Althouse: "The beginning of Case 002 will be a cathartic moment for all Cambodians."

June 28, 2011

"The beginning of Case 002 will be a cathartic moment for all Cambodians."

"While the crimes of the Khmer Rouge were committed over a quarter of a century ago, they remain ingrained in Cambodia’s collective psyche."

26 comments:

Jeff with one 'f' said...: Typical NY Times: the words "communist" "Marxist" and "Maoist" appear nowhere in the article. If they could have gotten away with airbrushing the "Rouge" part of "Khmer Rouge" they would have.; 6/28/11, 6:57 PM
traditionalguy said...: Communism is a mental illness that most enjoys killing humans and stealing their stuff. Unexpectedly is springs from Science Cults and is always dedicated to atheism Ask President Obama about that good ole redistribution religion.; 6/28/11, 7:02 PM
The Drill SGT said...: @ Jeff

and Red China

Though at some level it was consistent with the Lenin Omelet theory of Revolution....

I can't put down even in electrons, what I think should be done to those scum; 6/28/11, 7:04 PM
edutcher said...: Gee, the Gray Lady didn't say a word about how happy it was when these cutthroats took control of their country and how hard it worked to make sure American influence was driven completely out of Indo-China.

It's still Walter Duranty's paper.

What was the final tally of all the people that died at the hands of the Communists in Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam?

Something like 6 million, according to some sources.

Funny about that number.; 6/28/11, 7:18 PM
rhhardin said...: It's the NYT trademark basket case psychology of nations.; 6/28/11, 7:18 PM
rcocean said...: "While the crimes of the Khmer Rouge were committed over a quarter of a century ago, they remain ingrained in Cambodia’s collective psyche.”

What an odd way of putting it. Gee, WWII is still "ingrained the collective psyche" of a lot of people, and that happened *66* years ago.; 6/28/11, 7:20 PM
mesquito said...: None of this happened.

Or if it did it was Kissinger's fault.

Chomsky said so.; 6/28/11, 7:29 PM
MayBee said...: Pol Pot is believed to have died in 1998.
In case anyone wants to know what "Over a quarter a century ago" means.; 6/28/11, 7:42 PM
The Drill SGT said...: seriously althouse, Jeff won the thread at post 1. The fact that the NYT could write about these atrocities without mentioning any of the leftist words is significant, yet expected. I expected to see a paragraph about Nixon's invasion in there somewhere along with a quote from John Kerry about being an eye witness to our atrocities.; 6/28/11, 7:55 PM
Anonymous said...: My favorite Pol Pot quote from a 1990s interview:

in the course of our actions mistakes were made

Like, oh, violently killing 25 percent of the population. In retrospect, maybe not an ideal course of action.; 6/28/11, 8:05 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Seven Machos said...
maybe not an ideal course of action.

You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs

- I V Lenin; 6/28/11, 8:19 PM
Cedarford said...: Civilian courts pursuing "cases" 30 years after the fact to obtain "THE BIG CONVICTION!!" of some low-level enemy perps since leaders are long dead and succumed to natural causes - is silly.

Leaving it to "the international legal community" to hash it out at their decades long leisurely pace is silly.
It probably assists leaders trying to avoid any involvement outside the public speeches "deploring what happened". They can say - "Let the lawyers dressed in robes handle it. If not this decade, maybe the next one or the one after that."; 6/28/11, 8:24 PM
The Drill SGT said...: C4, I agree with you. $100 million on tribunals?

A bullet in the ear runs you about 79c. The Chinese could teach them a bit about efficent trials.

and the $100m could be better spent.; 6/28/11, 8:33 PM
c71ff said...: To those Khmer Rouge leaders, just this:

If you live there is no gain.
If you die there is no loss.; 6/28/11, 8:48 PM
Known Unknown said...: If I ever meet any Cambodians, I am automatically compelled to apologize to them.; 6/28/11, 9:02 PM
ldm said...: "a government that 'caused the death of' as much as one-fourth of the population" (single quotes added)

What's wrong with 'murdered'?; 6/28/11, 9:04 PM
John henry said...: Khmer Rouge

Typical socialists, typical socialist results.

You can only make the new socialist man/woman" by murdering, let's use the proper word here, by murdering anyone who will not become one. Or at least who will not pretend to become one.

And yet we keep hearing from socialist "Please, give us one more chance. We will get it right THIS time." They never do but they never learn.

John Henry; 6/28/11, 9:15 PM
John henry said...: Edutcher said:

"Something like 6 million, according to some sources.

Funny about that number."

Yeah, it is about half the number murdered in the German socialist death camps.

Socialists are socialists are socialists are socialists are ultimately murderers.

John Henry; 6/28/11, 9:17 PM
Anonymous said...: Well now, because they were educated commies come of age in the Parisian Enlightenment hothouses, their sins are one of misapplication of the most noble political theory ever to come along. The theory is perfect, it's the people that aren't good enough for it. So we must first create the New Soviet Man.

That must be why the Democratic Party member Kathleen Sibelius is quite happy to, and without forethought, talk about re-education for people who oppose Obamacare. Imagine the stink if she had said "concentrated education" instead.

For the life of me, I can't see any distinction in fact or theory between Auschwitz and the Cambodian killing fields. And just so we're clear, the Khmer Rouge killing fields, and their current North Korean counterparts, are "re-education" camps and advertised as such.; 6/28/11, 9:25 PM
Anonymous said...: John Henry says: "socialists ... are murderers"

And, slavers. And there is one political party in that USA that supported slavery then (based on national origin), supports slavery now (based on talent and wealth), and supports socialism now. You will be either with us, or be our slave, or you will be dead.

[Ooh, mr. andinista, your words are so cruel. You will never convince your good-intending fellow countrymen with such vicious rhetoric.]

Sometimes, every once in a while, you have to take people down that road and show them the Gates of Hell, and the charnel house horrors beyond. And that makes coming back to the green and bountiful land of Liberty that much sweeter and more dear.; 6/28/11, 9:40 PM
galdosiana said...: I traveled through Cambodia a few years ago, and visited the Killing Fields and a prison camp where Pol Pot and these four people tortured and killed tens of thousands of their own citizens. Walking through the Killing Fields over patches of dirt where bones and fragments of clothing still protrude from the ground is an experience I will never, ever forget. The evil in these people is horrifying, and it saddens me that for the most part, our own schools don't teach anything about Pol Pot. He belongs in hell right next to Hitler.; 6/28/11, 9:43 PM
MayBee said...: The evil in these people is horrifying, and it saddens me that for the most part, our own schools don't teach anything about Pol Pot. He belongs in hell right next to Hitler.

I agree.
When I sent out my photos of stacked up Cambodian skulls, I had many highly educated people ask me how old those skulls were. They assumed they were ancient, because they hadn't really heard about the history.
As with N Korea and China, the despots who truly keep out the world get away with the most horrors. Better to be a total despot than a Mubarek-like dictator.; 6/29/11, 12:11 AM
Christy said...: I remember reading that they killed all their educated population, the better to re-educate the people. Wearing glasses was enough to convict a body. I'm not sure, deep down in my heart, that I really believed this.

Then, about 20 years ago, the National Gallery of Art in D.C. hosted a glorious exhibit of Cambodian Art. The reclining Buddha was astounding. Afterwards I watched the accompanying documentary produced by the Cambodian government. Every Cambodian expert interviewed was appallingly ignorant and inarticulate. More than anything, this piece of evidence produced by the Cambodian government convinced me that they had wiped out the country's best and brightest.; 6/29/11, 1:35 AM
Freder Frederson said...: A bullet in the ear runs you about 79c. The Chinese could teach them a bit about efficent trials.

I hope this is a poor attempt at satire or sarcasm.

If not it appears you are saying that your solution to communist depredations is to emulate a slightly less oppressive communist government that has nearly as bad (in proportion) history of genocide that it adamantly refuses to face.

Good idea.; 6/29/11, 2:26 AM
vet66 said...: Freder: what do you think our Special Forces just did to Bin Laden? I suggest that if your sensibilities are wounded then stick with prosecuting little girls running lemonade stands and leave the enforcement of international wanted posters to those who understand the difference between right and wrong.

While we are on the subject of the Khmer Rouge, how about the VietNamese boat people after we failed them? How about Jane Fonda's treason in North VietNam covering up the torture of our POW's? Stalin's purges?

I wouldn't trust you to do anything but apologize for the truly evil who populate the world stage. Moral equivalence is their get-out-of-jail card dealt to them by western apologists who take our liberties for granted.

Apparently you have very little experience in passing judgment on evil when confronted.; 6/29/11, 8:20 AM
galdosiana said...: Christy said: I remember reading that they killed all their educated population, the better to re-educate the people. Wearing glasses was enough to convict a body. I'm not sure, deep down in my heart, that I really believed this.

That is true. When you visit Tuol Sleng, the genocide museum and former school where thousands were tortured and killed, you see hundreds and hundreds of photographs of the people, taken before they were killed. Our tour guide described exactly what you've said above: that all intellectuals were killed immediately--most of the former teachers, professors, and all of the former government officials were the first to go, because they had the biggest influence over the population's impression of the new regime. Pol Pot assigned important posts only to those who he could brainwash. It just goes to show, once again, that knowledge is a threatening force to those who work against reason and morality.; 6/29/11, 9:08 AM