១១ មករា ២០១៦ / 11 January 2016 – Communist Cambodians and Vietnamese
កាសែត ខេមបូឌា ដេលី ៃថ្ងនេះ បានចុះផ្សាយ លិខិត របស់ខ្ញំុ មួយ ដែលមាន ខ្លឹមសារ ថា,
បើ អត់មាន យួន កម្មុយនីស្ដ ពីដើមទី ក៏អត់មាន ខ្មែរ ក្រហម ដែរ។
យួន បានជួយ ខ្មែរ ក្រហម ឲ្យឡើង កាន់អំណាច រូចទៅ គេ ញុះញង់ ឲ្យខ្មែរ សម្លាប់ខ្មែរ។
បន្ទាប់មកទៀត គេ ថា, គេ មកជួយ រំដោះយើង ពីខ្មែរ ក្រហម ដើម្បី ឲ្យយើង ដឹងគុណគេ,
ធ្វើឲ្យគេ ងាយស្រួល យកទឹកដីយើង។
My letter in today’s Cambodia Daily saying in substance that if there were no communist Vietnamese in the first place there would be no Khmer Rouge either.
The Cambodia Daily, January 11, 2016
In “PM Nixes Ban on Dual-National Party Leaders” (January 8), you also exposed the lingering controversy surrounding the historical and political meaning for Cambodia of the January 7, 1979 event: liberation from the Khmer Rouge, or invasion and occupation of our country by the Vietnamese army, or both?
On this specific point I have a clarification to make.
My interpretation of the event did not – as you wrote – “resuscitate an old trope espoused by the remaining Khmer Rouge in the years after their downfall, claiming that much of the death under their regime were driven by Vietnamese agents.
In fact, when I wrote on my Facebook page, “If there were no communist Vietnamese in the first place there would be no Khmer Rouge either,” I only referred to the historical fact that, immediately after the March 18, 1970 coup by General Lon Nol, the communist Vietnamese – made up of North Vietnamese regular troops and Viet Cong guerrillas – invaded Cambodia, dealing severe blows to Lon Nol’s army and giving the fledgling Khmer Rouge a decisive boost without which the latter would not have been able to seize power in Cambodia five years later.
Until the spring of 1975, both the communist Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge jointly fought to “liberate” their countries from the “American imperialists” and their “puppets.” They were brothers in arms, and the simultaneous collapse of the pro-U.S. regimes in Vietnam and Cambodia was their common victory from a historical and geopolitical perspective.
Therefore, given the relative sizes of the two groups, it does make sense to assert that, without the initial and crucial support from the communist Vietnamese in the context of the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge would not have been able to come to power and to commit their crimes.
Sam Rainsy
CNRP President
VIETNAMESE MEDDLING HELPED THE KHMER ROUGE TAKE POWER
In “PM Nixes Ban on Dual-National Party Leaders” (January 8), you also exposed the lingering controversy surrounding the historical and political meaning for Cambodia of the January 7, 1979 event: liberation from the Khmer Rouge, or invasion and occupation of our country by the Vietnamese army, or both?
On this specific point I have a clarification to make.
My interpretation of the event did not – as you wrote – “resuscitate an old trope espoused by the remaining Khmer Rouge in the years after their downfall, claiming that much of the death under their regime were driven by Vietnamese agents.
In fact, when I wrote on my Facebook page, “If there were no communist Vietnamese in the first place there would be no Khmer Rouge either,” I only referred to the historical fact that, immediately after the March 18, 1970 coup by General Lon Nol, the communist Vietnamese – made up of North Vietnamese regular troops and Viet Cong guerrillas – invaded Cambodia, dealing severe blows to Lon Nol’s army and giving the fledgling Khmer Rouge a decisive boost without which the latter would not have been able to seize power in Cambodia five years later.
Until the spring of 1975, both the communist Vietnamese and the Khmer Rouge jointly fought to “liberate” their countries from the “American imperialists” and their “puppets.” They were brothers in arms, and the simultaneous collapse of the pro-U.S. regimes in Vietnam and Cambodia was their common victory from a historical and geopolitical perspective.
Therefore, given the relative sizes of the two groups, it does make sense to assert that, without the initial and crucial support from the communist Vietnamese in the context of the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge would not have been able to come to power and to commit their crimes.
Sam Rainsy
CNRP President
No comments:
Post a Comment