Also posted at www.modernprogressivekhmer.blogspot.com For most of my adult life, I have tried to reconcile the conundrum of the so-called Cambodia’s “liberation.” The war of 1979 and its aftermath generate this lingering question whether the war was an invasion or liberation. Can we move beyond this debate? I think we can and we should.
It would be easy to decide if the warring parties were all foreign forces against Cambodian’s. The complexity increases exponentially when Cambodians collaborated with the invasion forces. Battalions of the Khmer Resistance Force of the United Front for National Salvation of Kampuchea (UFNSK) fought side by side with the Vietnamese forces. Was it an invasion or a liberation? To Vietnam it was a conquest and an invasion. It was Vietnam’s Machiavellian approach to settling disputes between its weaker neighbors. What were border skirmishes between the former allies during the Vietnam War against the U.S. became a full-blown war between Vietnam and the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) as the two nations deeply divided between the Soviet and the Chinese camp. “In September [of 1978] Le Duan made the timing of the Vietnamese plan clear when he told the Soviet Ambassador to Vietnam that the Vietnamese Politburo had decided ‘to solve fully this question [of Cambodia] by the beginning of 1979,’” according to Merle L. Pribbenow II, a former CIA agent and a Vietnam expert, who hailed the invasion as “one of the most seminal events of the last half century in South East Asia.” To the UFNSK may have been a rescue mission or a liberation. In my mind, the war would have been a liberation if it was conceived and planned by the leadership of UFNSK. The UFNSK was promulgated as a resistance force in Snoul, Kratie on December 2, 1978 by which time the Vietnamese generals had meticulously planned the war, and the preparations for war were already completed. While it is conceivable that the Vietnamese generals may have consulted with its Cambodian counterparts, the records, thus far, showed that the Vietnamese generals were the brains behind the invasion. In “ The Tale of the Five Generals,” Pribbenow II described the war planning and execution in breath taking details. “The Vietnamese army spent all of 1978 drafting and training new recruits, calling up reservists, rebuilding under strength units, and converting military ‘economic construction’ groups back into regular combat units.” Diplomatically, Vietnam made an informed calculation. To avoid fighting two wars at the same time, knowing that China would send troops to defend Phnom Penh if victory cannot be achieved expeditiously, the Commander of the General Staff, General Le Trong Tan and Party Secretary Le Duan traveled to inform the Soviet Union of the war plan in the summer of 1978. “ The only way China could stop Vietnam would be to send large numbers of Chinese Troops to defend Cambodia” Duan told the Soviet ambassador. The next month, according to Pribbenow II, when the Soviet diplomat expressed concern over the possibility that Chinese would block the invasion, Senior Vietnamese Party official already concluded that China would not have enough time to dispatch large military units to rescue Cambodia. The war was scheduled to begin on January 1,1979. The KR made a preemptive move by attacking Vietnam on December 21 and 22 of 1978. The Vietnamese and UFNSK force responded and capture Phnom Penh on January 7, 1979. The Khmer Rouge’s systematic killing of its citizens made an invasion a welcome relief for many Cambodians. On the one hand, the invasion stopped the killing. Without the invasion, the alternative could have been very gloom for many Cambodians. Clearly, the U.S. could not have rescued Cambodians from the KR – the Vietnam War was too fresh for the U.S to return to the region; the Soviet Union was already Vietnam’s staunchest ally; and China supported the KR. On the other hand, the invasion has been a constant source of criticism and mistrust for the current government many of whose members served in the UFNSK that became the government of Cambodia after the 1979 invasion. In the coming weeks, the debates about the war will go on. As more and more information about the war is available, I encourage my fellow Cambodians to read, research for more information, and to come to your own conclusion. I have concluded that the war was an invasion, and that the Royal Government of Cambodia, while pursuing a peaceful and friendly relation with Vietnam, should be free to determine its own destiny. Cambodia does not owe Vietnam anything. Vietnam did what Vietnam had to do to deal with the DK government. Vietnam defeated the KR. It accomplished its mission. Cambodia based on its current bilateral relationships with the rest of the world and especially with China and the U.S. seems to be free of its neighbor’s influence. It is up to all of us to find a way to put our past behind us and to focus on the future. The prime minister has stated that he will be serving as prime minister again after the 2013 election. The implication is Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) will win again. The prime minister may be correct in his prediction if the opposition parties fail to unite and fail to inspire a simple majority of Cambodians to vote for change. Based on past performance, it is highly likely that the opposition parties will fail again unless they are serious about winning by making drastic changes in the messages and leadership. With all due respect to prime minister, the picture does not look quite right when CPP can only come up the same candidate. And it is equally sad that the opposition parties keep sticking to the same strategy with the same leadership election after election. The future depends on all Cambodians to work together to find a common ground that moves the country forward. Cambodia may be poor comparing to the rest of the world, but it has enough resources and talent to move Cambodia to be developed nation. Cambodia simply needs to provide equal opportunity for all to participate in the process. While election is one of the vehicles to bring change, term limit can do wonder in spreading the responsibilities to those who are qualified to serve and to lead the nation. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
