The aftermath of Henry Kissinger's actions in Cambodia involved bombings and disorder. Upon the announcement of Henry Kissinger's passing this week, numerous past global leaders came forward to express their respects.
Ex-US President George W Bush expressed that the US has "suffered the loss of a highly reliable and unique voice in international relations".
The one-time UK leader, Tony Blair, portrayed the previous US secretary of state as a master tactician in diplomacy, driven by "an authentic affection for the free world and the urgency to safeguard it". Boris Johnson referred to Kissinger as "a colossal figure in diplomacy and strategy – and in forging peace".
However, the word peacemaker isn't something you would often hear being used by many people in Cambodia to characterize Henry Kissinger.
Throughout the Vietnam War, Kissinger along with the then-President Richard Nixon secretly commanded bombing attacks on the impartial nation of Cambodia. Their objective was to drive out the Viet Cong troops situated in the eastern part of the country.
In total, the United States released over two million tons of explosives on Cambodia between 1965 and 1973. To give an idea of the scale, this is roughly the same amount of bombing that the Allied forces used throughout World War II, which also included the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Kissinger asserted that the bombardment was targeted at the Vietnamese military present within Cambodia, rather than the nation itself.
Vorng Chhut, age 76, was unfamiliar with the name Henry Kissinger when his village in the Svay Rieng province, close to the border of Vietnam, started being bombarded.
"Everything was gone, including the bamboo trees. Individuals managed to flee, whereas those who remained in the village lost their lives," he shared. "Many lives were lost, too many to keep track of all their names. The corpses were bloated and when the silence fell, individuals would come to inter the bodies."
A report from Yale University in 2006, titled Bombs Over Cambodia, suggested that Cambodia could possibly be the most intensely bombed nation in history.
A 1973 report from the Pentagon revealed that Kissinger had sanctioned all 3,875 bombardments in Cambodia during 1969 and 1970. The report also stated that he endorsed the strategies to prevent these incidents from being reported in the press.
"This is a command, it must be executed. Target anything airborne, anything mobile. Did you understand?" Kissinger instructed an assistant in 1970, as per the revealed records of his phone discussions.
The exact death toll from the bombings remains uncertain, but it's estimated to be anywhere between 50,000 and over 150,000.
The infamous event of the unintentional airstrike on the petite town of Neak Luong, led to the tragic death of a minimum of 137 Cambodians, and left an additional 268 suffering from injuries.
A report in The New York Times by Sydney Schanberg, who was subsequently depicted in the movie The Killing Fields, included a quote from a man named Keo Chan, who had recently lost his wife and 10 children.
"My entire family is gone!" he wailed, pounding his fist against the wooden seat where he had fallen. "My whole family is gone! Capture my image, capture my image! Let the people from America witness my state!"
A different individual, standing close to an undetonated bomb in the city, questioned plainly, "When will you Americans remove it?"
The Cambodian rural areas were strewn with unexploded American bombs, causing injuries and deaths for many years ahead.
Numerous people suggest that an additional outcome of the bombing offensive by Nixon and Kissinger was its role in setting the stage for one of the most horrific massacres of the 20th century. Close to 1.7 million individuals lost their lives to the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, from 1975 to 1979 – this represented nearly a quarter of the nation's population.
Before this, the extreme-communists had minimal backing, but as American bombs dropped, their numbers expanded.
The head of operations at the CIA stated in 1973 that the Khmer Rouge troops were effectively utilizing the destruction caused by B-52 bombardments as the central element of their propaganda.
In 2009, the first official of the Khmer Rouge to be prosecuted for atrocities during their brutal rule stated to the UN-supported court, "Mr Richard Nixon and Kissinger facilitated the Khmer Rouge in seizing valuable chances."
Kissinger consistently resisted critiques about the Cambodia bombardment.
In 1973, he clarified that it wasn't Cambodia that was bombed, but rather North Vietnamese locations within Cambodia.
At the age of 90, he asserted that bombs were solely deployed in regions near the Vietnamese border, specifically within a five-mile radius, that were largely uninhabited.
Elizabeth Becker, a U.S. reporter who reported on the 1973 bombing campaign, stated that this was not true.
"Initially, you would speak to the refugees as they were fleeing the blast site, then you'd proceed to the site of the explosion where the scene resembled a lunar landscape – there would be dead buffalos, scorched homes, and devastated rice fields," she conveyed to the BBC.
"You witnessed the devastation and questioned: why was this advanced air force relentlessly attacking the rural areas? Back then, the Cambodian farmers were unfamiliar with even motor vehicles, they would often ask me: 'Why are flames descending from the heavens?'"
Pen Yai, who is now 78, collaborated with the Viet Cong within Cambodia prior to the onset of the bombings. However, he reported that the American bombings resulted in the death of many civilians, among them his father and brother-in-law.
"I was terrified and unable to rest. Death was all around us. All we could do was flee and identify those who had lost their lives… we were helpless," he stated.
Numerous global leaders have commended Kissinger, who was a co-recipient of the 1973 Nobel peace prize due to his contribution in brokering a cessation to the Vietnam war. Following this, he was bestowed with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the premier civilian honor in the United States.
However, not many people who were in Cambodia during the 1970s have pleasant memories of his legacy.
Prum Hen, at the age of 70, had no choice but to escape from her hometown due to the onslaught of American bombing. She admitted that she didn't know much about Kissinger and showed minimal empathy upon hearing news of his demise.
"She stated that his death is justified as he has taken so many of our lives," she expressed, while mentioning that her profound animosity towards the US remains.
Our nation was attacked with bombs that resulted in numerous casualties and families torn apart. Subsequently, the Khmer Rouge committed atrocities, leading to the death of many family members including spouses and offspring.
Ms. Becker stated that the significance of Kissinger's strategies in Cambodia should not be downplayed.
Claiming that the bombing was inaccurate is an understatement… it was downright cruel. It's not just about the count of individuals affected, but it's also about the lasting impact.
The impact it had on the nation cannot be overstated.
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