Word: lon
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...Cambodia, as in South Vietnam, the regime is now completely dependent on American aid. Its resources have run out--either ferretted away down the well-greased tubes of official corruption, or expropriated by the Khmer--and Lon Nol has become a pathetic junkie for American dollars. The Cambodian army is disorganized, inefficient and apathetic it has almost no popular support. Almost immediately after the coup that brought Lon Nol to power in 1970, the Khmer Rouge began to expand rapidly, and since then they have been slowly winning support in the countryside and steadily regaining the ground Lon Nol took...
...began, though, he has become sympathetic to the Khmer and they, in turn, have given him at least tacit support. In a series of pronouncements from Peking during the last few years, Sihanouk has indicated, in phrases reminiscent of Nixon, that he would like to return to Cambodia after Lon Nol's ouster as a kind of self-styled elder statesman. The Khmer have given little indication of what role they expect Sihanouk to play, but it seems that their current support is part of a long-term strategy of building a popular front including patriots loyal to Sihanouk...
...Khmer are fairly independent. They have a long-standing feud with the Vietnamese and they are apparently angry with the Soviets for maintaining an embassy in Phnom Pehn after the coup and they include as members both nationalists and communists. One other thing is certain: they would crush Lon Nol in a matter of weeks if the airlift is stopped...
...supplies the airlift brings into Phnom Pehn everyday are the only legs Lon Nol has to stand on. Without the ammunition, the army would have to surrender. Without the rice, the refugees would starve, as some are doing now, Lon Nol would be forced to fice to avoid execution, and we would have gained nothing. Even with the aid, as Defense Secretary Schlesinger admitted, we can only hope to preserve the status quo. The administration indicates it is hoping to get just enough money to last until the rainy season starts in June, hoping the Khmer will then agree...
...those nations with military hardware--not U.S. military personnel--where the government and the people of a country want to protect their country from foreign aggression." Two more fallacies: the war in Cambodia is a civil war, and the people of Cambodia have been mistaken for the person of Lon Nol. In fact, we (that is our government) are continuing to impose ourselves on a people who don't want us there. We are involved in a war where we have no business, and we are not even supporting the right side...