Someone told me " It's not too difficult to imagine in fifty years Cambodia will not exist. It will be swallowed completely by Thailand and Vietnam."

Anyone looking for fascinating tales or ludicrous anecdotes will find a gold mine in Cambodia's recent history and current government. Social disorder and political chaos - the results of decades of civil war and misgovernment- were all around me during my short stay in Phnom Penh. For example, although prostitution is patently illegal , it is practised openly and conspicuously. While the majority of Cambodians labour in abject poverty , government officials with nominal salaries of $20 a month drive $50,000 cars. For the past 27 years, Khmers have demonstrated an astonishing willingness to kill each other. In the light of all this , one wonders what warped historical process could have created a country in such disarray.

My good friend in Phnom Penh , along with her family and friends are my tour guides through the history , culture and the Phnom Penh area itself. She has lived a life that none of us would want. When Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge on the 17th of April 1975 she was at high school . That school is still there in Phnom Penh , but the Khmer Rouge used it as a prison to hold , interrogate, torture and murder innocent men woman and children. The photographs of the victims cover the walls . The implements of torture remain in the classrooms/cells. The blood of the victims remains on the walls and floors. I shed a lot of tears at this place . My thoughts and heart are for the victims and their families. My friend survived while her mother, father, brother and sister were all murdered by the Khmer Rouge. Their crime ? Being professional . A family with a doctor , a teacher and skilled workers were the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide. These are precisely the people that Cambodia desperately need right now to rebuild its shattered economy, society and culture. I will tell you my friends story another time with her permission.

Learning Cambodia's history is interesting , but also crucial in understanding Cambodia today.

The most glorious era of Khmer history was from the tenth to fifteenth centuries, when the Angkor kings ruled an empire that stretched over most of South East Asia. They used their wealth to build fantastic monuments - such as the justifiably famous Angkor Wat - and they developed a cultural tradition that still thrives in Cambodia, Thailand and Laos today. For recent Cambodiam history we can use 1953 as a starting point. In that year, Prince Norodom Sihanouk negotiated independence from the French, who were bogged down in war in Vietnam. Sihanouk was very popular and dominated Cambodian politicn Cambodia, Thailand and Laos today. For recent Cambodiam history we can use 1953 as a starting point. In that year, Prince Norodom Sihanouk negotiated independence from the French, who were bogged down in war in Vietnam. Sihanouk was very popular and dominated Cambodian politics until 1970. Although it was not paradise , Cambodia in the 1950's and most of the 1960's was largely content , peaceful and prosperous. In fact, a delegation from newly independent Singapore showed up in 1965 to learn how to run a successful country.

Trouble began in the late 60's with the ongoing war in Vietnam . The Communists were using neutral Cambodia as a base and sanctuary to attack South Vietnam and the US retaliated - first in the form of "secret" bombings and then with invasions. Sihanouk tried to keep Cambodia out of the war , but it was difficult because first the Communists, then the Americanswere violating Cambodian neutrality. Sihanouk did not want to take too strong a stand against the Vietnamese. Firstly he reasons that while the Americans would leave just like the French had, Vietnam and Cambodia would always be neighbours. Secondly the Chinese were paying a commission for transporting supplies to the Vietcong through Cambodia, so Sihanouk's government was getting its ands on a lot of cash and weaponry.

This situation continued until March 1970, when pro-american , anti communist elements in Sihanouk's government led by General Loon Nol staged a parliamentary coup and deposed the Prince from office while he was out of the country. Loon Nol renamed the country the Khmer Republic and looked to the United States for massive backing to fund the subsequent fight against the Khmer Communists and their Vietnamese allies. Prince Sihanouk sought to regain power from Loon Nol , so he allied himself with the Communists - whom the world would come to know as the barbaric Khmer Rouge - under Pol Pot. From 1970 to 1975 they fought a terrible civil war. On one side were the Khmer Rouge , who had been in the jungle for years and now had the prestige of the Prince behind them . On the other side was the Khmer Republic , an increasingly corrupt , incompetent and autocratic government almost completely bank rolled by the US treasury. The Americans also contributed directly to the war effort through a merciless bombing campaign - dropping 50% more tonnage on rural cambodia in 1973 than on all of Japan during the entire Second World War.

Is this where we might say " God bless America " ? Well I certainly wouldn't !

In the end the Khmer Republic was doomed , primarily because of the unbelievable corruption and incompetence of its leaders.

One of the many charges of outrageous Khmer Republican corruption was revealed in documents graciously shown by someone whose Western Union Finance Company in Vientiane served as a message and intelligence centre for the region between 1965 and 1976. His documents show that key khmer Republican leaders were part owners of charte air services which the americans contracted to airlift supplies to Phnom Penhas it fell under siege from the Khmer Rouge in late 1974 and early 1975. Thus, central figures in the Loon Nol regime had a direct financial interest in not breaking the siege that was choking its own government and capital city. This siege of course destroyed the front line morale of Loon Nol's soldiers and created miserable conditions for the hundreds of thousands of refugees who came to Phnom penh to escape the US bombing in the countryside.

A more serious charge , which is possibly being reported to the general public for the first time ever is the commong knowledge that attempts were made to end the civil war by bringing together pro- Sihanouk leaders in the Khmer Rouge- Sihanouk alliance, and moderate elements in the Khmer Republican leadership. The conventional wisdom is thatthe 'secret' effortfell through only after it was prematurely leaked to the world press by third country diplomats involved. However, some documents can prove that Sihanouk refused to countenance any negotiations whatsoever. Given the disasterous civil war raging at that time and the brutal reign of madness that resulted after the Khmer Rouge took power, the charge that Sihanouklet his personal pique at being deposed keep him from exploring a way to prevent the tragedies which haunt Cambodia to this day is a dark stain on any assessment of this Cambodian leader.

A reasonable estimate is that between one and two million people ( of a population of about seven million) died from starvation , disease, overwork or execution during the Khmer Rouge genocide between 1975 and 1979. This is also documented in some detail in the movie The Killing Fields.

The Vietnamese launched a full scale invasion in December 1978 after continuing Khmer Rouge provocations. The Vietnamese troops were welcome liberators at first because anything was better than life under the Khmer Rouge. They quickly drove the Khmer Rouge into the jungle and installed a Khmer Rouge defector ( Hun Sen ) into power. I believe he is still in an authorative position at this time, possibly Second Prime Minister.

From 1979 to 1989, Vietnamese troops and the Hun Sen forces fought a civil war against an alliiance calling for the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Cambodia. The resistance consisted of the Khmer Rouge, the Royalists and a third Buddhist, anti Communist faction. Hun Sen and the Vietnamese were backed by the Soviets and the resistance was supported by Asean , the US and China. .

Under US and Chinese pressure, the Vietnamese agreed to withdraw thier troops in 1989 and in 1991 the warring factions signed the Paris Peace accords. These accords ended the civil war and called for power sharing among the four factions to be followed by an election - supervised by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia ( UNTAC )- and the formation of a new government based on the election results. .

The UNTAC period itself has many interesting stories of which i can go into again . There are a few UNTAC veterans still around and their stories are so incredible that they could only come from a UN operation. I will just say at this stage that the whole enterprise was ludicrous.

Did you know that rice production went up during Pol Pot's regime ? Sure , but they sold it all to China to buy weapons , so the people starved.

So there we have the history in brief. I wonder if Cambodia could ever actually disappear? Here are some points to make you think ! The CPP forced their 'compromise' after they lost the election by threatening a secession of seven provinces bordering Vietnam. It was ludicrous , but it worked because the UN and Sihanouk backed down . They couldn't risk it . But what if they hadn't and the CPP really tried to split - it would have been an autonomous country at war with the rest of Cambodia. It would only have been a few days before Vietnamese troops were inside cambodia sayint they are there at the request of their freedom fighting comrades. Then the provionces would gradually be absorbed into Vietnam in reality and probably on paper too. The same kind of thing could happen in Western Cambodia too. Leng Sary demanded and got virtual autonomy for splitting from the Khmer Rouge and joining the government . So far he has been able to maintain independence because there has been no disagreement with Phnom Penh. But if there was some kind of conflict and Phnom Penh sent troops to his region, you can imagine waht might happen. He woould ask Thailand for help and the Thais would give it . They would do anything to get that area and all the timber and gems. Think about it ! The Baht is already legal tender there.

It is disheartening to see a country destroy itself . I just hope that common sense will prevail and the politicians get their act together. The good people in Cambodia deserve a future of happiness and security, education and employment . This can be achieved by reforms in the government and a close working relationship with the worlds leading countries and its neighbours . K.F 09/01/00.