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Politics : Support the French! Viva Democracy! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (637)	4/5/2003 8:29:53 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7834

Have you ever read the sad letter Prince Sirik Matak wrote, as the US abandoned Cambodia to its fate? I was reminded of that letter by recent events. It is one of the few documents that has always stayed absolutely fresh in my memory. ................. On April 1, a weeping Lon Nol, crippled by nervous breakdowns and a series of minor strokes, fled Phnom Penh for Hawaii with his family and entourage while Prince Sirik Matak and other Lon Nol supporters remained behind in the hopes of organizing a last-minute peace talks. The Khmer Rouge rejected the talks and pressed further into the capital. US Ambassador to Cambodia John Gunther Dean quickly made plans to evacuate US embassy staff and their families along with key Cambodian government officials, including Sirik Matak, Lon Nol's brother Lon Non, and acting prime minister Long Boret. All three declined the offer. In the hours leading up to the evacuation Sirik Matak responded to Dean's invitation: Dear Excellency and friend, I thank you very sincerely for your letter and for your offer to transport me towards freedom. I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion. As for you and in particular for your great country, I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people which has chosen liberty. You have refused us your protection and we can do nothing about it. You leave us and it is my wish that you and your country will find happiness under the sky. But mark it well that, if I shall die here on the spot and in my country that I love, it is too bad because we are all born and must die one day. I have only committed the mistake of believing in you, the Americans. Please accept, Excellency, my dear friend, my faithful and friendly sentiments. Sirik Matak. Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak, former contender for the Cambodian throne and co-conspirator in the Lon Nol coup, would be executed by the Khmer Rouge two weeks later, along with Long Boret, Lon Non, and the other remaining members of the Lon Nol government.

To: Lane3 who wrote (637)	4/5/2003 9:08:31 PM
From: epicure	Respond to of 7834

I agree with this: To:Doug R who wrote (8142) From: BWAC Saturday, Apr 5, 2003 5:05 PM View Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8231 NEW DELHI, April 4: A day after he yet again stirred up a militarist exchange of words with Pakistan, Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha claimed on Friday that New Delhi had a better case to launch pre-emptive strikes against its foe than the United States had over Iraq. --------------------- And how many days did it take for that can of worms to open? Now who's going to close it? That right there was the #1 reason not to start Bush's war and very few people understood what pre-emptive strikes would eventually lead to.