Not to Miss: The Killing Fields

Reflections from a foreigner:

After the Holocaust the international community said:  “Never again, never again”. Perhaps that has fallen on death ears as I keep counting how many times the “never again” has actually been the again. It is a story that is all too familiar.

The Killing Fields are proof of what humans are capable of - genocide. 

The Killing Fields were commissioned under Pol Pot and were the sites used for Khmer exterminations (men, women, and children) under his regime.

As you approach the Killing Fields there is a tall memorial dedicated to the victims, full of their bones that remind us that we must never forget.  We MUST NEVER FORGET.

A walk by the killing tree where so many babies were murdered will forever be etched in my mind.  An estimated 2 to 3 million out of a total population that was 7 million died over the course of 5 years.  Everyone in the country was and still is affected.

My trip to the Killing Fields coincided with my reading of Samantha Powers book A Problem from Hell.  Prior to my visit I had wondered why so many countries around the world stood by despite the atrocities that were being committed inside Cambodia.  I wondered why today so many countries and so many people still refuse to believe when such atrocities are being committed.

A few things she had written provided me a bit of insight:

1.) The human mind doesn’t comprehend this level of darkness.  It seems unfathomable even when it those people whom are the targets.  But eventually, most of us have an “ah ha” moment.  It hits you.  But it often hits us when it is too late.

2.) Politics. There is always politics. Without going to indepth (you can read a history book or pick up her book) politics always plays a role.  In short, from the US perspective we had just come out of the Vietnam War and we couldn’t afford to get ourselves into the same situation.  Bad sentiments hung in the air as some on Capitol Hill boasted that Cambodian’s had helped to harbor the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War so why would we go back for round 2?

In addition, the US was worried about rocking the recent positive developments in our relationship with China.  When Vietnam did decide to invade with the backing of Russia we looked at it as communism extending is rule over yet another territory.

The story is obviously much more complex than my one little paragraph but at what point do politics take a backseat and the need for actions against genocide take the front seat?  My mind was racing when we returned to the hotel.  I turned on the television to find the current events of Libya, Syria, & the realities of what was happening in the Middle East.