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by Saren Thach Mst Cpa (Author)
The war in Cambodia, 1970-1975, pitching the unprepared Cambodian army against the battle tested communist Vietcong/North Vietnamese troops, who had fought for over a decade against the mighty American army, was a lopsided brutal conflict. Soon after, the communist Khmer Rouge added to their rank. The heroic sacrifice by the Cambodian fighters, the populace, and the dedicated small Khmer Special Forces units, all supported by the United States meager financial and logistic assistance, were not enough to overcome the fatal pre-war shortfall created by the Khmer leader, namely Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who joined the enemy in the war fighting his own people, for the sake of power. The book highlighted crucial military operations, some known only to very few personalities, which the author participated in, and the resulting triumph and defeat. The American Congress's refusal, in late March 1975, to continue further military assistance, sealed the fate of the country. The Cambodian sentiment is that America callously betrayed its friend and ally whose paramount aspiration is freedom and liberty. This abandonment was also the American trademark in Vietnam, and decades later in Afghanistan.
The book provides the plausible causes of the decline of the ancient Khmer civilization near the end of the Angkor era in the fourteenth century C.E., the era that produced a powerful Kingdom in the entire Southeast Asia, decline within the context of religious conflict, and the geopolitical emergence and evolution of neighboring nations. The fall of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, in March of 1970, gave communist Vietnam, the Khmer's traditional adversary, pretext to invade the country at will, against international law.
The Cambodians will never forgive nor forget the tremendous sufferings levied upon them, in which all Khmer families were affected. In the shadow of his enormous tragedy early in life, and likewise that of his current wife, and considering the autumn of his existence, the author's wish is, for the sake of humanity, if he can do something good, let him do it now, for he will pass this planet earth only once.
