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Khmer Rouge: Inhuman genocide of its own people in Cambodia
Khmer Rouge: Inhuman genocide of its own people in Cambodia

Video: Khmer Rouge: Inhuman genocide of its own people in Cambodia

Video: Khmer Rouge: Inhuman genocide of its own people in Cambodia
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When the media mention the time of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia, the emphasis is on the inhuman methods of genocide of their own people.

The atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, the suffering of people are enumerated, and eerie pictures of the torment of women and children are shown. All this causes a strong emotional reaction, an internal protest from the viewer, which makes it difficult to discern the process of social engineering that was carried out with the Khmer people.

In this article, we will try to reveal the goals, objectives and methods of this project / experiment, its behind-the-scenes participants and stakeholders. And for a start, you should discard your emotions and look at the situation more broadly.

« Social engineering- a set of techniques, methods and technologies for creating such a space, conditions and circumstances that most effectively lead to a specific required result, using sociology and psychology”[1].

This is from Wikipedia. We will add that with the help of certain methods it is possible to create a person, a group of people and even a whole nation, which will possess certain (given) qualities, worldview. At the same time, the qualities themselves are determined even before the start of the experiment and depend on the solution for which task the tool is created - in this case: the people.

Analyzing the events in Cambodia, it was possible to draw some parallels with other similar events from the history of mankind, that is, this project is not the first. But let's talk about everything in order. And let's start by reminding readers of those events that many know, but from a slightly different angle. Let's go through the history with broad strokes, touching on only those events that will more fully reveal the process under consideration.

Cambodia is a global training ground for social engineering. Stages of a global project

Stage 1. Protectorate of France until 1953

From 1863 to 1953, France, as a metropolis, carries out its civilizing mission in Cambodia: improving medical care, opening secular primary schools in French, the emergence of a school for the training of skilled workers and a college with a five-year study period, the creation of modern infrastructure, the development of agricultural sectors (rice cultivation and rubber production).

At the end of the 40s of the XX century, the most talented Khmer students went to study in France (this reminded us of the training of our “young reformers”, who later became the personnel base of “perestroika”), where the “Association of Khmer Students” was created, which was based on left-wing radical positions.

Then these "young reformers" return to their homeland, where in 1953 France, under pressure from nowhere from the slogans for independence, curtailed its patronage and left Cambodia. And we remember that 1953 is the year of the assassination of Stalin and the start of the "creeping coup" in the USSR.

Stage 2. Khmer Buddhist Royal Socialism of Norodom Sihanouk until 1970

Since 1953, the "eccentricities" (dizzying maneuver) of Prince Sihanouk begin, who even deserves a hit on the cover of the Times for this. Sihanouk, "enlightened by the Buddha himself," renounces the throne in favor of his father and creates a massive political movement Sangkum, the People's Socialist Community (does not resemble the phrase "National Socialism"?).

He announces plans to build "Khmer Buddhist Royal Socialism" in Cambodia. At the same time, Sihanouk repeatedly emphasizes in his articles and emphasizes that this "Khmer socialism" has nothing to do with Marxism and is opposed to communism, as well as National Socialism.

By 1958, two-thirds of Cambodia's population had entered Sangkum, and it was there that the teachings of Po Kombao were replicated, "washing" the brains of all Cambodian peasants and laying the foundations for the ideology of the future "Khmer Rouge". Norodom Sihanouk relied heavily on China in his policies.

Stage 3. General Lone Nol's reign until 1975

In 1970, during the height of the American-Vietnamese war, as a result of a coup, an American protege, General Lon Nol, came to power in Cambodia. Sihanouk nicknamed Lon Nol "black" because of the sunburned face in the village (he was from the village), when the inhabitants of the city cared about the whiteness of their skin.

The general was fond of popular beliefs and witchcraft, was a deeply religious reactionary and a staunch nationalist. Imperial myths about the former greatness of the "Angkor state" ("Khmer empire"), which absorbed Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, began to walk around the country and excite the imagination of illiterate peasants. Lon Nol began to cultivate the image of the "ancient Khmer" as the progenitor of the peoples of Southeast Asia.

At the same time, the Khmers themselves, perhaps, were not particularly aware of their ancient genealogy, they were more irritated by the wealth of the undeservedly fattened bureaucracy with the colossal poverty of the bulk of the peasants. Under Lon Nola, any rich man was supposed to be shot on the spot for a direct look in the eyes. However, General Nol became famous not for this, but for the fact that he prepared the basis for the coming to power of the Khmer Rouge, but more on that below.

Stage 4. The rise to power of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge

Let's start with the biography of Pol Pot. The leader of the future revolution Pol Pot (from "politique potentielle" - "politics of the possible" or "potential politician", real name - Salot Sar) was born in 1925 in the family of a wealthy landowner. His cousin lived in Phnom Penh and was the concubine of the crown prince.

At the age of 9, he moved to stay with relatives in Phnom Penh, and began his studies at a Buddhist monastery. And in 1937 he entered the École Miche Catholic elementary school, where he had already received a European school education. In 1949 he received a government scholarship (not otherwise, my sister tried) to get higher education in France.

There he (in addition to studying) began to attend a Marxist circle, was interested in the works of Trotsky, joined the ranks of the French Communist Party. However, he did not finish his studies and returned to Cambodia in 1953.

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In Cambodia, he and his fellow Marxist circles (about 350 people) go to work in schools, where they teach the children of the poor not only knowledge, but also inspire them that the organization of their society is unfair: some bend their backs, growing rice, while others at this time have fun at balls in the capital.

I must say that a teacher in Southeast Asia is almost God, and ideas are easily fixed in the minds of young people. By the way, they will later become the main personnel base for the Khmer Rouge.

A number of events are taking place in the country at this time. In 1953, France gave freedom to its former colony, Cambodia, and put its own man in charge. It was the same Norodom Sihanouk. However, in 1970, the head of the country was overthrown by his aide Lon Nol, with the support of the United States. That is, in fact, a pro-American regime is being established. Since 1965, a war has been going on in the region between the United States and Vietnam, and Vietnamese guerrillas are hiding in Cambodia. Lon Nol takes an unprecedented step: he allows the Americans to bomb the territory of Cambodia. From 1969 to 1973, 2.7 million tons of American bombs were dropped! [2]

The Khmer Rouge are opposed to this, and receive the support of the people. In mid-January 1975, they launched an offensive and took Phnom Penh on April 17. On April 25-27, 1975, an Extraordinary National Congress was held in Phnom Penh, at which it was announced that the new authorities intend to build in Cambodia "a national community of harmony, which will be based on equality and democracy, the absence of exploiters and exploited, rich and poor, where everyone will be work". Democratic Kampuchea was declared (officially - since 1976).

Pol Pot has a tough policy. The population from the cities is being evicted. Banks explode, the gold obtained is used to buy weapons in China. The money is canceled. Technique, medicine are canceled. Religion is canceled. Women's jewelry is banned, Bright clothes are also declared overkill, everyone is dressed in the same gray uniform. Since 1976, it has been forbidden to cook food at home and consume it alone. Even names are canceled, people are given numbers.

This is explained as follows. The Khmers are a nation with a great past (who does not know the majestic buildings of Angkor). Angkor is a complex included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

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Angkor

But we degraded because we were mired in luxury and mixed blood in interracial marriages with neighboring peoples. Therefore, we must first build a society of universal equality - when everyone grows rice, and then the knowledge of our ancestors will return, and we will become great again. And you also need to cleanse the blood by destroying the half-breeds and displacing other nations (mainly the Vietnamese) outside the country.

In the process of distributing people to communes, children were separated from their parents. Marriages were canceled, and men and women met according to distribution and only for the sake of conception. From the age of three or four, children from families were taken to camps, where they were brought up as "children of the revolution."

In about three and a half years, the population of Cambodia has decreased (according to various sources) from one third to half. Ethnic cleansing (mostly of Vietnamese blood) and border conflicts led the Vietnamese army to take Phnom Penh and establish its own regime. Pol Pot remained the leader of the Khmer Rouge after their defeat and displacement in 1979 from most parts of Cambodia. Its representatives were part of the "Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea", recognized by the UN until the early 1990s, as the legitimate government of Cambodia.

Its influence began to fade after the start of the UN-controlled national reconciliation process. Influential supporters began to leave Pol Pot. However, he was not punished for his crimes and died a natural death in 1998 (according to other sources, he was poisoned).

How much do we know from world history of famous people who were not punished for their crimes and calmly lived out their days? After the overthrow, Pol Pot even married a second time and had a daughter. We think that such a fate awaits only those who have completed the task of their "curators", having received their support and patronage for this.

We have given you a brief chronicle of events, and now we will consider them from the perspective of a controlled process, where all the roles have been assigned, and the accompanying events are not accidental.

Coordinated play

Considering the most familiar period of Cambodia's history to a wide circle of readers, we began with the first persons of the revolution, and the first thing that caught my eye was the place of training for the future special operation. During their studies, the future Pol Pot and his comrades joined the "Association of Cambodian Students", where, presumably, they were imbued with the ideas of Jean-Paul Sartre and Michel Foucault, well-known ideologues of the left, Maosism, "Utopia" by Thomas More. In Europe they know a lot about how to prepare future revolutionaries. It turns out that in France they received information, which, layering on Buddhism, formed fighters for the idea out of them. They already imagined methods of achieving the set goals.

Upon arrival at their homeland, they chose the most suitable material for "processing". Young people are suggestible, blindly trust their teachers, they make loyal and cruel warriors (if not to say - thugs). Most of the Khmer Rouge army was boys between 5 and 17 years old. After going through the baptism of blood, they could no longer stop, the support of their mentors instilled in them a sincere conviction in the right cause, and the weapon in their hands made them omnipotent.

Let's move a little away from Pol Pot and his comrades, and look at the work that other "players" have simultaneously carried out with the Cambodian population. King Sihanouk people rigidly divided the population of the country into two parts. About 4 million lived in the fields and grew rice, the rest about 3.5 million lived in cities (mainly in the capital), where science, art, and other attributes of the "upper class" were concentrated. While Sihanouk was on a visit to the USSR, he was overthrown by General Lon Nol (according to other sources, Sihanouk himself asked Nol to overthrow him in order to push the Soviet Union to military assistance to Cambodia). General Nohl is pursuing a pro-American policy, and the peak of popular discontent was his authorization for the Americans to bomb their own people. These actions paved the way for the arrival of the Khmer Rouge, people greeted them already as their liberators. About a year earlier, the Americans had found an excuse to cut off military aid to the Lon Nol regime, and therefore he was doomed to defeat. Suspicious, isn't it?

After some time during the reign of Pol Pot, they tried to remove him from the leadership of the Chinese government, as he discredited socialism, but this intention of the leaders of the PRC was resisted not only by Deng Xiaoping (until April 1976 - the third most powerful and influential figure in the ruling hierarchy of then China), but also influential structures in Thailand and the West, especially in the United States.

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Henry Kissinger and Deng Xiao Ping; The United States and China together supported the Pol Pot U. S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, left, talks with Deng Xiaoping Deng Hsiao-ing, Chinese Premier, in Beijing on Monday, Nov. 27, 1974. An unidentified interpreter is flanked by the two leaders. (AP Photo / Bd)

In general, there is a lot of information on the Internet that the Pol Pot project was personally supervised by Henry Kissinger, who remains an influential politician to the present time (as of the spring of 2020). We agree with this, and add that after Pol Pot provoked Vietnam to war by border conflicts and was overthrown, the United States blocked international aid to Cambodia, insisting that it go to the legitimate (in their opinion) government - that is, Pol Pot.

For about 20 more years, the guerrilla war continued, and the Khmer Rouge disappeared as a political force only with the death of their leader. And one more thing: Pol Pot in 1979 - 1998, until his death - that is, for almost 20 years - was not just anywhere, but … at a former US CIA base in a remote area of the Cambodian-Thai border, in fact, on the rights of extraterritoriality!

Results of the experiment

So, the facts have been stated, it remains to summarize what the global “players” have achieved with the hands of their “wards”, how the people of long-suffering Cambodia have changed, what “parameters” of the nation have been changed or corrected as a result of the experiment.

First … Every nation has its own culture. Culture is not only songs and dances, but it is all information that is transmitted from generation to generation, not by genetic means.

During the development of a nation, its representatives - scientists, poets, writers, engineers, doctors, teachers - supplement this information array with new information and algorithms. So gradually the nation goes the way from a primitive culture to a highly developed civilization. And although the Khmer culture of that time could not be attributed to the latter, the first actions of the Khmer Rouge practically "nullified" the culture.

B OThey shot most of the intelligentsia, the rest, devoid of names and family ties, worked without straightening their backs in the rice fields. The civilizational component of the Khmer culture was "zeroed out", only ancient knowledge, traditions, foundations remained. Why it was necessary to "zero" the culture will be seen later.

Second … Pol Pot built the reasoning for his transformations on the fact that the Khmers are a great nation that was able to build such a majestic Angkor. And although the religion was persecuted and most of the Buddhist monks were shot, the temples were not touched. They were the pride of the nation.

After the change of the regime, by the way, the restoration of elements of the former culture began, for example, the Apsara dances, which in 2003 was recognized by UNESCO as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”.

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The new king of Cambodia is now restoring and promoting this world's slowest ballet, but we'll come back to him. Apsaras are dancers whose sophisticated image has come down to our days from a distant era, as evidenced by the images on the walls of Angkor Wat.

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By the way, the current monarch Norodom Sihamoni, the son of Sihanouk by profession and vocation, is a ballet dancer. He never wanted to become a king, but, apparently, someone asked him very “well,” and since 2004 he has been holding this post. Although he is a nominal head of state (the country is run by the prime minister), he puts a lot of effort into the development of the arts. The people of Cambodia see this, feel the importance and significance, the greatness of their ancient culture.

Why have we touched on the topic of ancient arts? Experience the first manageable parameter in social engineering. Khmer awareness that they are descendants of great ancestors. No one had the feeling that something like this has already happened in history? Does this not remind you of the actions of Moses, after whose sermons the Jews came out of the Sinai desert with a worldview based on the fact that they are God's chosen people?

This is far from an insignificant foundation for a worldview, especially if we understand under what tasks the nation is being "educated". The great past can serve as the basis for the feeling of being chosen for some important mission that no one else can accomplish. We will return to this a little later, but for now we will continue with the "controlled parameters".

Third … Pol Pot, by the hands of his adherents, destroyed almost half of the 7.5 million population of the country. In fact, it is genocide (they almost wrote it - the Holocaust), which inflicted a deep spiritual wound on the Khmer people. This wound will not heal for a long time. And it forms a kind of resentment that can be used to direct the people's anger in the direction someone needs. And this will be the second parameter that has been purposefully formed.

Fourth … After the Vietnamese troops drove the former leadership of the country out of the capital, the Khmer Rouge switched to the regime of guerrilla units and terrorized the country for about 20 more years. Why was such a regime needed for a long time? After “zeroing” the culture, the results had to be consolidated. The older generation has left, the new one has grown up on a new information base. Over the years, people were afraid to study, to become doctors, scientists, engineers, because there was a danger of being shot by "partisans".

Fifth … With the departure of Pol Pot from this world, the project did not close, it continues to this day. At the moment, Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world. The industry is poorly developed, and what is, was built mainly by representatives of Western countries. Education is free for only three classes. Then you have to pay.

And this situation is more likely not from the insidiousness of the authorities, but from a banal lack of teachers. And now a program is being implemented to attract teachers from Western countries, the government pays them good money. Remember at the beginning of this article we said that a teacher in Southeast Asia is almost God. Coming to the next parameter of the "new" nation, let us bring the last proposals together.

To them, once great, but having lost their former greatness, offended Khmers, Western man gives education, develops industry and agriculture. There are many international organizations currently operating in Cambodia. Médecins Sans Frontières treats residents for hepatitis and other diseases, the Asian Development Bank and partners are building railways, UNESCO (noticed - again, UNESCO) makes sure that the new infrastructure does not destroy the heritage of antiquity, many NGOs finance various projects, especially those that are morally binding - charitable, etc.

After such activities, the Western world is the world of celestials, and the Western man is almost a father, benefactor, friend and ally.

Let's summarize … As a result of the social project, the people of Cambodia "zeroed" their culture, instilled in them the belief that they are the descendants of a great people, carried out genocide, fixing the wound and resentment, consolidating the image of a benefactor - a Western man. Hence, two versions arose, for the sake of which they could carry out the "re-education" of the nation.

The first … The Khmers were made into a tool that can be used to influence someone. Who is the Khmer people offended at? Most likely to China, because it was from there that support for the Khmer Rouge regime came at a time when the genocide was taking place. Why would any forces have a people with such parameters geographically close to China?

Perhaps, when China was just being planned as a project of world leadership, a counterbalance was also planned, a tool that can be used to put pressure on the leadership of the Celestial Empire. And in the West-China conflict, the Khmers will side with the West.

Of course, for this it will be necessary to carry out some informational work, to extract facts from history, but such methods are now quite well developed, this will not be a problem. As the peoples of Southeast Asia say, the Khmers are a very vengeful people. And how far they can go in their revenge is a big question.

However, the last thought is just an assumption, since the processes are still going on, they are not completed, and the ultimate goals are not fully understood.

The second … By "zeroing" the civilizational part of the culture, the Khmers were made practically ideal workers who do not claim high wages and are unable to organize a management system that would act in their interests.

Something similar can be observed in Korea, where in the northern part, with the help of propaganda, people were brought up to endure hardships for the sake of a "great" idea, and in the southern part, people are able to produce high-level technosphere items. Suppose that when you combine these qualities in one culture, in one country, you can get something like: "workers producing high-tech products for a bowl of rice a day."

Both versions are not mutually exclusive, but can exist in parallel and somehow complement each other.

Conclusion

While collecting data for this article, we were faced with the fact that different sources give different dates, names of those involved, motives of the same events. We tried to use factual information obtained directly on the scene.

Perhaps the interpretation of the facts will seem controversial to some. It is clear that there are no “pure” processes, there is always an interweaving of different plot lines, the same events can simultaneously belong to different scenarios. In Cambodia at that time, in addition to the social project that we described, there were many more projects.

It was the opposition of the socialist camp to the capitalist countries, and the struggle for resources and territories. Among other things, the victims of the American bombing, which now cannot be counted, disappeared behind the "bloody regime". Yes, a lot more.

Since the project we have identified is not yet complete, it is difficult to find facts and evidence for our version. We suggest the readers to put it in "quarantine" in order to use it only when the events in Southeast Asia take a turn that will require looking for prerequisites, causes, possible scenarios and methods of confrontation between different political forces.

In any case, it is better to know in advance the capabilities of the parties, this helps to more adequately assess the current situation, more accurately predict events, find solutions that will help not to suffer and emerge victorious from different situations.

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