Posted on 04/10/2008 8:01:03 AM PDT by Interesting Times
The death of Pol Pot, 23 years to the day after he and the Khmer Rouge seized control of Cambodia, occasioned long backward glances at one of the 20th century's most horrific genocides. It was noted everywhere that the communist reign of terror in Cambodia lasted nearly four years and that at least 1 million human beings -- by some estimates as many as 2 1/2 million -- were murdered in an orgy of executions, torture, and starvation.
"In the name of a radical utopia," The New York Times recalled in its long obituary, "the Khmer Rouge regime had turned most of the people into slaves.... Dictatorial village leaders and soldiers told the people whom to marry and how to live, and those who disobeyed were killed. [Those] who did not bend to the political mania were buried alive, or tossed into the air and speared on bayonets. Some were fed to crocodiles." Nearby was a photograph of human skulls -- emblem of the dreadful "killing fields" in which the communists butchered a quarter of Cambodia's people.
But nowhere in the Times story was there a reminder that the Khmer Rouge was able to seize power only after the US Congress in 1975 cut off all aid to the embattled pro-American government of Lon Nol -- and that it did so despite frantic warnings of the bloodbath that would ensue. President Ford warned of "horror and tragedy" if Cambodia was abandoned to the Khmer Rouge and pleaded with Congress to supply Lon Nol's army with the tools it needed to defend itself.
To no avail. US troops had come home two years earlier, but American antiwar activists were still intent on effecting the "liberation" of Southeast Asia. Radicals like Jane Fonda, David Dellinger, and Tom Hayden stormed the country...
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
This one is worth a bookmark.
Liberals don’t need to be reminded of their past mistakes because they’re perfectly willing to do the same thing again... and again... and again. After all, they know what’s best for all of us - and the world.
To no avail. US troops had come home two years earlier, but American antiwar activists were still intent on effecting the ``liberation'' of Southeast Asia. Radicals like Jane Fonda, David Dellinger, and Tom Hayden stormed the country, denouncing anyone who opposed communist victory in Cambodia and Vietnam. On the campuses, in the media, and in Congress, it was taken on faith that a Khmer Rouge victory would bring peace and enlightened leadership to Cambodia.
....and newspapers like the Boston Globe.
Just another article proving that liberals have always been on the wrong side of history.
The American Left, and interestingly, Putin, say the same thing today.
Perhaps these morons thought that the Cambodians being dead was in their best interests. After all, if they were dead they would no longer be subject to the horrors of war /sarc
When one stops to comtemplate taking the statements of say... Al Gore or Ted Turner to their logical conclusion, how different would their “utopia” of a no-CO2 world differ from the Khmer Rouge? Large portions of the world’s population would be doomed to poverty and famine... and of course the “select” (like Al & Ted) among us would be exempt from the laws the rest of us must live by!
I’m amazed how many leftists like the NY Slimes (et al) at first praised the great socialist “experiment” in Cambodia till it became undeniable that a slaughter was taking place... then their convienent amnesia takes place... and they act as if they were outraged by the genocide all along!!!! And somehow(?) still manged to blame the U.S. for it!!!! Go figure?
Has any news organization or intelligence agency seriously investigated the “death” of Pol Pot?
His death, as I recall, was reported by the Cambodian Khmer Rouge through the Chinese Communist Party media.
A grainy photo of some old Asian guy, lying motionless on a cot with his eyes closed, was supposed to be the proof.
At the time, no one in the West seemed seriously concerned that the death of one of history’s greatest mass murderers might have been staged.
Has anyone ever sought DNA samples?
Why are we so certain that Pol Pot is not living in quiet and invisible retirement in China or some other sympathetic country?
Take careful note of what these people consider "enlightened leadership". They would do it here if they could.
Two million dead out of a seven million population is no problem to them, whether they consider it acceptable collateral damage or, more likely, a necessary sacrifice to build their "enlightened" order.
Another one of their heroes - Che Rivera (sp). As we all know, liberalism is definitely a disease. What's the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over expecting different results or something like that.
Agreed, except that their support of the communist genocide was hardly a mistake. Our goal shouldn't be to shame the unshameable leftists, but to inform the moderates about their criminal history.
Yes. I was amazed that they printed Jacoby's article.
Hollywood salved its itchy conscience 10 years later with the movie “The killing Fields” and the tragedy was brought home to main stream America, just like 10 years after the events in Sierra Leone, they do “The Blood Diamond” and let themselves off the hook. Looks like a 10 year lead time is needed befor these heinous events can be made into “entertainment” which is pretty much the way most Americans learn history. How long before vanguardist progressive Hollywood does Tibet or Sharia or Chavez or Chechnaya?
Two million dead out of a seven million population is no problem to them, whether they consider it acceptable collateral damage or, more likely, a necessary sacrifice to build their "enlightened" order.
Omelets... eggs...
Pol Pot was a monster, but he didn't kill two million people with his own hands. You have to have a cadre of fanatics eager to slaughter for the cause to accomplish that...
BTTT
This is why I said on another thread that although "The Killing Fields" is a great movie, it made me sick at the time to watch it. Because that poor American reporter who felt so sorry for the suffering of his Cambodian assistant was one of the people RESPONSIBLE for that atrocity.
It wasn't Richard Nixon who was responsible, as the media have made everyone believe through their rewrite of history. It was the leftist news reporters and the leftist politicians and the leftist students and faculty who were responsible.
The blood of millions was on their hands, yet the movie tries to make it look as if they were entirely innocent of it.
Unfortunately, that last sentence may be the one thing in this article that Jacoby got wrong.
It's starting already. Look at how ethanol mandates have changed the price of food in just one short year, and the riots in Haiti have saved 5 people from death by starvation by making sure they are already dead.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.