April 17, 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the Black Death, the anthhmer Rouge entry into Cambodia’s capitol city of Phnom Penh. The scourge that followed will remain a blot on world history forever. Two—perhaps three—million people were murdered or starved to death by communist criminals inspired by their hatred for the United States.
Cambodia was a war that should not have happened. So was Laos. U.S. secret societies with government acronyms infiltrated, advised, cajoled and lied to these other peoples. Races that in no way were related to Vietnamese. The U.S. sent illegal sorties into Cambodia and involved the Laotians. Anything to work their will in a war they knew they were losing. Don’t forget communist China was well into the thick of things supporting the other side.
An Empire in Asia
Jesus was dead a hundred years when Cambodia became part of the Chinese Funan empire. Six hundred years later these Khmers overthrew their Funan dominators. There was civil war until 801 AD when King Jayavarman II established the Khmer dynasty and brought peace to the people. This became the golden age for the Khmer people. It was then that Angkor was established as Jayavarman II’s imperial city.
The Khmers ruled over a vast territory that is now Thailand, Laos, South Vietnam, and Cambodia. Wars, wars, and more wars continually ate away at Khmer territory until by the beginning of the 18th century Cambodia was reduced to its present borders. At King Ang Duong’s request France established a protectorate over Cambodia in 1863. In 1941, King Norodom Sihanouk ascended to the Cambodian thrown. He was only 19 years old.
King Sihanouk began a campaign against the French in 1952. He went into exile in 1953. Guerrillas formed by coalition forces of anti-French Vietnamese called Viet Minh attacked and used terror to force the French out. When Dien Bien Phu fell to the Viet Minh on May 7, 1954, France surrendered. They marched proudly out in defeat.
The Geneva Agreements seemed to settle the warfare. They didn’t settle the wars. Cambodia declared itself neutral as Communist forces attacked Laos and Vietnam. That didn’t stop North Vietnam from invading Cambodia. They controlled provinces inside the country by the mid-1960s.