I know the focus is on New Orleans these days, yet we cannot forget that we are still fighting two wars. I read an article yesterday in the Huffington Post saying that the U.N. Ambassador to Iraq is proclaiming that invasion of Syria is eminent. I couldn’t help but feel reminded of the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam conflict. I posted the following response, and then reposted here on Soapblox with hyperlinks (since Huffington’s doesn’t allow them), so that you all can be properly informed if you choose to be. I think it was a valuable lesson in our history that no one ever talks about, considering it was such a tremendous failure.
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An invasion of any other countries in the region is folly, and sounds an awful lot like the Cambodian campaign Nixon waged during the Vietnam conflict. The United States has learned this first hand in this case. The end result was a ravaged and devastated nation, and 1.7 million Cambodians killed.
In the case of Cambodia, American intelligence believed that insurgents were invading the country from the north along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which dips into Laos and finishes along the Cambodian-Vietnamese border. Nixon began a series of secret bombings (secret from the American people and Congress) in 1969 called “Operation Breakfastâ€. This did not stop the flow of insurgents. Many in the Nixon Administration blamed King Norodom Sihanouk, and supported a Coup which placed General Lon Nol in command of the country. Nixon then openly invaded Cambodia, telling the American people it was to capture an NVA stronghold. This however proved to be based on faulty intelligence (surprise, surprise), and the operation was a failure (of course the American people were not told this). U.S. troops and equipment flooded into the new regime regardless. Still the insurgents kept coming. So Nixon began bombing strategic places in Cambodia, in the hopes of stopping the insurgent flood. Of course all this did, was make the Lon Nol government very unpopular in the countryside, and opposition grew.
The deposed King Norodom Sihanouk began supporting a band of extremist rebels called the Khmer Rouge. The rebels gained popularity by way of Lon Nol’s unpopularity. They began to gain strength as the Vietnam War was beginning to wind down. Americans had had enough of war, and justifying support for another shaky South-East Asian regime proved unpopular. United States troops eventually began withdrawing from Cambodia and left the country. The Khmer Rouge began to circle Phnom Penh (the nation’s capital.
Cambodia would eventually succumb to the Khmer Rouge, a regime so miserable and genocidal, they would kill 1.7 Million of their own people before eventually being removed by the communist Vietnamese government. So much for the Domino theory! This unfortunately did not bring peace, and the country would fight another civil war for another decade. Sadly, Regan’s administration stuck their big noses their too, and as usual, on the losing side. What’s worse, it was the side of the Khmer Rouge!
If you’re in a fight, there is no reason to attack you’re opponents friend in the crowd. In most cases you’ll get stuck fighting two people. Even for a heavyweight (like the U.S.), 2 fighters are tough. Oh and btw, the U.S. is already engaged in 2 wars, and it stretched our resources so thin, we couldn’t take care of hurricane victims.
There is no doubt in my mind that Iraq will go down in history as THE WORST diplomatic move in history. Adding Syria to the flames would only make it go from Greek Tragedy to unjustifiable madness! Maybe it is time to take to the streets! Because they don’t seem to hear us!