The Hypocrisy of American Politics

Two knuckleheaded U. S. politicians want to punish Cambodia for its deportation of the Uyghur asylum seekers to China. The punishment: No reduction in or elimination of some $300 million in debt, dating back to the Lon Nol era. The CIA was instrumental in Lon Nol’s coup-d’etat in 1970. That same country bombarded Cambodia for over one year from 1969 to 1970 – secretly. That same country violated Cambodia’s national sovereignty in pursuit of its own misguided foreign policy at that time, not to mention the much worse killing of countless Cambodians by U.S. bombs. The $300 million were given to Lon Nol to bolster his fight against the Khmer Rouge.

Now this country wants to punish Cambodia? What moral right, let alone legal claim, does a country like that have? How about some reparations for its acts against humanity in Cambodia?

They also want to deny Cambodia duty-free status for its garments. So the garment workers are to blame for the government’s action? What makes those two asinine men tick? The excuse with reference to the Chinese dictatorship in a cozy relationship with Hun Sen and his government comes off pretty lame.

Their own president went to China and did not mention human rights once in his talks with the Chinese government. Last I heard, China counts pretty big in U. S. foreign policy. They can’t really afford to alienate the Chinese, now can they? Did they ever introduce a similar bill to punish China? Not to my knowledge.

The only solace we can draw from this is that this bill is probably dead on arrival. Speaking of dead on arrival; did we ever hear anything about that House resolution condemning Cambodia in the aftermath of that Tom Lantos Commission hearing? Of course not; it was never called for a vote.

Meanwhile the U. S. administration announced a huge aid program entitled ‘Feed the Future’. One of its targeted country is Cambodia, as the State Department stated. Perhaps those two guys will want to cut Cambodia out of it? After all, the money will go to the Cambodian government and who knows where it will end up. Some circles are crying foul before even the first cent has been disbursed. Well, this is how some people make their money – the hacks and the professional do-gooders who are so unselfish in their concern for the Cambodian people.