Kampong Thom, right in the middle of the country, that talked about living in complete destitution for years due to the effects of the bombing, before Pol Pot's takeover. There is also quite a bit of shrapnel and unexploded ordinance laying around there still too.

There is just no doubt that this would not have happened if not for the Vietnam war. You can blame China as well of course, but don't forget that the US government began aiding the Khmer Rouge at a later point in time again too.

Try reading "My War with the CIA" by Norodom Sihanouk if you want a different perspective on all this.

Source on the 100,00 to 400,000 deaths from bombings? The bombings were in border areas with little to no population. The US even sent troops in for damage assessment and they often found nothing not even North Vietnamese soldiers or even dwellings.

Not to saying thousands didn't die, or even tens of thousands, but 500,000? That's like 7% of the entire population of Cambodia.

This first one has statistics on deaths, estimates ranging from 30,000 to 500,000 deaths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Freedom_Deal#Cambodi...

"Another impact of the U.S. bombing and the Cambodian civil war was the destruction of homes and livelihood of many people. This was a large contributor to the refugee crisis in Cambodia with two million people—more than 25 percent of the population—displaced from rural areas into cities, especially Phnom Penh which grew from about 600,000 in 1970 to an estimated population of nearly 2 million by 1975. The Cambodian government estimated that more than 20 percent of property in the country had been destroyed during the war."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Menu#Civilian_casual...

The bombings along with the landmines made it impossible to farm in many areas, which caused famine that then lead to the migration mentioned above. That's what I have heard from Cambodians that lived in those places at the time.

Also, similar events played out in Laos but the story is not as well known. More bombs were dropped on Laos even, and apparently in 2016 Obama allocated money to clean up a remaining 90 million pieces of unexploded ordninance.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-laos-obama-uxo/u-s-gives-...

"From 1964 to 1973, U.S. warplanes dropped more than 270 million cluster munitions on the communist country, one-third of which did not explode, the Lao National Regulatory Authority for UXO says."

Of course it was a proxy war, and of course US bombing was brutal, not only to Cambodia but also to Vietnam.

> The US bombing of Cambodia was without a doubt a defining factor in this event.

Which event? US bombing was between 1970-1973. The genocide didn't start until after Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, two years after US withdrawal as per Paris peace accords. On the other hand, China was the main sponsor of the regime throughout, not unlike their role to North Korea today. They also actively involved with their "advisers" on the ground, from 1975 to 1979 when the genocide happened. So tell me what the defining factor was?

Talking about Sihanouk, he was hardly an innocent party so forgive me if I don't trust his effort to clear his conscience. He started cooperating with Khmer Rouge in 1973, giving them credibility given his enormous popularity. He became their head of state in 1975, albeit briefly. After Vietnam's army ousted Khmer Rouge, he again cooperated with Khmer Rouge at China's urging, knowing full well of their atrocity.

> You can blame China as well of course, but don't forget that the US government began aiding the Khmer Rouge at a later point in time again too.

As did all then-ASEAN's countries, all western countries, as well as China, when Khmer Rouge was no longer in power. They were against Vietnam's invasion, at the height of the cold war with the Soviet. Hypocrisy in the name of strategic goals.

Note that Vietnam wasn't an impartial party either. They invaded Cambodia with "volunteer soldiers", not because they cared about suffering Cambodia people but because they couldn't afford to have two enemies ready to wage wars at their border.

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