An intriguing controversy has erupted on the H-Genocide listserv between scholars of the Cambodian Genocide. A posting by Jeannette Smyth has proposed a new interpretation of the Khmer Rouge developing the policy of the genocide of one to three million fellow Cambodians.
Smyth writes, "It was Cambodia that was bombed back into the stone age. Under this stress the genocide took place." A separate article by Taylor Owen and Ben Kiernan in "The Walrus" similarly concludes, 'The failure of the American campaign in Cambodia lay not only in the civilian death toll during the unprecedented bombing, but also in its aftermath, when the Kmer Rouge regime rose up from the bomb craters, with tragic results.' "
For some readers, the subtext of the above is highly problematic, i.e., that the U.S. was also responsible for the subsequent genocide. Dr. Andrew Port, Associate Professor at the Dept. of History at Wayne State University commented "When taken to their logical conclusion, these comments would seem -- directly, in the case of Smyth, or indirectly (Owen and Kiernan) - to exculpate (at least partially) the Cambodian perpetrators themselves. The American bombing campaign was undoubtedly one important factor among many that helped 'set a stage', so to speak. And the behavior of the Western World more generally may have helped contribute to some of the brutal developments that later took place in the former colonies. It is extremely difficult to demonstrate causal connections. And besides, at what point do those who actually commit genocide have to take responsibility for their own actions?"
Source: Smyth, Jeanette (February 23, 2010). H-Genocide Listserve. Smyth/Port exchange: Newly analyzed evidence: Bombing holocaust of Cambodia; its proximate causation of the genocide.
Smyth writes, "It was Cambodia that was bombed back into the stone age. Under this stress the genocide took place." A separate article by Taylor Owen and Ben Kiernan in "The Walrus" similarly concludes, 'The failure of the American campaign in Cambodia lay not only in the civilian death toll during the unprecedented bombing, but also in its aftermath, when the Kmer Rouge regime rose up from the bomb craters, with tragic results.' "
For some readers, the subtext of the above is highly problematic, i.e., that the U.S. was also responsible for the subsequent genocide. Dr. Andrew Port, Associate Professor at the Dept. of History at Wayne State University commented "When taken to their logical conclusion, these comments would seem -- directly, in the case of Smyth, or indirectly (Owen and Kiernan) - to exculpate (at least partially) the Cambodian perpetrators themselves. The American bombing campaign was undoubtedly one important factor among many that helped 'set a stage', so to speak. And the behavior of the Western World more generally may have helped contribute to some of the brutal developments that later took place in the former colonies. It is extremely difficult to demonstrate causal connections. And besides, at what point do those who actually commit genocide have to take responsibility for their own actions?"
Source: Smyth, Jeanette (February 23, 2010). H-Genocide Listserve. Smyth/Port exchange: Newly analyzed evidence: Bombing holocaust of Cambodia; its proximate causation of the genocide.
