Cambodia's Tragedy

Since we spent Thursday discovering Cambodia's ancient past, we spent Friday morning in recent history with a visit to the War Museum in Siem Reap. "Museum" is a liberal term. It looked like someone's overgrown backyard full of rusty tanks, helicopters, an airplane, Howitzers, ammunition, and land mines.

Cambodia's civil war was approximately from 1970-1975, then the Khmer Rouge wrested power from the democracy and established an egalitarian state of the cruelest kind: emptying cities and forcing the population into the fields to toil for little food. Many died of malnourishment and from the labor, and the others were executed: mostly intellectuals, journalists, artists, anyone who could threaten power to the KR. Since bullets were expensive, the KR chose to execute people without the "luxury" of a quick death by bullet. In 5 years, 3 million people were murdered, the rice paddies filled with their bodies, hence "The Killing Fields." This was one fifth of Cambodia's population. Traditional arts, crafts, music, knowledge, and other trades were nearly eliminated.

How did the KR obtain their weapons to overthrow the government? They purchased second-hand weaponry from WWI, WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, along with the assistance of the Chinese government, who supported the KR's extreme communist vision. Much of the heavy equipment was Russian- and Chinese-manufactured, and at least half of the firearms and bomb casings were American. What was that feeling when I held an AR-17 rifle in my hands and saw "Colt. Manufactured in Hartford, Conn" in my hands? Shame. Shame that this very weapon that was made in our country, that our government purchased, then sold, and ended up in the hands of the Khmer Rouge, used in the largest genocide since the Holocaust. I was pained to see the 500 pound bomb casing lying nearby with American markings, wondering perhaps if it was dropped during Nixon's secret bombing campaign in the country. Who did this bomb kill? Or those rifles? The family of our guide, who lost 3 fingers while attempting to defuse a landmine, and is still harboring shrapnel beneath his skin? Our guide's family who were all killed during the war and the KR regime, and saw his friends at age 10 and 15 blown to pieces by land mines? Despite the efforts to defuse 10 million mines in the country, it is believed that another 3 million still lie in wait for another innocent victim.

And it made me think, what are we contributing to the world? Sure, we export vaccines, technology, food, and humanitarian assistance. But we're also exporting weaponry, what countries are we selling these to, that after they outlive their usefulness, they're resold on the secondary market? Then used to what purpose, and in whose hands?

The last Khmer Rouge stronghold finally collapsed in 1998 along with the death of Pol Pot, but unfortunately, corruption still permeates this alleged "democracy." Former KR officials now hold office in the government and the courts. Despite local and international efforts to both defuse the mines, as well as nurture and preserve the near-dead Cambodia arts of apsara dance, silk weaving, ceramics, and shadow puppetry, this country has a very, very long way to go.

Our feelings were mixed as we left Cambodia. How did we help? We pumped plenty of cash into the local economy on handicrafts, paid directly to the merchants, but what about that $25 departure tax? A government-imposed fee that puts my money directly into their pockets. Am I helping or hindering? Is this fishbowl tourism, visiting a place to see how differently they live, then I hop on a comfortable plane and relax in my air-conditioned hotel room and call for room service. What kind of footprint did we leave behind?

If anything, travel has shown us our good fortune as Americans, and opened our eyes to what is so blantantly in our faces: poverty, child exploitation, corruption, scams, and lack of historical preservation. Travel creates awareness, but one must be prepared for how that awareness can be more of a downer than an uplifting vacation. On the other hand, it has opened our hearts to causes we had otherwise never considered. Cambodia may be experiencing a rebirth of sorts, but their tragic recent history is still within our generation, too soon perhaps for significant change.