2020 IB Extended Essays

12

bribe attempts and therefore decided to bomb the Eastern Border of Cambodia to root out

the Viet Minh 28 . After a Viet Cong attack on Saigon, Nixon’s frustration grew, he said to

Kissinger “We cannot tolerate one more of these without hitting back” 29 , and so the two

decided to order the bombing of Cambodia. These bombings did not work in Lon Nol’s

favour and many Cambodian citizens turned against the government, as civilians lost their

lives in the bombings. Many of Lon Nol’s supporters turned to the Khmer Rouge.

As the Khmer Rouge began to pose a real threat to the Nol government in 1971, the motives

for the bombings shifted from wanting to eliminate North Vietnamese bases to wanting to

eliminate Nol’s internal opposition: Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. Ironically and unfortunately for

the U.S the bombings that were intended to destroy the Red Khmers, directly led to their

rise to power 30 . Led by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge exploited U.S. aerial bombardment as a

means of propaganda. The bombings not only encouraged more Cambodian citizens to

support the Khmer Rouge, but also drove North Vietnamese troops further into Cambodia.

There, North Vietnamese troops shared their anti-American sentiments and further

influenced Cambodians to join Pol Pot. Prior to the bombings, the Khmer Rouge was barely

a political group, as Pol Pot himself stated, they were, “fewer than five thousand poorly

armed guerillas…scattered across the Cambodian landscape, uncertain about their strategy,

tactics, loyalty, and leaders.” 31 But as bombs continued to fall, the Khmer Rouge jumped at

the opportunity to use the American carpet-bombing as a source to recruit new members

28 Owen, T & Kiernan, B 2007, Bombs Over Cambodia: New Light on US Air War, Common Dreams, viewed 11 April 2020, < https://www.commondreams.org/views/2007/05/13/bombs-over-cambodia-new-light-us-air-war > 29 Gowan, P 2020, A plan to win socialism in America, Jacobin Magazine, viewed 10 April 2020, < https://jacobinmag.com/2019/02/a-plan-to-win-socialism-in-america > 30 Llewllyn, J, Southey, J & Thompson, S 2020, Lon Nol, Alpha History, viewed 11 April 2020, <

https://alphahistory.com/vietnamwar/lon-nol/ > 31 Pol Pot 1984, interview by Cai Ximei, May 1984