Written by Dr.
Gaffar Peang-Meth
The Guam Pacific Daily News
Jul. 5, 2013
"The Cambodian Wars: Clashing Armies and CIA Covert Operations," a
book by Kenneth Conboy, is now available. Conboy, who has authored or
co-authored 17 other books, is a former policy analyst and deputy
director of the Asian Studies Center in Washington, D.C. Conboy notes
that this book "has been nearly three decades in the making."
When I was still teaching at the University of Guam, Conboy communicated with me and flew to the island for a few days, armed with selected photos, papers, sketches, maps and information on the Khmer national resistance and on Cambodia. I was surprised and impressed with the research he had accomplished. In my office at UOG, he was shown some paraphernalia I brought from the days of my participation in the Khmer People's National Liberation Front, or KPNLF, in the 1980s.
It was in Guam that I learned Conboy had visited Bangkok; had traveled to the Khmer-Thai border during my time of service in the Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces, or KPNLAF; and had conducted extensive interviews with Khmer noncommunists (royalist and Republican), as well as foreign figures, with some of whom I also had contact.
After our meeting on Guam, Conboy continued to stay in touch with me -- more checking, re-checking, confirming, re-confirming, cross-checking, over many years -- until the book was completed a few months ago.
Unlike some other authors who published on Cambodia and especially on the Khmer Non-Communist Resistance, or NCR, without having met or talked with key players, Conboy read and collected data by going straight to the sources, interviewed them, cross-checked data with other sources. Time and again, he returned for more interviews, engaged in more cross-checking.
Conboy writes knowledgeably and authoritatively and his exhaustive research provided him with background and context that equipped him to be a keen observer and reporter.
I looked forward to receiving an advance copy of the book and read it voraciously, finishing the 400 pages in one day. Dealing as it does with a significant portion of my adult life, I was immediately engrossed, but believe the book to be a fairly easy read for any interested person.
It's Conboy's reporting on that neglected period in Cambodian history, 1979-'91 (during which I was an active participant), that's particularly worthwhile.
During this period, member states of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations took the lead, backed by major powers and the United Nations, in opposing Vietnam's military invasion and decade-long occupation of Cambodia. ASEAN considered Vietnam's actions a violation of international law and the convention on state sovereignty.
A Khmer national resistance that included Khmer royalists, Republicans and Maoist Khmer Rouge joined in a coalition (on paper) to fight the Vietnamese occupiers. Through his interviews with CIA operatives and Australian, Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai special forces and intelligence service officers, Conboy provides us with insight into foreign intelligence efforts to assist the Cambodian resistance.
Conboy may not realize that concerned Cambodians today are appreciative of the opportunity the book provides them to learn about this time in their national history. Assuredly, it's not taught to young Khmers today and is a story that can be kept alive only by Khmer expatriates and those who were participants and observers during those years.
At the time of the active resistance, the noncommunist factions were widely considered ineffective and, at worst, members were accused of colluding with the Khmer Rouge. The accusations were personally painful to NCR leaders.
If victors write histories as they see fit, Conboy exposes for history that the noncommunist resistance could and did produce. But world politics had moved on. It was time to transform battlefields into market places, and bullets into ballots. Who would not be excited about the prospect of peace?
Conboy dubbed the KPNLAF a model of demobilization. For me, I saw the vision of a future that KPNLAF leaders and I once shared, as being discarded; NCR leaders entered the new theater of politics and power grabbing with inadequate preparation and considerable self-deception; I folded my tent and said goodbye.
Conboy writes that some foreign supporters of the Cambodian resistance celebrated "victory" after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.
Twenty-two years later, the fight for freedom and justice continues in Cambodia.
When I was still teaching at the University of Guam, Conboy communicated with me and flew to the island for a few days, armed with selected photos, papers, sketches, maps and information on the Khmer national resistance and on Cambodia. I was surprised and impressed with the research he had accomplished. In my office at UOG, he was shown some paraphernalia I brought from the days of my participation in the Khmer People's National Liberation Front, or KPNLF, in the 1980s.
It was in Guam that I learned Conboy had visited Bangkok; had traveled to the Khmer-Thai border during my time of service in the Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces, or KPNLAF; and had conducted extensive interviews with Khmer noncommunists (royalist and Republican), as well as foreign figures, with some of whom I also had contact.
After our meeting on Guam, Conboy continued to stay in touch with me -- more checking, re-checking, confirming, re-confirming, cross-checking, over many years -- until the book was completed a few months ago.
Unlike some other authors who published on Cambodia and especially on the Khmer Non-Communist Resistance, or NCR, without having met or talked with key players, Conboy read and collected data by going straight to the sources, interviewed them, cross-checked data with other sources. Time and again, he returned for more interviews, engaged in more cross-checking.
Conboy writes knowledgeably and authoritatively and his exhaustive research provided him with background and context that equipped him to be a keen observer and reporter.
I looked forward to receiving an advance copy of the book and read it voraciously, finishing the 400 pages in one day. Dealing as it does with a significant portion of my adult life, I was immediately engrossed, but believe the book to be a fairly easy read for any interested person.
Readable history
He provides a short, readable history of Cambodia from ancient times until the present day -- kingdom, republic (1970-'75); Khmer Rouge (1975-'79); Vietnamese puppet (1979 forward). He centers his description and analysis on the significant actions of key individuals and is insightful, informative, impartial and accurate.It's Conboy's reporting on that neglected period in Cambodian history, 1979-'91 (during which I was an active participant), that's particularly worthwhile.
During this period, member states of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations took the lead, backed by major powers and the United Nations, in opposing Vietnam's military invasion and decade-long occupation of Cambodia. ASEAN considered Vietnam's actions a violation of international law and the convention on state sovereignty.
A Khmer national resistance that included Khmer royalists, Republicans and Maoist Khmer Rouge joined in a coalition (on paper) to fight the Vietnamese occupiers. Through his interviews with CIA operatives and Australian, Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai special forces and intelligence service officers, Conboy provides us with insight into foreign intelligence efforts to assist the Cambodian resistance.
Conboy may not realize that concerned Cambodians today are appreciative of the opportunity the book provides them to learn about this time in their national history. Assuredly, it's not taught to young Khmers today and is a story that can be kept alive only by Khmer expatriates and those who were participants and observers during those years.
At the time of the active resistance, the noncommunist factions were widely considered ineffective and, at worst, members were accused of colluding with the Khmer Rouge. The accusations were personally painful to NCR leaders.
Balance provided
Conboy provides balance. He notes that the commander in chief of the Khmer People's National Liberation Armed Forces, Gen. Sak Sutsakhan, considered launching attacks against the Khmer Rouge in the border areas; and that several creative, innovative projects originated with the KPNLAF, including successful aggressive military actions that brought down a string of Phnom Penh's military bases along the Thai border, paving the way for the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements.If victors write histories as they see fit, Conboy exposes for history that the noncommunist resistance could and did produce. But world politics had moved on. It was time to transform battlefields into market places, and bullets into ballots. Who would not be excited about the prospect of peace?
Conboy dubbed the KPNLAF a model of demobilization. For me, I saw the vision of a future that KPNLAF leaders and I once shared, as being discarded; NCR leaders entered the new theater of politics and power grabbing with inadequate preparation and considerable self-deception; I folded my tent and said goodbye.
Conboy writes that some foreign supporters of the Cambodian resistance celebrated "victory" after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.
Twenty-two years later, the fight for freedom and justice continues in Cambodia.
Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University
of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. He was an
assistant to the commander-in-chief of the Khmer People's National
Liberation Armed Forces in charge of planning and analysis, and deputy
chief of general staff of the Joint Military Command. Email him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.
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