Word: khmer
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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China provides most of their weapons, North Viet Nam transports them to Cambodia and food is confiscated from peasants in "liberated" areas. Although North Vietnamese troops at first fought alongside the Khmer insurgents, Hanoi's forces since 1972 have served only as advisers. Soviet aid has been minimal...
...trying to buy time. The supplemental aid might allow the Phnom-Penh government to withstand the insurgents" siege until July, when the Mekong River, swollen by heavy rains, will overflow, making it difficult for fighting to continue at its current level. Washington believes that the Khmer insurgents, who have suffered heavy losses in the long assault on the capital, might recognize that it would be better to negotiate than to gird up for yet another bloody dry-season offensive in the autumn...
...they feel certain of victory on the battlefield. State Department officials recently disclosed that the U.S. made six attempts in the past year (variously using Peking, Hanoi and Moscow as intermediaries) to open a dialogue with the rebels. "All our efforts have been rebuffed," complained President Ford. The Khmer insurgents' leaders refuse to negotiate while Lon Nol continues to head the Phnom-Penh government. Moreover, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger apparently made no attempt during any of his seven visits to Peking to meet with Prince Sihanouk...
...sure, but most experts think not. The insurgents have burnt entire villages that they have captured; there are reliable reports that Khmer Rouge troops have killed and strung up scores of civilians in areas they have "liberated." (Both sides have treated prisoners brutally.) On the other hand, the rebels' clandestine radio promises that only Lon Nol and six of his top colleagues ("the seven traitorous chieftains") would be executed; all others who cooperate with the new government have been assured of pardons. If the capital falls, the U.S. is prepared to evacuate the regime's top leaders...
Saigon would suffer a severe psychological blow; ARVN morale might drop if its officers and troops began to worry about continued U.S. assistance to South Viet Nam. It is also possible that arms and ammunition now going to the Khmer insurgents would be redirected to the Communist forces fighting Saigon. Militarily, not much else would be changed, since the North Vietnamese have been using sanctuaries in Cambodia with impunity for several years...