Claudio Bussolino espatriato in Cambogia

Nixon to Kissinger: “Just Bomb the Hell Out of Them”

December 2008 the National Security Archive has released an online volume of transcripts from some 15,000 phone calls made by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The transcripts date from 1969 to 1977. Kissinger played a pivotal role in the escalation of the US attack on Vietnam, the bombing of Cambodia and Laos, the backing of the genocidal Indonesian invasion of East Timor, and the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Chilean President Salvador Allende. In a newly released transcript from 1972, Kissinger informs President Richard Nixon the US has dropped “a million pounds of bombs” on North Vietnam. Nixon responds, “That shock treatment [is] cracking them. I tell you the thing to do is pour it in there every place we can…just bomb the hell out of them." In an apparent reference to antiwar sentiment in the US, Kissinger says the US will ultimately achieve its objectives in Vietnam, saying, “If as a country we keep our nerves, we are going to make it.” Previously released transcripts have revealed Kissinger was responsible for giving orders that critics have called genocidal. In 1970, Kissinger relayed Nixon’s order to expand the bombing of Cambodia, saying, “A massive bombing campaign in Cambodia. Anything that flies on anything that moves.”

Poi venne Obama e....

chiese di pagare il conto

Questo fu l'atteggiamento del governo degli Stati Uniti nei confronti della Cambogia negli anni '70. Nessun tribunale ha mai chiesto conto al governo americano di questi cinici ordini che violavano ogni norma del diritto internazionale, anche in tempo di guera. Ora, però - come si usa dire - "al danno si aggiunge anche la beffa" perché ancora oggi, a distanza di 40 anni da quegli eventi la Casa Bianca chiede al governo cambogiano di rimborsare i 339 milioni di dollari con i quali era stata finanziata quella sporca guerra. Questa somma rappresenta circa un quarto delle entrate annue dello Stato cambogiano. E' comunque una fortuna che l'Amministrazione Obama non chieda al popolo cambogiano di rimborsare anche il costo delle 539.000 tonnellate di bombe che in quegli anni furono rovesciate sul paese "to kill anytingh that moves".

Cambodia asks US to cancel $339 million in debt from 1970

February 9, 2010 - Cambodia asked the United States on Tuesday to cancel $339 million in debt that dates back to loans from the 1970s — or consider converting most of it into development aid for the impoverished country. The proposal, which came during a visit by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel, was the latest in a long-running exchange about how to handle the debt and what the money was used for 40 years ago.

"Cambodia has asked the United States government to cancel the debt but if it cannot do that, at least turn 70 percent of the debt into aid for the social development of the country," Deputy Foreign Minister Ouch Borith said after a meeting with Marciel. He said if the latter option were accepted, Cambodia would discuss repayment plans for the remaining 30 percent. Marciel, who is the U.S. ambassador to ASEAN, was expected to brief reporters later in the day.

The U.S. provided low-interest loans to Cambodia during the regime of Gen. Lon Nol in the early 1970s that financed rice, cotton and other agricultural commodities.

Lon Nol came to power in a 1970 coup that ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The United States was the main financial and military supporter of Lon Nol regime until it was toppled by the genocidal Khmer Rouge movement in April 1975.

Cambodia's current government says the money was also used to "buy weapons and support the war, which caused great suffering to the Cambodian people," Ouch Borith said.

The two countries have not yet come up with a repayment plan, partly because the Cambodian government refuses to accept responsibility for debts incurred by the Lon Nol regime, and partly because of a disagreement over the amount of debt owed.

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