Word: cambodias
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...pessimism descends over a land haunted by shadows and fears, rumors and bad dreams, there is no obvious leader to guide Cambodia toward a more sane solution. The capricious Sihanouk, who ruled in the 1950s and '60s, stands as a symbol of better times. But his erratic behavior in recent months has baffled Cambodians and international observers alike as he has bounced between conciliation with Hun Sen and collaboration with the Khmer Rouge. Son Sann maintains links with a second guerrilla force whose disciplined units are outnumbered by troops preoccupied with smuggling and black-market trading. And the Khmer Rouge...
...exhausted nations, Cambodia faces the more dire future. A 19- nation conference convened in Paris to hammer out a settlement between the Cambodian government and the tripartite resistance collapsed in August over the fate of the Khmer Rouge. Hun Sen refused to consider any power-sharing arrangement with the guerrillas who had turned Cambodia into a charnel house, and Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the country's former ruler and the titular head of the resistance, refused to come into a government without them. The combatants and their assorted international sponsors had hoped to reach agreement before the Vietnamese pullout. Now, with...
Last week the U.S. attempted to lay blame for the policy impasse on Hanoi's doorstep. Said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher: "We believe that Viet Nam cannot evade its responsibility to help achieve a comprehensive political solution in Cambodia." Until now, the U.S. led Hanoi to believe that the withdrawal of its troops from Cambodia would be enough to rescue Viet Nam from its international isolation. But with that formulation, Washington destroyed Hanoi's hopes for prompt normalization of relations with the outside world and an end to the trade embargo that has wrecked Viet Nam's economy...
...Cambodia, the current political stalemate is certain to prove costly % for the country's weary civilians. Deserters from Hun Sen's army tell stories suggesting that some of the 40,000 regulars lack both the esprit and basic fighting skills required to hold back the resistance forces. The army's recent practice of shanghaiing young conscripts off the streets is not likely to generate goodwill -- or good soldiers. The national battalions are supplemented by local and provincial militias, perhaps 150,000 in all, which Hun Sen hopes will do better at defending their homes. As yet, both the army...
...forces should be able to hold off the poorly disciplined forces of Sihanouk and Son Sann, perhaps 20,000 in all. The declared aim of their offensive was to test the strength of the government and force resumption of political talks. The Khmer Rouge are a different matter. Inside Cambodia the common wisdom is that Khmer Rouge strength and ability are overrated. But the view from the border, where most of the troops are based, is far less sanguine. "The Khmer Rouge are in this fight to the end," says a guerrilla- warfare expert in Thailand. Observes an international relief...