The aftermath of bombings and disorder in Cambodia is a significant part of Henry Kissinger's legacy. Upon the announcement of Kissinger's passing this week, numerous past global leaders came forward to express their condolences.
Ex-US President George W Bush expressed that the US has "suffered the loss of one of the most reliable and unique voices on international relations".
Ex-UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, portrayed the former US secretary of state as a masterful diplomat, driven by a true passion for the free world and its preservation. Boris Johnson referred to Kissinger as a colossal figure in the realms of diplomacy, strategy, and the promotion of peace.
However, the label of 'peacemaker' is not something you'll often hear attributed to Henry Kissinger by many people in Cambodia.
Throughout the Vietnam War, Kissinger and the then-President Richard Nixon secretly commanded bombing attacks on the impartial nation of Cambodia. This was done with the aim of driving out Viet Cong troops located in the eastern part of the country.
In total, between 1965 and 1973, the US released over 2 million tons of explosives on Cambodia. To give some perspective, this is equivalent to the amount of explosives the Allies used throughout World War II, which includes the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Kissinger asserted that the bombardment was targeted towards the Vietnamese military within Cambodia's borders, rather than the nation itself.
Vorng Chhut, at the age of 76, was unfamiliar with the name Henry Kissinger when his village in Svay Rieng province, close to the Vietnam border, began to be bombarded.
"Everything was gone, including the bamboo trees. Individuals fled, however, those who remained in the town perished," he stated. "Many lives were lost, too many to recollect each one. The corpses were bloated and when the noise subsided, folks would arrive to inter the deceased."
A 2006 report from Yale University, titled Bombs Over Cambodia, claimed that Cambodia could potentially be the most intensively bombed nation in recorded history.
A 1973 report from the Pentagon revealed that Kissinger sanctioned all 3,875 bombing raids in Cambodia during 1969 and 1970. The report also highlighted his strategies to prevent these incidents from making it into the press.
"This is a command, it must be executed. Target everything that's airborne, and everything in motion. You understand?" Kissinger instructed an assistant in 1970, as per the unsealed records of his phone discussions.
The exact death toll from those bombings remains uncertain, with approximations varying between 50,000 and over 150,000.
One of the most infamous events was the unintentional attack on the tiny municipality of Neak Luong, resulting in the death of a minimum of 137 Cambodians and injuries to an additional 268.
A report in the New York Times by Sydney Schanberg, who was subsequently depicted in the movie "The Killing Fields," cited a man named Keo Chan, who had recently lost his wife and ten children.
"My entire family has perished!" he wailed, slamming his hand against the wooden seat where he had crumpled. "My entire family has perished! Capture my image, capture my image! Let the Americans witness my plight!"
A different individual, positioned close to an undetonated explosive in the city, straightforwardly queried, "When will you Americans remove it?"
Undetonated American explosives scattered across rural Cambodia, causing injuries and deaths for many years into the future.
Numerous individuals argue that a further repercussion of the bombing operations by Nixon and Kissinger was that it laid the groundwork for one of the most horrific mass murders of the 20th century. Approximately 1.7 million individuals lost their lives due to the actions of the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, from 1975 to 1979 – this accounted for nearly a quarter of the population.
Before then, the extreme communists had minimal backing, but their numbers increased as American bombs were dropped.
In 1973, the head of operations at the CIA stated that the Khmer Rouge troops were effectively utilizing the destruction caused by B-52 bombings as the key focus of their propaganda.
In 2009, the first official from the Khmer Rouge to be prosecuted for atrocities committed during the regime's reign of fear stated to the UN-supported court: "Mr Richard Nixon and Kissinger enabled the Khmer Rouge to seize exceptional opportunities."
Kissinger consistently defended himself against critiques related to the Cambodia bombing.
He clarified in 1973 that it wasn't Cambodia that was bombed, but rather North Vietnamese targets within Cambodia.
At the age of 90, he asserted that bombs were exclusively deployed in regions "about five miles from the Vietnamese border that were virtually uninhabited".
American journalist Elizabeth Becker, who reported on the 1973 bombing campaign, disputed this claim.
"Initially, you questioned the refugees while they were fleeing from the bombings. Afterward, you would visit the bombing sites, which looked like lunar landscapes – you could spot dead buffalos, witness houses reduced to ashes, and observe devastated rice fields," she explained to the BBC.
"You witnessed the devastation and you wondered: why was this contemporary air force relentlessly attacking rural areas? Back then, Cambodian farmers were not even familiar with motor vehicles, they frequently asked me: 'Why are flames descending from the heavens?'"
Pen Yai, who is now 78, had collaborated with the Viet Cong in Cambodia prior to the commencement of the bombings. However, he reported that a significant amount of civilians lost their lives due to the American bombings, including his own father and brother-in-law.
"I was terrified and sleep eluded me. Death was all around us. As we fled, we identified individuals who had lost their lives… we felt helpless," he conveyed.
Numerous global leaders have commended Kissinger, the co-recipient of the 1973 Nobel peace prize for his contribution in brokering a peaceful resolution to the Vietnam war. He was subsequently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the most prestigious civilian honor in the United States.
However, not many who were present in Cambodia during the 1970s have cherished memories of his legacy.
Prum Hen, aged 70, had no choice but to leave her hometown when it was bombarded by American missiles. She claimed she didn't have much knowledge about Kissinger and upon hearing about his death, she did not feel much sorrow.
"She expressed her wish for his death on account of the numerous lives he took from their community," she stated, noting her enduring bitterness towards the US.
Our nation was attacked, resulting in numerous deaths and families being torn apart. Subsequently, the Khmer Rouge took the lives of many, including spouses and offspring.
Ms. Becker stated that the significance of Kissinger's strategies in Cambodia should not be underestimated.
Claiming the bombing was inaccurate is an understatement… it was cruel. It goes beyond just the count of individuals, it's about the aftermath.
"It's impossible to overstate the impact it had on the nation."
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