A Brief Look at the Cambodian Genocide

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“I certainly think that another Holocaust can happen again. It did already occur; think of Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia.”- Miep Gies
The Vietnam War, a brutal war that took place but many overlook what happened next to Vietnam. The Cambodian conflict, the Khmer Rouge slaughtered as many citizens as they could find, but was this genocide? The Cambodian conflict took place during the Vietnam War and Cambodia is located to the West of Vietnam. Genocide is important because it is something all of humanity needs to stop. The slaughter of thousands of innocent people is not something that should not be as regular as it is. I was drawn to this topic because I didn’t know much about the Cambodian genocide before I researched it, and this seemed like a unique genocide.
While the Vietnam War was taking place, the Cambodian government allowed the U.S. to bomb suspected Viet Kong hideouts. In the process they killed up to 750,000 Cambodians. Heavy American bombardment led many to join the Khmer Rouge, which was led by Pol Pot. Now Cambodia had its own group of communists, the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge than preceded with a plan to turn Cambodia into a communist country where they believed all civilians would work on farms. They overthrew the government and proceeded with their plan. All intellectuals and educated such as doctors and lawyers were killed, Along with all un-communist aspects of traditional Cambodia. The struggle is that the Khmer Rouge was ready to kill you if you were educated in a field such as being a doctor, lawyer, engineer, and scientist. The ones who were not killed were sent to labor camps. “The imposition of a murderous regime always leaves its leaders afraid: afraid of losing power, failing to prevent vengeance, a...

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...r genocide. It showed that the Khmer Rouge and possibly everyone is more than ready to kill out of fear or anger, some killed for no reason at all, just because you were laughing or crying you could die. I believe that if we do not kill for these reasons the future will not hold such a cruel conflict like this again.

Works Cited

"Genocide in Cambodia." hmh.org. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2014. .
Kiernan, B.. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2014. .
Luke, W.. N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2014. .
Peace Pledge Union, . N.p.. Web. 1 Apr 2014. .

Spangenburg, Ray, and Kit Moser. The Crime of Genocide. 1st ed. Berkeley Heights: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2000. 54-63. Print.

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