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The U.S. was motivated by the desire to buy time for its withdrawal from Southeast Asia, to protect its ally in South Vietnam, and to prevent the spread of communism to Cambodia. The Cambodian government estimated that more than 20 percent of the property in the country had been destroyed during the war.
According to Tom Fawthrop, U.S. support for the Khmer Rouge guerrillas in the 1980s was “pivotal” to keeping the organization alive, and was in part motivated by revenge over the U.S. defeat during the Vietnam War.
Cambodia is currently one of the poorest countries in the world. Its per-capita income is only US$260. However, if adjusted for purchasing power parity (which takes into account the low prices for goods in Cambodia), its per-capita income jumps rather dramatically to US$1300.
Following their victory, the Khmer Rouge, who were led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, and Khieu Samphan, immediately set about forcibly evacuating the country’s major cities. In 1976 they renamed the country Democratic Kampuchea.
Khmer Rouge |
Political position |
Far-left |
The Cambodian campaign (also known as the Cambodian incursion and the Cambodian invasion) was a brief series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia in 1970 by South Vietnam and the United States as an extension of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War.
Although a number of factors and influences, domestic and international, contributed to America’s defeat in Vietnam, the overriding reason the United States lost the war was one that has often fueled nations’ losing military efforts throughout history: the fundamental error in strategic judgment called “refighting the
Wars The United States Didn’t Win
- War of 1812. The War of 1812 lasted for two years between 1812 and 1814.
- Powder River Indian War.
- Red Cloud’s War.
- Formosa Expedition (Paiwan War)
- Second Samoan War.
- Russian Civil War.
- Korean War.
- Bay of Pigs Invasion.
The US had lost the battle, revealing that the mere sight of US troops would not reverse the military balance in Korea. By early August, the North Korean troops had pushed back the US and South Korean troops all the way to Naktong River, which is located about thirty miles from Pusan.
Government of Vietnam
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a one-party state. A new state constitution was approved in April 1992, replacing the 1975 version. The central role of the Communist Party was reasserted in all organs of government, politics and society.
China had become communist in 1949 and communists were in control of North Vietnam. The USA was afraid that communism would spread to South Vietnam and then the rest of Asia. It decided to send money, supplies and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese Government.
Explanation: The U.S. Army reported 58, 177 losses in Vietnam, the South Vietnamese 223, 748. In terms of body count, the U.S. and South Vietnam won a clear victory. In addition, just about every North Vietnamese offensive was crushed.
The conflict in Vietnam took root during an independence movement against French colonial rule and evolved into a Cold War confrontation. The Vietnam War (1955-1975) was fought between communist North Vietnam, backed by the Soviet Union and China, and South Vietnam, supported by the United States.
Why didn’t the US just roll over North Vietnam and occupy the entire country? The military was afraid of a repeat of Korea. US leadership knew that if a full scale invasion was launched, the Chinese and possibly the Russians would retaliate; Beijing made this very clear.
Cambodia itself was brought under Vietnamese control with the occupation of Phnom Penh. After the Siamese–Vietnamese Wars, first in the 1830s and then a decade later, Cambodia became a vassal state under Vietnam and Siam, with the country becoming culturally and administratively Vietnamized.
If Vietnam had not invaded Cambodia in December 1978 to overt
hrow the Khmer Rouge then Cambodia would have descended into a vicious civil war between the various Khmer Rouge factions, which were already in a state of war with each other at the time of the Vietnamese invasion.
What started the Khmer Rouge?
Yes, they can. Although Cambodian law prohibits foreigners from owning land, they can legally own properties, be it condominiums, apartments, or offices, as long as it is not located on the ground floor of a building (and at least 30% of the other properties in the building are Cambodian owned).
The objective of the invasion would be to sever the Ho Chi Minh trail leading from North Vietnam through Laos into South Vietnam. The jungle trail is the main route for reinforcements and supplies being transmitted from North to South Vietnam.
The fighting in Cambodia also created a refugee problem. Cambodia’s population declined dramatically after 1975, as people fled the Khmer Rouge. Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the communists eliminated the country’s economic infrastructure and social institutions. They abolished money, schools and private property.
The reason cited for the attack was to support China’s ally, the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia, in addition to the mistreatment of Vietnam’s ethnic Chinese minority and the Vietnamese occupation of the Spratly Islands which were claimed by China.
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