Paris Peace Accords 23 Oct. 1991

Sunday, October 26, 2014

SIDESHOW by William Shawcross - final, frenzied use of American air power

Seen and heard on Ms. Theary C. Seng's Facebook accounts: 
www.facebook.com/theary.c.seng


SIDESHOW
by William Shawcross:

...final, frenzied use of American air power.

The White House ignored its agreement with Congress that the intensity of the bombing during the last forty-five days not be increased. In June [1973], 5,064 tactical sorties were flown over Cambodia [neutral country size of Michigan, not at war with US, which US illegally invaded as "a holding action...one of those things like a rear guard you drop off...troika's going down the road and the wolves are closing in, and so you throw them something off and let them chew it. That was Cambodia" -Mataxis of the My Lai massacre fame and now in charge of Cambodia]; in July this was raised to 5,818; and the first half of August, 3,072 raids were flown. In those forty-five days, the tactical bombing increased by 21 percent. The B-52 bombing also increased, though those planes were already almost fully committed. By August 15, when the last American planes dropped their cargoes, the total tonnage dropped since Operation Breakfast [in my province of Svay Rieng] was 539,129. Almost half of these bombs, 257,465 tons, had fallen in the last six months. (During the Second World War 160,000 tons were dropped on Japan.) On Air Force maps of Cambodia thousands is square miles of densely populated, fertile areas are marked black from the inundation (p.297).


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