Khmer Rouge 

The Khmer Rouge killed nearly two million Cambodians from 1975 to 1979, spreading like a virus from the jungles until they controlled the entire country, only to systematically dismantle and destroy it in the name of a Communist agrarian ideal. Today, more than 30 years after Vietnamese soldiers removed the Khmer Rouge from power, the first genocide trials will start — a bittersweet note of progress in an impoverished nation still struggling to rehabilitate its crippled economic and human resources.

The Khmer Rouge took root in Cambodia's northeastern jungles as early as the 1960s, a guerrilla group driven by communist ideals that nipped the periphery of government-controlled areas. The flash point came when Cambodia's leader, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, was deposed in a military coup in 1970 and leaned on the Khmer Rouge for support. The prince's imprimatur lent the movement legitimacy, although while he would nominally serve as head of state, he spent much of the Khmer Rouge's rule under house arrest. As the country descended into civil war, the Khmer Rouge presented themselves as a party for peace and succeeded in mobilizing support in the countryside.

Khmer Rouge by Dancing with Fire June 19, 2011

Khmer Rouge 

The Cambodian regime that terrorized Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. In the 1970s, the USA bombed Cambodia to get rid of the communist Vietcong, who was hiding underground, but this caused the Khmer Rouge to mistrust the USA and they overthrew the Western puppet, Lon Nol, since Cambodia tried to remain neutral. The leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, was not a true communist, because he was a Chinese puppet being installed by China and Pol Pot even discarded communism in 1975. In fact, the West also supported the Khmer Rouge and didn't care if Cambodians were suffering. In actuality, Pol Pot was a Khmer nationalist by seeking to resurrect the Khmer Empire, based on his desire to slaughter all Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Cham, and other races, who he saw as threats to the Khmer race, as well as slaughtering Buddhists and the educated, and reclaiming lost territories, including South Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. Also, Pol Pot wanted to remove Cambodian currency for the Khmer elites to flourish in wealth for themselves. After massacring about 1.7 to 2.2 million Cambodians, Pol Pot made a foolishly grave mistake by stepping onto Vietnam's soil from the west. The Vietcong easily defeated and exiled the Khmer Rouge into Cambodia's forests, where Pol Pot was put under house arrest until he died in 1998. Although, Pol Pot was largely assisted by PLA soldiers of Beijing to ward off against the Vietnamese from the north, but the Khmer Rouge was finished.

Despite the Khmer Rouge era being over, Hun Sen was a Khmer Rouge officer and he was installed as the prime minister of Cambodia in the late 20th century. Hun Sen used to support the Khmer Rouge's heinous actions against the Cambodians until he ceased supporting the Khmer Rouge in favor of siding with the Vietcong and his Cambodian people. However, Hun Sen sides with China now to enrich himself with wealth by allowing China to occupy his military naval base. It seems that money and power are more important than a human life to greedy politicians. Look at the brighter side. At least Cambodia isn't as totalitarian as North Korea or China these days, but we will see how Cambodia will be doing in the future.

Khmer Rouge by TheUnknown21 February 5, 2020