Cambodian invasion "unwise”

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32425, 12 October 1970, Page 17

Cambodian invasion "unwise”

The Christchurch Joint Council on Vietnam felt that the United States should stop its intervention in Cambodia, because there was no proof that this would assist the desired withdrawal of troops from Vietnam, Mr M. J. Brusse, the council’s chairman, said.

It might be correct to say that the pattern of conflict in Cambodia had some resemblance to the situation in South Vietnam in the 19605, as mentioned in a leading article in “The Press,” he said.

“However, to justify, because of this resemblance, American intentions as vague as Mr Agnew’s ‘everything we can do to help the Lon Nol Government’ seems unwise,” said Mr Brusse. “If we, as New Zealanders, want an end to the troubles in South-East Asia, we should question policies which merely continue similar ones which changed a bad situation into a worse one.

“The backing of the Lon Nol Government reminds us of the backing of the regimes of Diem in 1957, General Duong Van Minh, followed by Major-General Nguyen Khan and Mr Tran Van Huong in 1964, Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky and General Nguyen Van Thieu in 1965. Throughout this period the United States enlarged its military presence in SouthEast Asia, with a consequent loss of life,” he said.

"In contrast, during this period, Norodom Sihanouk in Cambodia kept his country reasonably free from bloodshed, first as King, later as Prime Minister and Head of State. Despite traditional enmity between Cambodians and Vietnamese, peace was maintained, and although Vietnamese were present in Cambodia they interfered little with its Government.” According to Louis Keren of the “New York Times” (received through the New Zealand Press Association and dated Washington. March 20) “the United States employed a Cambodian group dedicated to the overthrow of the Prince. The group was the Khmer Serai, and their American employers were at first the Fifth Special Forces Group and then the Central Intelligence Agency.” Here it seemed that once again the United States caused its own difficulties, said Mr Brusse. “Perhaps the Khmer Serai thus supports the Americans, but it is certain that the Khmer Rouge does not Nationalist feelings always lead to insurgent movements which fight to remove a foreign presence trying to im-

pose its ideology. Our allies have already caused the death of half a million people in South-East Asia by trying to impose on them ideas to which they were supposed to be sympathetic,” he concluded.