The bulk of published histories on Cambodia have been penned by those who supported Hanoi during the Vietnam War. Consequently those authors have skewed their accounts to lay disproportionate blame on the United States (especially with the bombing) whilst downplaying Hanoi’s pivotal role in the Cambodian tragedy.
'Explaining Cambodia' attempts to redress this.
Cambodia is stunningly simple to comprehend. As a friend in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh said to me just before that city fell to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975 "You will see. North Vietnam made our war because they want Cambodians to kill Cambodians. Then when there are no more of us left, they will take our country." Or, as another put it to me, “First the Khmer Rouge will kill. Then the Vietnamese will come and take our country.”
Earlier, in 1974, after wandering up through Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, I'd branched off from Bangkok and stumbled into the Indochina war. After skimming South Vietnam I settled in Phnom Penh. Sharing a room with locals who included Khmer Rouge defectors, I grew to understand what was really going on with the conflict in Cambodia and how it all came about. I evacuated in April 1975 just prior to the Khmer Rouge seizure of the city.
I returned when Cambodia reopened in 1992 and remained there in quiet observation for 18 years. My subsequent interpretation unravels the background to the decades-long Indochina deceit of the Vietnamese Reds.
'Explaining Cambodia' attempts to redress this.
Cambodia is stunningly simple to comprehend. As a friend in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh said to me just before that city fell to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975 "You will see. North Vietnam made our war because they want Cambodians to kill Cambodians. Then when there are no more of us left, they will take our country." Or, as another put it to me, “First the Khmer Rouge will kill. Then the Vietnamese will come and take our country.”
Earlier, in 1974, after wandering up through Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, I'd branched off from Bangkok and stumbled into the Indochina war. After skimming South Vietnam I settled in Phnom Penh. Sharing a room with locals who included Khmer Rouge defectors, I grew to understand what was really going on with the conflict in Cambodia and how it all came about. I evacuated in April 1975 just prior to the Khmer Rouge seizure of the city.
I returned when Cambodia reopened in 1992 and remained there in quiet observation for 18 years. My subsequent interpretation unravels the background to the decades-long Indochina deceit of the Vietnamese Reds.
