An U.S. aircraft flies from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday, 10 Sept 2008. (Photo courtesy: AP Photo/Heng Sinith)PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Cambodian government and military officials took a rare tour of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier when it sailed through the region on its way home from Iraq, embassy officials said Thursday (11 Sept).
It was the first tour by Cambodian officials of a U.S. aircraft carrier and "another step in the growing military to military relationship" between the two countries, said embassy spokesman John Johnson.
The Cambodian delegation was flown by a U.S. military aircraft from the capital, Phnom Penh, for a four-hour visit Wednesday (10 Sept) on the vessel, which was about 250 miles off the Cambodian coast, Johnson said.
Cambodia's army commander, Gen. Meas Sophea, called the tour "a very special occasion," in a prepared statement.
Mao Has Vannal, head of Cambodian's civil aviation authority, said he'd only seen such military capabilities on television.
"On the return flight, we took off under the force of the catapult system shooting the plane up into the air," he said Thursday. "It was so real compared to what we used to see on the Discovery Channel."
The tour was the latest sign of growing relations between the two countries.
In February, the USS Gary, a guided missile frigate with 200 officers and crew, was the first American military vessel to dock at a Cambodian seaport in more than 30 years.
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military heavily bombed suspected communist guerrilla strongholds in Cambodia.
The U.S. backed Cambodia's 1970s military regime led by General Lon Nol until it was toppled by Khmer Rouge rebels. Eighteen U.S. soldiers were killed fighting Khmer Rouge forces on Koh Tang, a Cambodian island in the Gulf of Thailand, in May 1975. (AP)
3 comments:
it's seen as a shift of US foreign policy towards Cambodia since 1997 when military assistant was postponed
The shift is as a result of the US's need for co-operation from Cambodia in fighting terrorism and also as a result of increased Chinese influence in Cambodia- sort of a competition between China and America for influencing Cambodia. Otherwise, America will not deal with a regime that is considered a human right abuser and dictatorial.
Don't think Cambodia is such a dangerous place for terrorism. Cambodia, in fact, doesn't have extremists as other people may think.
On one hand The shift in US policy is much to do with cooperation has so far given by Cambodia to fight everything that US has asked such as trafficking in person, narcotic, padophile, exchange information Etc..
On the other hand, the increase of Chinese influent in the region made US feel left out and the need to re-insert themselves for economic and political as well as a potential long term navy base in country[s] within the region as they have no longer had a base in Philippine, Japan government is also under pressure from its people re base in Okinawa.
USA and China are in good term at this moment and years to come if neither side would harshly srcutinize each other affair[s] at the time Russia is trying to re-insert themselves in super power race again.
Re Burma, USA rahter leaves it to China to ask the regime to lax its grips instead of verbal confrontation.
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