Changes

Meanwhile, in 1973, the Khmer Rouge fell under the control of its most fanatical members, led by Pol Pot.  They were beyond the control of Hanoi and sought to completely annihilate Cambodian society and restart from scratch.  When they besieged the capital again in 1973, Nixon bombed 20,000 of them to their graves, saving Cambodia from a Communist takeover.  However, the overthrow of Sihanouk and the violent madness of the Khmer Rouge left the country in chaos, and the situation remained delicate.  

Meanwhile, in 1973, the Khmer Rouge fell under the control of its most fanatical members, led by Pol Pot.  They were beyond the control of Hanoi and sought to completely annihilate Cambodian society and restart from scratch.  When they besieged the capital again in 1973, Nixon bombed 20,000 of them to their graves, saving Cambodia from a Communist takeover.  However, the overthrow of Sihanouk and the violent madness of the Khmer Rouge left the country in chaos, and the situation remained delicate.  

In 1974, Congress voted not to enforce the commitments agreed to in the Paris Peace Accords.  Air support for Cambodia, South Vietnam, and Laos was cut off.  The military aid promised was scaled back or never materialized, and the North was allowed to resume support for the Khmer Rouge.  "After Watergate," said one Communist commander, "we knew we would win."  Without the logistical support provided by the Ho Chi Minh trail, the North would not have been able to launch an invasion of South Vietnam by 1975, which it predicted would be its "last chance" before the South was self-sufficiently able to defend itself.  The US canceled the bombing of Communist positions on the trail.  In Cambodia, last minute efforts on the part of the US to arrange for a peace settlement involving Sihanouk ended in failure.  When the US Congress vetoed [[Ford]]'s call for a resumption of air support in Cambodia, panic and a sense of doom filled the capital, which was mercilessly shelled for weeks by the Communists.  President Ford openly predicted a "bloodbath" and stated that the Congress's decision to abandon Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge, in particular, would lead to "an unbelievable horror story".  The US frantically abandoned Saigon, and the Pathet Lao advanced throughout Laos.

In 1974, Congress voted not to enforce the commitments agreed to in the Paris Peace Accords.  Air support for Cambodia, South Vietnam, and Laos was cut off.  The military aid promised was scaled back or never materialized, and the North was allowed to resume support for the Khmer Rouge.  "After Nixon stepped down over Watergate," said one Communist commander, "we knew we would win."<ref>http://www.grunt.com/scuttlebutt/corps-stories/vietnam/north.asp</ref> Without the logistical support provided by the Ho Chi Minh trail, the North would not have been able to launch an invasion of South Vietnam by 1975, which it predicted would be its "last chance" before the South was self-sufficiently able to defend itself.<ref>http://www.grunt.com/scuttlebutt/corps-stories/vietnam/north.asp</ref> The US canceled the bombing of Communist positions on the trail.  In Cambodia, last minute efforts on the part of the US to arrange for a peace settlement involving Sihanouk ended in failure.  When the US Congress vetoed [[Ford]]'s call for a resumption of air support in Cambodia, panic and a sense of doom filled the capital, which was mercilessly shelled for weeks by the Communists.  President Ford openly predicted a "bloodbath" and stated that the Congress's decision to abandon Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge, in particular, would lead to "an unbelievable horror story".<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/cambodia/bloodbath1.pdf</ref> The US frantically abandoned Saigon, and the Pathet Lao advanced throughout Laos.

==Aftermath==

==Aftermath==