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| It is believed that up to 2 million Cambodians died under CIA/Pol Pot's regime (AFP/BBC) |
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| Cambodian Tomb Raider Angelina Jolie (Lara Croft) |
Most Americans are not likely aware that anything much ever happened in Cambodia -- Cambodia? Where's Cambodia? -- even as our government illegally bombed it during our war on Vietnam and our CIA fomented mass murder and crimes against humanity by cultivating dictators.
It does the same now in the geopolitical Middle East just as it did all over Latin America. The CIA's activities there were exposed first hand by the highest ranking officer to ever blow the whistle:
Philip Agee, author of Inside the Company: CIA Diary. This seems to be in keeping with the way-of-empire and our American imperial method of making war as we learned it from England, Germany (WW II era Nazis, who came to live and work for the U.S. shadow government), Spain, France, Rome, Greece... It seems to be the Western way.But Americans might know the name Pol Pot from the late 1970s, and we have all certainly heard the expression "killing fields." After all, the world's most famous Cambodian citizen is superstar actor Angelina Jolie. And America's amazing "Buddha Girl" Ratanayani is a Cambodian-American!
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| The Buddha at Battambang, Cambodia (Kim Seng/captainkino.com/flickr.com) |
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| Reptilians/Nagas |
But long before that -- mirroring the Mesoamerican empires of ancient Mexico (Aztec, Toltec, and Olmec) -- it was one of the world's greatest empires extending in the jungles from the center of the world at Angkor Wat and its suburbs, which were once home to 1,000,000 residents. It covers more ground than Paris and was built with more stone than the pyramids of Egypt, according to National Geographic.
The greatness is evident because Cambodia's former glory was not limited to the City of Angkor with its central wat (Buddhist temple). Other great stone cities have also been discovered and made much of by National Geographic, but other equally great ruins remain yet to be discovered.
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| Glass pool reservoir at Angkor Wat, Cambodia (Platongkohphoto/flickr.com) |
But their innovative water system collapsed and their apparent worship of nagas (reptilians, snakes, Quetzalcoatl-like off-planet overlords) ushered in their ruin as a "Rome," "Washington," or "Vatican" -- the capitals of other massive empires.
"The Killing Fields," winner of three Academy Awards, tells the story of a New York Times reporter and his Cambodian aide harrowingly trapped in Cambodia's 1975 Khmer Rouge revolution. Sam Waterston, John Malkovich, and "Best Supporting Actor" (Oscar and Golden Globe winner) Haing S. Ngor star in this shattering true story. Rated: R.
"The Killing Fields," winner of three Academy Awards, tells the story of a New York Times reporter and his Cambodian aide harrowingly trapped in Cambodia's 1975 Khmer Rouge revolution. Sam Waterston, John Malkovich, and "Best Supporting Actor" (Oscar and Golden Globe winner) Haing S. Ngor star in this shattering true story. Rated: R.
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| Jolie's Cambodian shaman/Buddhist tattoos |
Americans would have heard of the expression "The Killing Fields" from the popular film, and Pol Pot from the chorus of the Dead Kennedy's ironic and popular punk classic "Holiday in Cambodia," its stone building sunk in jungle thickets from Angelina Jolie as actress (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.
WARNING: Graphic and gruesome violence! (CNN.com, May 1, 2009) CNN's Dan Rivers profiles members of the Khmer Rouge, as they face justice before a U.N.-backed trial.
WARNING: Graphic and gruesome violence! (CNN.com, May 1, 2009) CNN's Dan Rivers profiles members of the Khmer Rouge, as they face justice before a U.N.-backed trial.
Top Khmer Rouge leaders convicted: found guilty of crimes against humanity
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| Ancient megalithic Angkor Wat and its Buddha and kings' faces (Dvillaret/flickr.com) |
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(BBC) There was a round of applause as the verdict was reached, according to BBC correspondent Jonathan Head.Two top Khmer Rouge leaders have been jailed for life after being convicted by Cambodia's UN-backed tribunal of crimes against humanity
Nuon Chea, 88, served as leader Pol Pot's deputy and Khieu Samphan, 83, was the Maoist regime's head of state. They are the first top-level leaders to be held accountable for its crimes.
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| Soum Rithy, who lost his father and three siblings, reacts to verdict in Phom Penh (Reuters) |
Up to two million people are thought to have died under the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime -- of starvation and overwork or executed as enemies of the state.
Judge Nil Nonn said the men were guilty of "extermination encompassing murder, political persecution, and other inhumane acts comprising forced transfer, enforced disappearances, and attacks against human dignity."
Lawyers for the pair said they would appeal against the ruling. "It is unjust for my client. He did not know or commit many of these crimes," Son Arun, a lawyer for Nuon Chea, told journalists. They will remain in detention while this takes place.
"Anger remains"
"Anger remains"
The regime sought to create an agrarian society: cities were emptied and their residents forced to work on rural co-operatives. Many were worked to death while others starved as the economy imploded.
During four violent years, the Khmer Rouge also killed all those it perceived as enemies -- intellectuals, minorities, former officials -- and their families. More
"Holiday in Cambodia"
(DKs555) "Apocalypse Now" illegally in Cambodia, where the US/CIA had no right or justification to be. Yet, it dropped more cluster bombs and committed as many if not more secret war crimes in Cambodia and Laos than it did in Vietnam.
"Holiday in Cambodia"
(DKs555) "Apocalypse Now" illegally in Cambodia, where the US/CIA had no right or justification to be. Yet, it dropped more cluster bombs and committed as many if not more secret war crimes in Cambodia and Laos than it did in Vietnam.
