Friday, October 27, 2006


It is difficult to understand what happened to this country 30 yearsago and why. The Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. Ledby Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for an estimated 1.5-3million deaths in Cambodia. Today we visited a "Killing Field" wherethousands of people were executed. They executed educated people asthey wanted a population of peasants who wouldn't question thegovernment.The Killing Fields were horrifying. There is a monument for the massgraves with nearly 9,000 skulls in it. As you walk along the pathwaysbetween the exhibits there are human bones and teeth coming up throughthe ground.A tree on the grounds was used to execute young children and babies bygrabbing their feet and whipping their heads against the trees. Theskulls in the exhibit have cracks from axes and bamboo as they didn'twant to waste bullets on people. Many people were buried alive.Pol Pot made people relocate to the countryside as he wanted to purifythe Cambodian people for comunism. He executed doctors, lawyers, andother educated people. The schools, hospitals, and museums weredestroyed.In 1979 Vietnam helped remove Pol Pot from power. Afterwards the USsupported the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot. They refused to recognizeCambodia as a country (through the UN) which made things verydifficult as the new government was fighting a civil war with theKhmer Rouge, still being led by Pol Pot. It is amazing that thepeople in this country do not have more resentment for the US,Thailand, and other countries that supported this terrible regime.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Again, I have also walked these same places, except the KR were still a threat and nearly got us.

Allen B.