Sam Rainsy suffers severe bout of historical amnesia [Is this piece written by a ghostwriter Alen Myers?]

The author of this article, who is a ghostwriter himself, has shamefully dared to call Sam Rainsy's article, that has just been published in the New York Times, as written by a ghostwriter. The author of this article, like many articles coming out of the Hun Sen regime, whether having someone's name attached it or were published under an anonymous writer, were suspected to be written by Allen Myers, an ex-commie and, who along with his wife Helen Jarvis, was a Pol Pot sympathiser. Recently, many articles blasting and attacking the oppositions and the UN Envoy Surya Subedi, with one of them having Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong's name attached to it and another with Ambassador Hos Sereythonh's name, were suspected to be written by ghostwriter Allen Myers. So, who is the real prolific ghostwriter, Sam Rainsy or Allen Myers?

Daniel Ortega being sworn in for his first term as president in 1985, the same year that Hun Sen first became prime minister

PHNOM PENH, 3 November 2012 (Cambodia Herald) - In his opinion piece that appeared in the New York Times this week, Sam Rainsy -- or his ghostwriter -- seems to have suffered a severe bout of historical amnesia. Readers will recall that the opposition leader appealed to US President Barack Obama to "stay away" from the East Asia summit being hosted by Prime Minister Hun Sen later this month.

Sam Rainsy claimed Hun Sen was "the only Cold War communist leader to survive in power today." Well, he could have a valid point there since most of those leaders are now either dead or living in retirement for many years.

But what about Daniel Ortega, the revolutionary Nicaraguan leader who helped topple the corrupt US-backed Sandoza regime in 1979, the same year that Hun Sen helped overthrow Pol Pot?

For those old enough to remember, both Ortega and Hun Sen were military men who stood out in those days as being highly articulate, extremely photogenic and refreshingly young compared with the elderly leaders of the Soviet bloc.

Born in 1945, Ortega was only 33 years old when the Somoza regime was overthrown by the Sandinista National Liberation Front. As Sandinista representative on a five-member military junta, he was the effective leader of the country until 1984 when he was elected as president with two-thirds of the vote.

Ortega had a certain Latino charisma, being particularly renowned for his trademark military fatigues and sunglasses. Stephen Long, the retired head of Citibank in Asia, recalled a few years ago that the Sandinista leader "looked terrific" when he met him in Managua in 1985 for financial talks.

Hun Sen was even younger. Born in 1952, he was only 26 when he became the world's youngest foreign minister in 1979. Six years later, the same year that Ortega was sworn in as president, he became prime minister for the first time, later serving as second prime minister after elections in 1993 and sole prime minister since the 1998 elections.

Ortega, on the other hand, remained Nicaragua's president until 1990 when he lost an election to a former colleague in the junta. He made a comeback in the elections of 2006 and has been serving a second term as president ever since.

In Cold War revolutionary terms, Ortega was an "older brother" to Hun Sen. Both were embraced by the Soviet bloc and shunned by the Americans throughout the 1980s. But the Cold War faded two decades ago, several European countries are now led by "reconstructed communists" and Cambodia is a member of ASEAN, the same organization that used to deny its legitimacy. Obama has meanwhile embraced Ortega.

Today Hun Sen says he considers his older brother to be  the Sultan of Brunei. Born in 1945, Hassanal Bolkiah ascended the throne in 1968. Since he holds the position of head of government as well as head of state, the Brunei monarch remains by far the longest serving leader in Southeast Asia.

Critics like Sam Rainsy should at least consider the obvious. One reason why the Cambodian, Nicaraguan and Brunei leaders still rule their countries is that they came to power at such unusually early ages. And as far as politicians go, they are all still relatively young -- like Sam Rainsy himself -- in their early or mid-sixties (by contrast, the South Korean president is 70 and the Indian prime minister is 80).

Granted Brunei is an absolute monarchy without elections. Yet the sultan is genuinely loved and respected by the people, as any visitor to the country can confirm. Regardless of whether Ortega and Hun Sen are former Cold War "communist" leaders, one can only assume they must be doing some things right. Otherwise, why do they keep getting re-elected?