The Killing Fields, Cambodia

Paddy Rice’s Irish pub, the water front, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

On Friday, we got the 6 hour bus from Saigon to here in Phnom Penh, and the contrast with the 24 hr horror journey from Laos to Hanoi could not have been greater.  Bright sunshine, clean and modern border control and a ferry trip across the Mekong thrown in- all good.

"Ferry... cross the Mekong"

After arriving in the middle of nowhere in the city, being surrounded by hordes of parasitic Tuk-Tuk ‘drivers’, the 4 of us crammed ourselves and our kit into one and got a lift to a hotel (no doubt owned by the driver’s  mother in law or cousin) near the waterfront. 

"Tuk-Tuk!"

After this we then went for some food and beers along the waterfront, and realised that we were once again in the land of the walking ATM’s where all the locals view every single westerner as instant cash.  If I’ve just ordered a round of drinks then mistakenly make eye contact with some idiot out on the pavement, am I really going to want a Tuk-Tuk at that precise moment?  Bunch of clowns.  “You want Tuk-Tuk?”...  “You want nose-bleed?”

In the morning we got up bright and early to go and experience the principle joys of Phnom Penh: the shooting range, and the Killing Fields.  Having fired more different types of weapons, more often than I care to remember, and having spent endless hours of my life cleaning them, generally the novelty of ‘shooting guns’ has long worn off.  However when I had a couple of Aussie lads, and a couple of birds, wanting to do it I couldn’t exactly resist the opportunity to put the uppity colonials in their place!  Unfortunately, the trip started badly as our 2 Tuk-Tuk drivers drove off in opposite directions.  Although ours assured us that we were going to the same place, just by a shorter route, once we arrived he’d forgotten how to speak English and just looked blankly at us and we realised we wouldn’t see the others any time soon. 

Unsurprisingly, the range itself would have given the ‘pamphlet-head’ geeks of the Small Arms School Corps, who oversee all our weapons training and range work, complete coronary failure.  There was a pile of loaded weapons on the floor or hanging on the wall and while it wasn’t surprising that there were plenty of Eastern Block weapons (as everywhere in the 3^rd world), I’d be interested to know how they’d got hold of both a ‘Gimpy’ Machine Gun, which we use, and a French FA MAS rifle, which came into service about 30 yrs after Dien Bien Phu.  There was a menu of options to choose from with their prices, ranging from a 30 round M-16 or AK mag for $40 to an RPG (shoulder-mounted Rocket Propelled Grenade) for $350.  Fun for all the family.

I went up first into the indoor 25m range with an AK (the AK-47 is one of many widely available AK variants and as I can’t tell most of them apart I somehow doubt the media, who confidently identify it everywhere, can either).  Since before Iraq in ’04 I’d handled the AK a few times as it’s generally accepted that if we need to ‘slot’ someone he (or she) will be carrying one, and we may have to remove it and clear it, ideally without shooting our own feet off.  Last year in Afghan was the first chance I’d had to actually fire it and it is quite good fun, for want of a better word, hence why I was quite happy to have another go- I guess I haven’t entirely grown out of it...

Firing AK

After I’d used up my $40 I was then wincing as the local, who may or may not have been a serving Cambodian soldier, attempted to teach my mates how to operate the AK and M-16.  He was quite relieved when I just took over from him, and played the role of Skill At Arms instructor.  I will never, ever be the tool who takes over at a barbecue or with DIY to show off ‘Alpha Male’ qualities because I really don’t need to and lawyers or accountants need the opportunity more.  However, there are times when you’ve just got to take over.  After some brief instruction and guidance, my fellow travellers then really enjoyed their first experiences of shooting, including on ‘automatic’ (only 2-3 round bursts, no ‘Baghdad Unloads’) and were buzzing afterwards- there were no fatalities or Gun Shot Wounds!  

Chicks with guns...

The next part of the Cambodian experience, however, definitely brought the mood down to earth as we headed out to the killing fields.  At Choeung Ek  some of the 2 million people, of a population of 8 million, killed during the regime of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge in the 70’s were buried.  Here people were brought out from the S-21 prison and were dumped in mass graves after being killed in a variety of methods- shooting was avoided in order to preserve ammunition.  The most graphically described method was the way used to kill babies who were seen as potential threats to the regime as they may grow up wanting to seek revenge for their murdered parents.  The babies were held by their feet and had their heads smashed off a tree.

Some of the skulls that have been excavated at Choeung Ek

Memorial at the 'Killing Fields'.

Knowing exactly what the Taliban and their Al Queda mates get up to, given half a chance, nothing evil that human beings do to each other surprises me anymore.  The thing about Cambodia is the sheer scale of killing 25% of the national population, and the sheer pointlessness of it- not that Islam is any justification, but there is a perverse logic to those boys’ ‘death cult’ mentality.

Sihanouk, the post colonial ruler of Cambodia in the 60’s was seen as being pro- North Vietnam, although he claimed neutrality, and was opposed by the Americans.  While he was visiting China in 1970 he was ousted in an American backed coup.  This lead to the Viet Cong and their Cambodian equivalent the Khmer Rouge, to attempt to retake control.  The Khmer Rouge ended up taking control of Phnom Penh in April 1975, a couple of weeks before the fall of Saigon.

Immediately, the country was renamed ‘Democratic Kampuchea’ and Pol Pot the Khmer Rouge leader set about achieving his stated aim of of turning the country into an 11^th century agricultural economy.  People living in cities were forced to walk out into the countryside to work in rice paddies.  All elements of Western life, including hospitals, were destroyed along with all evidence of religion, including Buddhist, Catholic and the Cham Muslims.  Minority Chinese and Vietnamese, as well as evidence of contact with the previous regime or with foreign nationals were all regarded as a threat.  People were encouraged to confess and ‘wipe the slate clean’- before being taken away and executed.

An academic background or an ability to speak a foreign language was seen as a threat, and a guaranteed execution.  The fact that Pol Pot himself had studied Marxism in Paris showed a level of hypocrisy which Blair/ Mandelson/ Campbell types can only look on at in bewildered awe.

Ultimately, the Khmer Rouge bloodbath ended in 1978 when the Vietnamese, who were not exactly regarded as liberators in Saigon 3 yrs earlier, invaded and took over.  Civil war and internal turmoil carried on until 1991, when peace was agreed and the monarchy was restored in 1993.  Apart from a brief attempted coup in 1997 there has been peace ever since.

Anyway after our little trip around Choeung Ek, we had the opportunity to go to visit S-21 prison, but the general feeling was that we were all a bit ‘Genocided Out’ by then, so we headed back into town.  I found it strange that my friends then professed a feeling of guilt about the fact they’d enjoyed ‘playing with guns’ immediately before.  I did try to explain the fact that the only way evil is prevented in the world is by “Rough men standing ready in the night... etc”, but they weren’t entirely convinced.

Anyway, after a couple more days in Phnom Penh our party has dispersed around Cambodia, although I think I’m just going to fly to Kuala Lumpa in the next couple of days, Inshallah...

Departure from Saigon.

Paddy Rice’s Irish pub, the water front, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Just nursing a few cups of coffee after sitting up until 3AM watching England’s finest rugby players in Leicester and Toulon try to redeem some dignity after the 6 Nations shocker in Dublin... and fail.

Prior to leaving Saigon it seemed appropriate to visit the locations where the final acts of the war were played out in April 1975.  I also went to the so called ‘War Remnants Museum’ which was a piece of Anti-American propaganda which would even impress the BBC.  As well as displaying captured American weapons and kit, as well as an Australian SLR rifle, they really go to town with My Lai.  However, they also show the 2 US Army pilots who intervened to halt the massacre, as if in some way they were anti-American traitors.  No effort is spared to show every angle of Agent Orange and Napalm (both used to clear the jungle) effects, both on the individuals at the time and the next generation.  While a quick glance at babies with 2 heads or whatever was enough for me to get the picture, plenty of Westerner tourists seemed determined to look at every single gruesome photograph, and I do wonder what particular effect they were hoping to achieve for themselves.  If the commies wanted me to feel any self-loathing or anti-Americanism, they would have had to have tried an awful lot harder.  

War Remnants Museum

Model of US soldier in 'Nam, with M-16 rifle.  His rank is E-6 Staff Sergent, which is equivalent to Corporal in UK.

On the way to look at the site of the US Embassy, we saw the British Consulate across the road from it.  While I am usually heartened by the sight of the Union Flag whenever I see it abroad, this particular one was so faded and threadbare, I got quite annoyed.  The fact it was flying next to the European Union flag (speaking of totalitarian, extreme, left-wing regimes) really annoyed me.  If anybody is reading this from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, get a f*cking grip.  David Cameron may feel ashamed of being British, but I certainly don’t.

 I hadn’t realised that the former US Embassy has now been re-occupied by the Americans as the Consulate, and it must be somewhat surreal for the people based there- particularly the Marine guards whose predecessors were the final players of America’s involvement in South Vietnam.

In October 1972 details of secret negotiations between US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, under President Nixon, and the North Vietnamese Govt were publicised by Hanoi.  Feeling that the Communists were trying to pressure him, ‘Tricky Dicky’ ordered ‘Operation Linebacker II’ (you’ve got to love the names the yanks come out with!) which was air strikes on Hanoi and which succeeded in persuading the North that they did actually really want peace after all.  On the 15^th of January 1973 President Nixon announced the end of US offensive operations against North Vietnam.  The Paris Peace Accords were signed later that month and this agreed a ceasefire.  It also arranged for the release of all POW’s (Prisoners Of War).   

Following this, the vast majority of American troops withdrew, handing over responsibility to the South Vietnamese.  The Americans who were doing the OMLT (‘omlette’, Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team- the NATO troops embedded on the ground with the Afghan Army units) type tasking remained, with American air support on call, as a reassurance for the reluctant South Vietnamese.  However, nearly 2 years later, in December 1974 the US Congress cut off all military aid to South Vietnam, including the air support.  Following on from this, the North Vietnamese swiftly attacked South Vietnam, and were surprised by just what a shambles the ARVN forces were as they retreated en masse towards Saigon, which was surrounded by the end of April. 

The Americans launched as orderly an evacuation as possible of both American staff and their South Vietnamese colleagues who were most at risk of reprisal from the communists.  The initial evacuations were by transport aircraft to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, but once Tan Son Nhut Airbase (now Ho Chi Minh City Airport) had been rendered inoperable by rocket and artillery fire, the evacuation was done by helicopter to warships off the coast.  110,000 Vietnamese civilians were evacuated as well as 978 US personnel.  Ambassador Martin left at 5AM on the morning of the 30^th of April and, after a pause when they genuinely thought they might be left behind to face the NVA on their own, the last 11 US Marines were heli-ed out of the Embassy at 8AM.  That day the NVA rolled through Saigon, more or less unopposed and drove through the gates of the parliament building- now the ‘Reunification Palace’.  Legend has it that the senior South Vietnamese official there said to the NVA tank commander “I have been waiting for you to arrive so I can surrender,” to which the NVA officer responded “You are not in a position to give away what you do not possess.”

View of Reunification Palace/ South Vietnamese parliament from tanks positioned where NVA tanks arrived at end of war.

The final toll of Vietnam was 58,000 Americans dead, 5,000 South Koreans, 1,000 Thais, 521 Aussies and 31 Kiwis.  On the North Vietnamese Army/ Viet Cong side, they lost over a million men.  In addition the South Vietnamese Army lost over 200,000 dead and the estimates of civilian casualties range between 2 and 4 million.  There are also 2,000 Americans who are still listed as Missing In Action (MIA), and who’s fate may never be known.

After 3 weeks in Vietnam the main legacy of the war that I perceived is that the country is an interesting paradox.  On the one hand you can read all the propaganda rubbish at the ‘Hanoi Hilton’, Khe Sahn, Cu Chi etc about terrified, pathetic Americans and if you know nothing (which most tourists seem to) you will get the impression that the Vietnamese have nothing but justified contempt for the Americans.  I did have to educate some people that while Agent Orange is not ideal, and should never be used, the Americans didn’t realise the side effects, and as they had a pressing need to clear the jungle and flush out ‘Charlie’, it’s use in the context of the circumstances could be understood.  Obviously, if they’d understood what would happen they wouldn’t have used it as they’re a decent, civilised country who were trying to do the right thing.  Today, aside from the obvious propoganda, the only effect of communism to the tourist is the half-hearted attempt to block internet access to Facebook, and sometimes the BBC (which is strange as that’s the most anti-Western institution on the planet!).

The other side of the paradox, however, is that the Vietnamese clearly respect America enormously.  Diplomatic relations were resumed with the US in the 90’s with President Clinton making a state visit.  Unfortunately Clinton’s own contribution to his country during the war was to hide at Oxford University, smoking cannabis to avoid his military service (how such a spineless, dishonourable scrote could end up as President of the United States never fails to amaze me).  It is a myth that America actually lost the Vietnam War militarily, South Vietnam was only invaded by the North once American involvement entirely stopped, and you can see through all the propaganda that the Vietnamese know this.  Ultimately, the reality is that if the Americans really wanted to defeat the North Vietnamese, they could have ‘nuked’ them as they did the Japanese.  As the Americans evacuated Saigon they flew over NVA positions, but the NVA were under strict orders to not engage as the last thing Hanoi wanted was the Americans coming back.

The most obvious manifestation of the appeal of America in modern Vietnam is the marketing/ branding visible, much the same as anywhere else in the world.  While McD’s and Starbucks are obviously still a bit much for the commies, the Pepsi, KFC and Subway logo’s are visible everywhere, along with all the clothing/ sunglasses/ cars/ electronic goods etc available in the West.  The adverts all show Vietnamese models/ actors looking as Western (i.e. American) as possible.  Amusingly I was told in Da Lat that physically I represent the Vietnamese ideal: tall, blonde, blue-eyed... and pale, with a big nose and a fat face!

In terms of how Vietnam is relevant to Afghanistan, who knows if there will be organised ‘Terry’s Tours’ bus trips around Sangin and Nad-e-Ali in 40 yrs, with opportunities to fire M-4’s and SA-80’s.  Somehow I doubt the Marines at Khe Sahn in ‘68 thought that dizzy blonde ‘college students’ would be flirting with British tourists on the same spot 40 years later!   The thing I found most remarkable is that the people of Vietnam do not act like one might expect people whose country was at war for decades, they’ve just got on with life, as humans generally always do, regardless of what particular type of government they’re living under.  Bearing this in mind, any strategy in Afghanistan (or anywhere else) has to be focussed on the civilian side of life, offering the civilian population what they want, and starving the insurgency of the popular support needed to sustain it.  The same people are still going to be living there long after NATO and the Taliban have been forgotten about. 

No Western army can ever compete with the fear factor that the VC/ Taliban can instil in the civilian population, because that’s not what we’re about.  For this reason Counter-Insurgency should be pursued more as a ‘General Election’ or marketing campaign than as a war, with civilians actually taking centre stage in presenting the local population with a better lifestyle than the alternative, with the military in the background.  I read a quote by a US Navy SEAL commando saying that he loved his job in Vietnam  and the SEALSs would have been happy if ‘Nam had lasted 100 yrs, but there’s no point killing bad guys day in, day out if you’re not actually achieving a strategic effect.   The term ‘Hearts and Minds’ has become a cliché, and we all laugh at the jokes such as “Two in the chest, one in the head”, or “Grab the balls, and the hearts and minds will follow”, but it is the key to winning a Counter Insurgency.  The reason why the campaigns in Malaya, Oman and, let’s not forget, Iraq were successful is that the population genuinely believed that what was being offered by Britain/ the allies was a better bet than what was being offered by the other side.  Either way, let’s hope that people will be going on holiday to Afghanistan much sooner than 40 yrs time.

Anyway, after the sights of Saigon, I got up the next day and got the 6 hour bus trip to Phnom Penh in Cambodia.  I had minimal knowledge of the Killing Fields, Pol Pot etc- beyond the fact it was brutal enough for the Vietnamese communists to turn up, save the day, and be portrayed as the good guys...