Word: lon
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...President Nixon sought again to clarify and advance U.S. policy in Viet Nam, the situation was made even murkier by events in neighboring Cambodia. There the menacing movements of 40,000 Communist troops threatened the poorly equipped army of the new Premier, General Lon Nol, and there was even a danger that the capital, Phnom-Penh, might fall (see THE WORLD). The new Communist challenge posed another, potentially fateful series of questions...
...President must decide how much military aid, if any, and what kind, the U.S. should provide in response to Lon Nol's personal appeal for help. If Phnom-Penh were to fall, so would the non-Communist government of Cambodia. The North Vietnamese troops would then have even safer sanctuaries and supply routes from which to harass South Viet Nam. But any widening of U.S. involvement would raise political protests at home. The President's televised report to the nation only underscored the dilemma. He bluntly warned Hanoi's leaders that they would be taking "grave risks...
Calming Effect. While the Administration agonized over a response to Lon Nol, it allowed the South Vietnamese to send about 1,500 captured Soviet-designed AK-47 automatic rifles to the Cambodian army. Senator William Fulbright's Foreign Relations Committee sought an explanation from Secretary of State William Rogers-and then, without waiting for his promised testimony this week, ordered two staff members to go to Cambodia to investigate any U.S. involvement. Democratic Senator Edmund Muskie complained that linking troop withdrawals to events in Cambodia and Laos was to "broaden our commitment" dangerously...
ONLY six weeks ago, Washington cautiously listed Cambodia as a possible plus in its Indochina ledger. No one had much faith in Premier Lon Nol's vows to clear 40,000 Communist troops from their sanctuaries near the Viet Nam border; still, it was thought that the new regime could be counted upon to make life difficult for the enemy, if nothing else. But the Cambodian army has proved weaker than anyone expected, and the new regime, far from giving the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong trouble, has mainly been giving them ground...
Nixon Doctrine. The U.S. insists that it has not taken part in the ground fighting in Cambodia. Nevertheless, Washington now faces an uncomfortable military decision. Taking to national radio, Premier Lon Nol announced that "the gravity of the present situation" made it necessary for Cambodia "to accept all unconditional foreign aid, wherever it may come from." Next day an itemized list of needed hardware was handed to U.S. Ambassador Lloyd Rives. Even though troop support was not even mentioned, the Nixon Administration is understandably chary of committing further military aid of any kind to Southeast Asia. For one thing...