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Khmer Rouge Quotes

Browse 15 quotes about Khmer Rouge.

Khmer Rouge Quotes

“In 1969 the Khmer Rouge numbered only about 4,000. By 1975 their numbers were enough to defeat the government forces. Their victory was greatly helped by the American attack on Cambodia, which was carried out as an extension of the Vietnam War. In 1970 a military coup led by Lon Nol, possibly with American support, overthrew the government of Prince Sihanouk, and American and South Vietnamese troops entered Cambodia. One estimate is that 600,000 people, nearly 10 per cent of the Cambodian population, were killed in this extension of the war. Another estimate puts the deaths from the American bombing at 1000,000 peasants. From 1972 to 1973, the quantity of bombs dropped on Cambodia was well over three times that dropped on Japan in the Second World War. The decision to bomb was taken by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger and was originally justified on the grounds that North Vietnamese bases had been set up in Cambodia. The intention (according to a later defence by Kissinger’s aide, Peter W. Rodman) was to target only places with few Cambodians: ‘From the Joint Chiefs’ memorandum of April 9, 1969, the White House selected as targets only six base areas minimally populated by civilians. The target areas were given the codenames BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER, SUPPER, SNACK, and DESSERT; the overall programme was given the name MENU.’ Rodman makes the point that SUPPER, for instance, had troop concentrations, anti-aircraft, artillery, rocket and mortar positions, together with other military targets. Even if relatively few Cambodians were killed by the unpleasantly names items on the MENU, each of them was a person leading a life in a country not at war with the United States. And, as the bombing continued, these relative restraints were loosened. To these political decisions, physical and psychological distance made their familiar contribution. Roger Morris, a member of Kissinger’s staff, later described the deadened human responses: Though they spoke of terrible human suffering reality was sealed off by their trite, lifeless vernacular: 'capabilities', 'objectives', 'our chips', 'giveaway'. It was a matter, too, of culture and style. They spoke with the cool, deliberate detachment of men who believe the banishment of feeling renders them wise and, more important, credible to other men… They neither understood the foreign policy they were dealing with, nor were deeply moved by the bloodshed and suffering they administered to their stereo-types. On the ground the stereotypes were replaced by people. In the villages hit by bombs and napalm, peasants were wounded or killed, often being burnt to death. Those who left alive took refuge in the forests. One Western ob-server commented, ‘it is difficult to imagine the intensity of their hatred to-wards those who are destroying their villages and property’. A raid killed twenty people in the village of Chalong. Afterwards seventy people from Chalong joined the Khmer Rouge. Prince Sihanouk said that Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger created the Khmer Rouge by expanding the war into Cambodia.”

MoralityExtremismBombingMassacresCambodiaHistory Repeating ItselfHenry KissingerRichard NixonKhmer RougeNixon Administration
Book:Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century
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“As Pa speaks, I know he thinks someone in our family has stolen the rice. The story of the rat is not true and everyone knows it. Convinced that he realises it was me, I hide my eyes from him. Shame burns my hand like a hot iron branding me for all to see; Pa's favourite child stole from the family. As if to rescue me,Geak wakes up and her screams of hunger interrupt the incident.”

StarvationCambodiaKhmer Rouge
Book:First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
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“Mother’s tenderness toward my younger sisters caused more tears to pool in my eyes. I felt too old to be hugged and caressed by her, yet my body yearned for her touch; at least this once. I couldn't recall the last time she had shared the same warmth with me. The countless months of hardship had created an ocean of distance between us. It would be too awkward to hug her now. I sat across from her with tear-stained cheeks, wondering if she could feel my sadness and if she knew I loved her unconditionally.”

MotherHardshipCambodiaKhmer Rouge
Book:Beautiful Hero: How We Survived the Khmer Rouge
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“Las personas cultas -decían los nuevos líderes- son un lastre para los trabajadores. Las ciudades encarnan el mal. La cultura y la educación son inútiles y egoístas. El dinero y el comercio están corruptos. La fuerza de un país es el hombre trabajador, no los parásitos que viven de él. ¡Plantad arroz para que el país prospere! (...) Aquello era un holocausto. No solo de la vida, sino también del sentido común y de la razón.”

EducaciónComunismoRazónKhmer RougeAutarquíaCamboya
Book:The Rent Collector
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“As a Nobel Peace laureate, I, like most people, agonize over the use of force. But when it comes to rescuing an innocent people from tyranny or genocide, I've never questioned the justification for resorting to force. That's why I supported Vietnam's 1978 invasion of Cambodia, which ended Pol Pot's regime, and Tanzania's invasion of Uganda in 1979, to oust Idi Amin. In both cases, those countries acted without U.N. or international approval—and in both cases they were right to do so.”

WarPeaceUnited StatesIraqTyrannyGenocideVietnamUnited NationsIraq WarInternational LawPacifismCambodiaNobel Peace PrizeUgandaTanzaniaKhmer Rouge20041978Pol PotCambodian Vietnamese WarIdi AminUganda Tanzania War
Book:A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq
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“That ideology was never going to work, was it? It was just cobbled together from different beliefs: The anti-intellectualism of the Khmer Rouge, the religious persecution of the Nazis, the enforced beard-wearing from the world of folk music, and the segregation and humiliation of women from the world of golf.”

WorldDifferentHumorFunnyTogetherBeliefReligiousGolfFolksNaziPersecutionHumiliationGoing To WorkBeardTalibanIntellectualismFolk MusicEthosSubjugationRougeReligious PersecutionDifferent BeliefsKhmer Rouge
Author:Bill Bailey
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“What inspired me most was the resilience of the Cambodian people. The country is still living with the trauma of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. People lost everything - family, friends. The rich culture of Cambodia was nearly extinguished. They are a nation of survivors. And while poverty and infant mortality affect a disproportionate amount of the people there, those I met were hopeful for the future and doing the best they can with what they had.”

PeopleStillsCountryCultureLostNationsPovertyRichAmountMetsInspiredTraumaResilienceHopefulMortalitySurvivorRegimesBrutalInfantFamily FriendsLost EverythingRougeCambodiaInfant MortalityKhmer Rouge
Author:Joy Bryant
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