Song Chhang <https://www.facebook.com/chhangsong> What's going on with me today? Well, I wrote a few comments on Facebook. Then, in response to a caption under a picture of Khmer Republic troops in operation which stated that 1.7 million Cambodians were killed by the Khmer Rouge, I wrote the following comment which I hope would be of interest to those who are interested in Cambodia's history.
I wish to warn that 1.7 million killed by the Khmer Rouge is only a conservative estimate which I myself disclosed for the first time in a 1976 interview with a Florida newspaper. The number sticks on with journalists and historians. Modern revision of the number of those killed by the Khmer Rouge can increase to over three million in consideration of more recently discovered-mass graves. Because this number is so high, it is very difficult to make it credible without great pain. I also wish to point out for historical accuracy that for almost the first two years, Khmer Republic troops fought to repel the Vietcong and North Vietnamese from Cambodia. In the early time of the war, those who were to become the Khmer Rouge were only porters for the VC/NVA which invaded and occupied a good part of Cambodia. Only an estimated 800 to 1,200 Khmer Rouge troops existed in 1970 when half of a dozen top Khmer Rouge initial leaders began to organize themselves politically in the small rural Am-Leang village (ភូមអំលាំង) in Kompong Speu. It was only in late 1971 that the Khmer Rouge launched battalion-sized operations of their own against the Khmer Republic troops -- Chhang Song <http://ibuddhi.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html> -- 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 camdisc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to camdisc-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org
