Wednesday, 23 May 2012
By Joseph Freeman
Phnom Penh Post
Cambodian
soldiers involved in last week’s violent eviction in Kratie province
wear helmets market with a design that incorporates the United States
stars and stripes. Photograph: (L) Heng chivoan / (R) supplied
Observers on site in the aftermath of a Kratie province military operation last week that lead to the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl noticed something odd about the attire of some soldiers.
It
was their helmets. Crude replicas of what appeared to be American flags
were stuck between the green and tan camouflage, like an out-of-place
piece of a puzzle.
A uniform worn by one of the soldiers is from
the US, an Embassy spokesman confirmed yesterday. But the helmets
accompanied by the design are not official.
“That’s not us,” said
Sean McIntosh, public affairs officer with the embassy in Phnom Penh.
“When the US military makes uniform donations, no US insignia is left on
the articles.”
That’s not us, either, was the response from the
Cambodian government, deepening the mystery of where the elusive
headgear originated.
General Neang Phat, Secretary of State of Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence, had an answer.
“It
is their own helmet that they bought by themselves,” he said, without
explaining why soldiers would be buying their own helmets.
Uniforms
purchased through US grant money and transported to Cambodia are worn
by various contingents of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, according to
McIntosh.
But he said some US and RCAF soldiers also traded gear during joint operations.
Asked
if he was concerned that stars and stripes on the helmets of Cambodian
soldiers could send a distressing message to villagers, McIntosh
referred to a statement issued last week.
“We do not condone violence on the part of any party to settle these issues,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joseph Freeman at joseph.freeman@phnompenhpost.com
2 comments:
Why put American map in the helmet?
Being who you are, rather than get someone else involve in your stupid violence in Cambodia. It is really inappropriate.
Those guys look so dumb and stupid when they wore helmet with the U.S. marks to show off their stupidities and fool gullible Khmer people (poor villages) and foreigners. We have no doubt that those guys are not real Khmer, but they are Vietnamese idiots who are brainwashed by Vietnamese masters.
On the left side of the picture, the guy looks like Yuon/Vietnamese because of his face holding Khmer Krama in his hand and helmet with the U.S. Flag mark. How stupid that guy is.
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