(NK) We left Vietnam not feeling somber but
instead optimistic. Optimistic that the truth is there if you’re prepared to
look hard enough. Optimistic that we do have the freedom to say no, against
anyone who makes an attempt at oppression or terrorism. Both foreign AND
DOMESTIC.
Cambodia turned out to be a very different
story from Vietnam. The unwitting peasants of the countryside were unaware of a
world outside their villages. The brutal force with which the Khmer Rouge
destroyed the population is almost too much to comprehend.
There’s been a lot in the press/opinion
about Margaret Thatcher and her death, many condemning her, many jumping
to her defence for her hard policies that saved the UK economically speaking. I
don’t condone ‘grave dancing’ however respecting someone when they die when you
didn’t respect them alive is also an absurd concept. We will all die and the
mysticism we place on death due to our inability to cope with it will also one
day be seen as absurd. It is our fear of death that makes us so
controllable.
I don’t profess to be a political expert or
knowledgeable on Thatcher’s policies that seem to have divided the nation. It was, however, surprising to see people leaping to her defence like trained monkeys. I do
know this - she didn’t win the Falklands back. She is a politician. Soldiers - Marines, Paratroopers, Navy etc who put their lives on the line win wars, not
politicians. If anything there is evidence to suggest she ignored early
intelligence reports making the conflict more bloody than necessary.
And what war was there to win? A group of islands thousands of miles away
that have nothing to do with us - except in terms of oil and gas - that perhaps represented a last stand for the
‘British Empire.’ An empire built on death, torture, theft and slavery. Hashtag - ProudtobeBritish
“How can land be owned by another man? One
cannot steal what was given as a gift. Is the sky owned by birds and the rivers
owned by fish?”
In support of British trade she ignored
Anti-apartheid movements labeling Nelson Mandela’s ANC as a terrorist
organization. As long as money was flowing, racial discrimination was perfectly
acceptable.
That means we can perhaps call her a firm
believer in fiscal progress and human suffering.
She’s gone now and it’s in the past so we
shouldn’t dwell on it but learn from it. If you were one of the ones defending Thatcher,
then there’s a tower of skulls in Cambodia you might want to take a look at.
Note - Despite Pol Pot being a maniac with a
penchant for torture and genocide the US and British Government gave him their
full support, as he was the enemy of their enemy (Vietnam).
Note - the
previous blog – communism, democracy etc are of no consequence. Money is THE only
driver.
Note - Pol Pot was never brought to justice for his crimes, he lived a
long life and died in peace.
Note - Many of the Khmer Rouge forces were trained by the SAS
Note - Its leaders were educated in France, where they are
said to have developed their communist agenda.
Note - The Khmer Rouge hierarchy retained
their seat on the UN council in one form or another until 1993.
Note - The Cambodian lawyer defending Ta
Mok, the Khmer Rouge military leader captured last year, has said:
“All the foreigners involved have to be called
to court, and there will be no exceptions . . . Madeleine Albright, Margaret
Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George Bush . . . we
are going to invite them to tell the world why they supported the Khmer Rouge.”
So, while everyone has finished squabbling about Thatcher’s policy on welfare, privatisation etc –
let’s take a look at what happened in Cambodia all those years ago.
Our first stop was S21, the notorious
detention centre for ‘political’ prisoners. Intellectuals and anyone who might
have the faintest idea what was happening were brought here first. The
conditions are grim and the torture techniques as creative as they are primitive. For
many starvation and isolation was just the start, being tortured until you lose consciousness is a sure fire way to get a confession.
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| Notorious |
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| 1984 |
We saw many confessions from people who
were basically just saying please make it stop. Can you imagine being in that
much pain you would say anything to stop it, even condemn members of your
family to death?
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| The cells inside |
From here they were taken to one of the
many Killing Fields around the Capital Phnom Penh. A total of roughly 1.7 – 2.5
million people were killed in the genocide, though genocide seems the wrong
word here. It's just killing, indiscriminate killing. That’s 1 in 4 of the
population to give you an idea of what that might look like in your country.
It’s also clear from walking the streets of Phnom Penh that an entire
generation is missing.
The Killing Field we visited just north of
Cambodia is still a painful memory. Fragments of clothes and bone are still
working their way up out of the ground from the many mass shallow graves in
the area. No bullets were used at the killing fields as that would be an
unnecessary expense. Instead blunt force trauma was implemented to smash humans
to death. Sometimes basic farm tools would be used.
One particular tree was found with bone and
brain fragment from babies still on it. It is at this tree that babies would be
picked up by their ankles and swung against the tree to smash their skulls in,
before they were tossed into a shallow grave next to the tree.
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| The tree that is forever etched into our memory |
The shrine at the end of the walk - which
is done as an audio tour - marks the end of your visit. It is a glass tower
containing hundreds of skulls, bones and pieces of clothing found in the area.
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| ....... |
The reasons for the Khmer Rouge? As usual
they are shrouded in political dogma and various bits of bullshit. No-one in
Cambodia knows why this happened or what put this into motion. Communism gets the blame as usual. I don't believe communism has ever existed in any country but it's made for superb scapegoat.
I firmly believe it was part of western
strategy to take control of Indochina and its resources for the economic
development of western states. Too much doesn’t make sense and too many motives
and relationships were in place to make me believe otherwise at this point in
time.
Margaret Thatcher is an old topic already, but her support of the Khmer Rouge is documented in history. Now whenever I hear her name or see her picture, the first thing that comes into my
mind, is a tree in Cambodia.
