Entering Cambodia via Phnom Penh is like descending into Hell. The heat is smothering, the stench of the air is pungent and the sights often heartbreaking. Young children and blind or disabled elderly beg on trash and waste-lined streets. Rumors of acts of violence toward both Cambodians and travelers circulate freely between backpackers.
The situation in Cambodia, and especially Phnom Penh is dire. After 25 years of war and horrific genocide, the city was left with deep wounds and is still working to rebuild after the complete breakdown of society. The people are exceptionally poor; impoverished to the point that the country’s own currency, the Riel, is not accepted because it has been so devalued. Cambodia’s currency may as well be the American dollar as even their ATM machines dispense only that.
Cambodia appears to be full of contradictions. While I’ve yet to see the grandeur of Angkor Wat, the word “awestruck” is what I’ve come to expect. Compare that to the disgust with human nature felt when visiting the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and the Tuol Sleng Museum (the former S-21 office from 1975-79) and I’m left unsure what to the think.
Walking through the Killing Fields, seeing bits of bones poking out from the churned up ground and the 9,000
bludgeoned skulls housed in the stupa, made me want to cry. I tried to cry, but I couldn’t because another emotion was quickly taking over my thoughts.
And when I looked down at the graves, I noticed my fists were clenched with rage. I was angry.
It made me sick to my stomach that human beings could do such unspeakable things to one another. How could another life brutally torture and be so despicably violent toward other human lives — intellectuals, civil servants, militia, city residents? Men, women and children regardless of age or race were brutally tortured for months in former school classrooms for days that turned into months and then were packed like cattle and sent to Choeung Ek to be put to death instantly upon arrival.
Over 2 million people were killed during Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge’s rule beginning in April 1975 and lasting through 1980 when the Vietnamese came in and overthrew the regime. During that time, the despot Pol Pot abolished money, markets, religion, schooling and traditional Khmer value, hoping to establish a “pure” society to serve a radical communist state.
I don’t understand how people like Hitler during World War II or Pol Pot during the Khmer Rouge rule or Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir in Darfur can’t see the wrong in their doings. How does a person get to such an evil mental state?
The saddest part is the true cliché of “history repeats itself.” It took years for someone to speak up during the Holocaust (I keep thinking of this poem) and it took far too long for the Khmer Rouge to be put to rest. Justice still has yet to be served for the Cambodian genocide and places like Sudan and Darfur are currently experiencing genocides of their own.
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It’s not only speaking up but acting out against pure evil. Voices, discussion, protest, and negotiation alone have never worked against despots or those who are the manifestation of evil. Following up on your previous post, would you have supported a war against Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, even knowing that there would be death? Is the death of a few truly evil people worth it to save the lives of millions of innocent victims? While many questions in life aren’t always clear, for me there is no lack of clarity on that question. Territorial wars and wars of conquest are one thing, but war against evil or those who want to turn society back to the dark ages are damn well worth it.
Of course, we can always talk and protest and pretend that irrational people are going to pay attention and change their intended behaviors. When a despot says he’s going to do something, history has proven time and time again, that he usually follows through unless stopped. Ahmadinejad will be the next to do so unless we actively confront him.
@Gary Lipman – Your recent comments have made me think more and more about “justifiable” wars and when it is necessary to step in an “overthrow” (for lack of a better word) a despot, government or evil force. While I still personally lean toward peaceful negotiation and admonishments, I understand that in many cases an evil force just can’t be stopped.
What affected me most learning about the Khmer Rouge and the genocide inflicted upon its people is that I had little education of it beforehand. For as much as we learn about the Holocaust, why wasn’t THIS genocide publicized? Why doesn’t genocide in places like Darfur garner attention? A genocide is a genocide no matter who is affected and how many are killed. What makes against Cambodians or Sudanese less important than one against the Jews?
One of the most common phrases heard over and over in the Jewish faith is “Never again…” and “Always remember…” Well, they are happening again, just not against us.