The Khmer Rouge was the communist alternative to the government of Cambodia. In April 1975, the Rouge marched into the capital city of Phnom Penh, and began a cycle of ruthlessness, brutality, and repression. By 1979, the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot was forcibly ousted. It was replaced by a Vietnamese backed People's Republic of Kampuchea. In the early 1980s, Kampuchea was designated one of the places in the global village in which the United States hoped to reassert its global power.1 This paper will first present an overview of the Rouge, especially from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s. It will then seek to answer some basic questions about United States involvement in the region. For instance, what was the involvement of the C.I.A. with Cambodian leader Lon Nol; what role did U.S. agencies play in the overthrow of Pol Pot; what happened under Pol Pot and why did the United States fail to forcibly denounce his regime; and why was Vietnam able to exert its influence in Cambodia? Finally, the paper will conclude with the probable reasons that the United States presently supports the Rouge Coalition.
During the era of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the state of Cambodia was very much on the minds of military strategists. As well, it was clearly part of the political
1 See, for instance, Ben Kiernan, How Pol Pot Came to Power, (London: Verso Press, 1985).
Scholars characterize the years 1960 to 1967 as the early revolutionary stage in Cambodia. From 1968 to 1975 is often termed the late revolutionary stage; 1968 to 1970 guerrilla warfare, and 1970 to 1975 as combined warfare. The U.S. role in this was to send the U.S. Army and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam into Cambodia in April 1970.3 Some have even argued that part of the burden for the events in Cambodia must be shared by the U.S. Political scientist William Shawcross wrote, "In Cambodia the imperatives of a small and vulnerable people ...