Changes

the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.<ref>The Economist, February 26, 1983; Washington Post, April 23, 1985.</ref>

the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.<ref>The Economist, February 26, 1983; Washington Post, April 23, 1985.</ref>

The [[Kennedy]] administration, which had repeatedly intervened to halt right-wing coups, acquiesced in November 1963 to the overthrow of the weak South Vietnam leader Diem by a coalition of generals.  President Nixon would later characterize this decision as a catastrophic betrayal of an ally that contributed to the ultimate disintegration of South Vietnam. The ''casus belli'' for full combat intervention by the United States was an exaggerated confrontation between North Vietnamese P4 torpedo boats and the USS ''Maddox'' on August 2, 1964 and a second alleged attack by North Vietnam on August 4, 1964 which involved both the USS ''Maddox'' and USS ''Turner Joy''; the events became known as the "[[Gulf of Tonkin incident]]". Shortly thereafter, President Johnson got Congress to pass the "[[Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]]". President Johnson then deployed US military forces for warfare against North Vietnam. He had the US respond with a massive bombing campaign called "Operation Rolling Thunder". Although a swift victory over North Vietnam would have taken a matter of months, the risk of Chinese intervention was considered too great to accept.  Thus, Vietnam was fought to avoid "another Korea".

The [[Kennedy]] administration, which had repeatedly intervened to halt right-wing coups, acquiesced in November 1963 to the overthrow of the weak South Vietnam leader Diem by a coalition of generals.  President Nixon would later characterize this decision as a catastrophic betrayal of an ally that contributed to the ultimate disintegration of South Vietnam. The ''casus belli'' for full combat intervention by the United States was an exaggerated confrontation between North Vietnamese P4 torpedo boats and the USS ''Maddox'' on August 2, 1964, and a second alleged attack by North Vietnam on August 4, 1964, which involved both the USS ''Maddox'' and USS ''Turner Joy''; the events became known as the "[[Gulf of Tonkin incident]]". Shortly thereafter, President Johnson got Congress to pass the "[[Gulf of Tonkin Resolution]]". President Johnson then deployed US military forces for warfare against North Vietnam. He had the US respond with a massive bombing campaign called "Operation Rolling Thunder". Although a swift victory over North Vietnam would have taken a matter of months, the risk of Chinese intervention was considered too great to accept.  Thus, Vietnam was fought to avoid "another Korea".

President Johnson, a tormented but ultimately sincere man, could not bear the burden of the war.  His incoherent war policy, combined with the lies and deceptions he employed to sell it, resulted in a loss of public faith in his honesty.  He began to doubt himself, while his incompetent administration, exemplified by [[Robert McNamara]], began to have doubts about the morality of US policy.  Many of them would join the anti-war movement.

President Johnson, a tormented but ultimately sincere man, could not bear the burden of the war.  His incoherent war policy, combined with the lies and deceptions he employed to sell it, resulted in a loss of public faith in his honesty.  He began to doubt himself, while his incompetent administration, exemplified by [[Robert McNamara]], began to have doubts about the morality of US policy.  Many of them would join the anti-war movement.

Richard Nixon was subsequently elected President on a pledge to end the war by ''prosecuting'' it.  His shrewd diplomacy, backed with the immense intellect of his National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, [[Henry Kissinger]], hoped to [[negotiate]] an end to the war through a show of force.   

Richard Nixon was subsequently elected President on a pledge to end the war by ''prosecuting'' it.  His shrewd diplomacy, backed with the immense intellect of his National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, [[Henry Kissinger]], hoped to [[negotiate]] an end to the war through a show of force.   

Although Sihanouk designated all insurgents "red Khmers," or "Khmer Rouge," in reality there were two main indigenous insurgent groups.  One was the Khmer Viet Minh, modeled on the Pathet Lao, that Hanoi held total political authority over.  The other was called the Khmer Krahom, a fanatical Maoist cult that would soon be led by one Saloth Sar, who would later become infamous for his genocidal brutality under his assumed name, Pol Pot.  Both traced their roots back to a common cadre trained by Ho Chi Minh in China from 1925-30.  At Geneva, Hanoi had attempted to secure a KVM "zone" in northeastern Cambodia that would have been modeled on the Pathet Lao zone they secured in Laos.  This amounted to an attempt to divide Cambodia into Communist and non-Communist halves, like Vietnam.

Although Sihanouk designated all insurgents "red Khmers," or "Khmer Rouge," in reality there were two main indigenous insurgent groups.  One was the Khmer Viet Minh, modeled on the Pathet Lao, that Hanoi held total political authority over.  The other was called the Khmer Krahom, a fanatical Maoist cult that would soon be led by one Saloth Sar, who would later become infamous for his genocidal brutality under his assumed name, Pol Pot.  Both traced their roots back to a common cadre trained by Ho Chi Minh in China from 1925 to 1930.  At Geneva, Hanoi had attempted to secure a KVM "zone" in northeastern Cambodia that would have been modeled on the Pathet Lao zone they secured in Laos.  This amounted to an attempt to divide Cambodia into Communist and non-Communist halves, like Vietnam.

By 1968, the KK had 14-15,000 fighters, while the KVM had 12,000.  North Vietnam had invaded and occupied large chunks of Cambodia.  Nearly half of the country was faced with North Vietnamese or other Communist occupation.  The Viet Cong was active in the country with about 30,000 troops, and worked with the KVM to launch invasions of Cambodia from North Vietnam.  The North Vietnamese had 60,000 troops on Cambodian soil.  This would be the equivalent in the United States of nearly 4 million armed and organized troops from Mexico and Canada overrunning most of the country.  These figures are from 10 months prior to the start of any US bombing, which began in late 1968 under President Johnson.

By 1968, the KK had 14–15,000 fighters, while the KVM had 12,000.  North Vietnam had invaded and occupied large chunks of Cambodia.  Nearly half of the country was faced with North Vietnamese or other Communist occupation.  The Viet Cong was active in the country with about 30,000 troops, and worked with the KVM to launch invasions of Cambodia from North Vietnam.  The North Vietnamese had 60,000 troops on Cambodian soil.  This would be the equivalent in the United States of nearly 4 million armed and organized troops from Mexico and Canada overrunning most of the country.  These figures are from 10 months prior to the start of any US bombing, which began in late 1968 under President Johnson.

By 1969, the North had accelerated its long-term plan, dubbed "Campaign X," to conquer Cambodia.  By 1970, it had the supply lines, troops, and logistical support necessary to force the collapse of Cambodia.  Sihanouk had long done little to disguise his support for the North Vietnamese Communists, but now he grew afraid.  "Hanoi," he said, "could easily force the collapse of both Cambodia and what is left of Laos if it was not faced with American opposition."  Therefore, he encouraged the Americans to bomb KK, KVM, VC, and North Vietnamese "sanctuaries" in Cambodia so as to send Hanoi a message that it had better back down immediately.  Demographic evidence indicates that the US bombings of Cambodia, especially the Menu bombings, ultimately killed about 40,000 Cambodian combatants and civilians.<ref>Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique (L’Harmattan, 1995), pp41-8.</ref>  Some estimates go as high as 100,000 killed by the bombing.<ref>http://www.yale.edu/cgp/Walrus_CambodiaBombing_OCT06.pdf</ref>  Many leftists opposed to the war considered the bombing to be a war crime.  The Khmer Rouge claimed that 600-800,000 died in the war,<ref name="paulbogdanor.com">http://www.paulbogdanor.com/200chomskylies.pdf</ref> which is about three times the real figure,<ref>Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique</ref> and [[far-left]] activists such as [[Noam Chomsky]] have not only embraced these numbers but also attributed all of the deaths to American bombing and thus implied that the Khmer Rouge ''underestimated'' the full toll from the war<ref name="paulbogdanor.com"/>—despite the demographic impossibility of their assertions.

By 1969, the North had accelerated its long-term plan, dubbed "Campaign X," to conquer Cambodia.  By 1970, it had the supply lines, troops, and logistical support necessary to force the collapse of Cambodia.  Sihanouk had long done little to disguise his support for the North Vietnamese Communists, but now he grew afraid.  "Hanoi," he said, "could easily force the collapse of both Cambodia and what is left of Laos if it was not faced with American opposition."  Therefore, he encouraged the Americans to bomb KK, KVM, VC, and North Vietnamese "sanctuaries" in Cambodia so as to send Hanoi a message that it had better back down immediately.  Demographic evidence indicates that the US bombings of Cambodia, especially the Menu bombings, ultimately killed about 40,000 Cambodian combatants and civilians.<ref>Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique (L’Harmattan, 1995), pp41-8.</ref>  Some estimates go as high as 100,000 killed by the bombing.<ref>http://www.yale.edu/cgp/Walrus_CambodiaBombing_OCT06.pdf</ref>  Many leftists opposed to the war considered the bombing to be a war crime.  The Khmer Rouge claimed that 600–800,000 died in the war,<ref name="paulbogdanor.com">http://www.paulbogdanor.com/200chomskylies.pdf</ref> which is about three times the real figure,<ref>Marek Sliwinski, Le Génocide Khmer Rouge: Une Analyse Démographique</ref> and [[far-left]] activists such as [[Noam Chomsky]] have not only embraced these numbers but also attributed all of the deaths to American bombing and thus implied that the Khmer Rouge ''underestimated'' the full toll from the war<ref name="paulbogdanor.com"/>—despite the demographic impossibility of their assertions.

In 1970, North Vietnamese troops invaded and attempted to overrun the entire country of Cambodia at the request of the indigenous Communist forces, who had surrounded the capital and hoped one small push would be enough to overthrow the weak Lon Nol regime.  Nixon responded forcefully with an incursion and bombing campaign to force the North Vietnamese out.  Justifying his actions, he stated:  

In 1970, North Vietnamese troops invaded and attempted to overrun the entire country of Cambodia at the request of the indigenous Communist forces, who had surrounded the capital and hoped one small push would be enough to overthrow the weak Lon Nol regime.  Nixon responded forcefully with an incursion and bombing campaign to force the North Vietnamese out.  Justifying his actions, he stated:  

An ongoing example of such liberal bias is the work on Vietnam by  the extreme left-wing propagandist, historical revisionist  and genocide-denier Marilyn Young, which is required reading in many universities, even though she denies the North Vietnamese "land reform" bloodbath by relying entirely on official Communist press releases (as well as Moise and Porter, who in turn rely entirely on official North Vietnamese press releases).  According to her, Communist Vietnam killed only 15,000(!) people at most during the "reform" and all other accounts of its atrocities were fabrications made up by the Western media (hence North Vietnamese media is a more reliable source than any in the West—a point she quite explicitly argues); ''even though official North Vietnamese government records document over 172,000 executions of individuals named as landowners during the 1954-6 period alone''.<ref name="rfa.org"/>

An ongoing example of such liberal bias is the work on Vietnam by  the extreme left-wing propagandist, historical revisionist  and genocide-denier Marilyn Young, which is required reading in many universities, even though she denies the North Vietnamese "land reform" bloodbath by relying entirely on official Communist press releases (as well as Moise and Porter, who in turn rely entirely on official North Vietnamese press releases).  According to her, Communist Vietnam killed only 15,000(!) people at most during the "reform" and all other accounts of its atrocities were fabrications made up by the Western media (hence North Vietnamese media is a more reliable source than any in the West—a point she quite explicitly argues); ''even though official North Vietnamese government records document over 172,000 executions of individuals named as landowners during the 1954-6 period alone''.<ref name="rfa.org"/>

Young ignores the testimony of former North Vietnamese government officials like Hoang Van Chi, as well as foreign witnesses like Gerard Tongas; she denies the irrefutable evidence of the "disappearance" of at least 150,000 landowners from 1953-6;<ref name="ReferenceA">http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/landreform.html</ref> she dismisses US intelligence; accuses Vietnamese experts like Lam Thanh Liem of lying; and mocks the survivors of Communist genocide as CIA propagandists.  She endorses [[Noam Chomsky]]'s nonsensical lies, ''supports'' the North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam, paints a glowing picture of the concentration camps, and reduces the role of Khmer Rouge atrocities to 500-1,000,000 by citing the obscure and unknown Pol Pot apologist Michael Vickery—despite the 1,386,734 victims of execution in the mass graves!   

Young ignores the testimony of former North Vietnamese government officials like Hoang Van Chi, as well as foreign witnesses like Gerard Tongas; she denies the irrefutable evidence of the "disappearance" of at least 150,000 landowners from 1953 to 1956;<ref name="ReferenceA">http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/vietnam/landreform.html</ref> she dismisses US intelligence; accuses Vietnamese experts like Lam Thanh Liem of lying; and mocks the survivors of Communist genocide as CIA propagandists.  She endorses [[Noam Chomsky]]'s nonsensical lies, ''supports'' the North Vietnamese invasion of South Vietnam, paints a glowing picture of the concentration camps, and reduces the role of Khmer Rouge atrocities to 500–1,000,000 by citing the obscure and unknown Pol Pot apologist Michael Vickery—despite the 1,386,734 victims of execution in the mass graves!   

Young further blames America for Pol Pot's rise, attributes all of the deaths in the entire war solely to the United States, and (on page 310) argues that the "boat people" really fled Vietnam not due to Communist repression, but rather the US trade embargo.  She also simply denies the Hue Massacre.  

Young further blames America for Pol Pot's rise, attributes all of the deaths in the entire war solely to the United States, and (on page 310) argues that the "boat people" really fled Vietnam not due to Communist repression, but rather the US trade embargo.  She also simply denies the Hue Massacre.  

Young's denial of the "land reform" bloodbath is not unique.  Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and journalist on U.S. national security policy,  wrote the key bloodbath-denial work, titled simply "The Myth of the Bloodbath."  Professor Robert F. Turner, drawing on his knowledge of thousands of captured Viet Cong documents, scores of interviews with Communist defectors, and extensive research on the "land reform;" carefully refuted all of Porter's charges, demonstrating that they could not withstand any serious critical scrutiny and that some 300,000 people were, in fact, killed during the genocide.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/deniers/vietnam/turner.pdf</ref>   

Young's denial of the "land reform" bloodbath is not unique.  Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and journalist on U.S. national security policy,  wrote the key bloodbath-denial work, titled simply "The Myth of the Bloodbath."  Professor Robert F. Turner, drawing on his knowledge of thousands of captured Viet Cong documents, scores of interviews with Communist defectors, and extensive research on the "land reform;" carefully refuted all of Porter's charges, demonstrating that they could not withstand any serious critical scrutiny and that some 300,000 people were, in fact, killed during the genocide.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/deniers/vietnam/turner.pdf</ref>   

Porter is shown repeatedly contradicting himself, lying, making judgments that lack evidence and credibility, and accusing others of mistranslating a language he could barely speak.  Although Porter's work was apparently sufficient to convince Young, its manifest sloppiness is contrary to honest scholarship.  Vietnamese scholar Hoang Van Chi (1913-1988), who worked as a revolutionary and diplomat  writing history and political science, also responded to Porter, who accused him of being a CIA propagandist in a ridiculous ad hominem attack.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/deniers/vietnam/chi.pdf</ref>  Porter would later deny the Cambodian genocide and express admiration and outspoken support for Pol Pot in the infamous ''Cambodia:  Starvation and Revolution.''

Porter is shown repeatedly contradicting himself, lying, making judgments that lack evidence and credibility, and accusing others of mistranslating a language he could barely speak.  Although Porter's work was apparently sufficient to convince Young, its manifest sloppiness is contrary to honest scholarship.  Vietnamese scholar Hoang Van Chi (1913–1988), who worked as a revolutionary and diplomat  writing history and political science, also responded to Porter, who accused him of being a CIA propagandist in a ridiculous ad hominem attack.<ref>http://www.paulbogdanor.com/deniers/vietnam/chi.pdf</ref>  Porter would later deny the Cambodian genocide and express admiration and outspoken support for Pol Pot in the infamous ''Cambodia:  Starvation and Revolution.''

Many US reporters admired the Khmer Rouge, while prominent intellectuals openly denied the Cambodian genocide.  During the genocide, human rights abuses in Chile and South Korea got more coverage than Cambodia.<ref>"Irvine derived from the Television News Index and Abstracts a statistical table on media coverage of human rights in Chile, South Korea, North Korea, Cuba and Cambodia. The news organizations covered were the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the three television networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC in 1976. The findings were startling. In table 4.1, the reader will see that, contrary to the Porter-Hildebrand-Chomsky-Herman claims, the New York Times and Washington Post published four and nine stories on human rights in Cambodia, respectively. According to table 4.1, Chile received more than eight times the coverage "on human rights problems" as did Cambodia. South Korea was covered merely 5.6 times more often. The total allocation of media resources to Cambodia paled in comparison to the massive campaign against Chile and South Korea, two non-communist countries. Perhaps the reason why Chomsky and Herman used anecdotal evidence to prove their theories was because they knew that aggregate analysis would show they were wrong."  Sophal Ear. "The Khmer Rouge Canon."  http://jim.com/canon.htm</ref>  Some journalists, mocking the claims of a bloodbath, were so bold as to sing the following lyrics to the tune of "She Was Poor But She Was Honest": "Oh will there be a dreadful bloodbath/ When the Khmer Rouge come to town?/ Aye, there'll be a dreadful bloodbath/ When the Khmer Rouge come to town."<ref>http://jim.com/canon.htm#ch2</ref>

Many US reporters admired the Khmer Rouge, while prominent intellectuals openly denied the Cambodian genocide.  During the genocide, human rights abuses in Chile and South Korea got more coverage than Cambodia.<ref>"Irvine derived from the Television News Index and Abstracts a statistical table on media coverage of human rights in Chile, South Korea, North Korea, Cuba and Cambodia. The news organizations covered were the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the three television networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC in 1976. The findings were startling. In table 4.1, the reader will see that, contrary to the Porter-Hildebrand-Chomsky-Herman claims, the New York Times and Washington Post published four and nine stories on human rights in Cambodia, respectively. According to table 4.1, Chile received more than eight times the coverage "on human rights problems" as did Cambodia. South Korea was covered merely 5.6 times more often. The total allocation of media resources to Cambodia paled in comparison to the massive campaign against Chile and South Korea, two non-communist countries. Perhaps the reason why Chomsky and Herman used anecdotal evidence to prove their theories was because they knew that aggregate analysis would show they were wrong."  Sophal Ear. "The Khmer Rouge Canon."  http://jim.com/canon.htm</ref>  Some journalists, mocking the claims of a bloodbath, were so bold as to sing the following lyrics to the tune of "She Was Poor But She Was Honest": "Oh will there be a dreadful bloodbath/ When the Khmer Rouge come to town?/ Aye, there'll be a dreadful bloodbath/ When the Khmer Rouge come to town."<ref>http://jim.com/canon.htm#ch2</ref>