BEBEU

IS THE MOVIE “FIRST THEY KILL MY FATHER” GOOD OR BAD FOR CAMBODIA?

By Sokha Ou-Uun
This was written when I first heard the news about the movie production. I had contacted all parties involved, and some Khmer newspapers, but there was no response. I bring this up again because the movie should hit Netflix anytime now.   

Upcoming Movie "First They Kill My Father"

Since I heard the news about this project, I am having a mixed feeling about what this movie could do to Cambodia and its people.  

On one hand, I am delighted because all parties involved including Mrs. Loung Ung, Mrs. Angelina Pitt, Mr. Rithy Panh, and Netflix CEO have stated that the purpose of the movie is to insure that this kind of tragedy (Genocide Under Pol Pot) would never happen again.

On the other hand, I am afraid that if the movie only concentrates on the human tragedy and not its root cause, the movie could be used as a propaganda weapon by Communist Vietnam (CV), who has been trying, for the last four decades, to legitimize its invasion, its occupation, and its subsequent domination of Cambodia.

Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh, and Laos Communist Leader

The truth is, under the direction of Ho Chi Minh, CV created Khmer Rouge (KR) since French era.  The CV supported and fought alongside the KR during Cambodian Civil War from 1970 to 1975.  Without the support of the CV, Pol Pot and his evil gangs of Khmer Rouge would not have won the war, and all the human tragedy that followed would not have happened.  Both COMMUNIST VIETNAM and KHMER ROUGE** bear the same responsibility for this crime against humanity; their hands were soaked with Khmer’s blood.

** Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Hun Sen, Chea Sim, Heng Samrin, and Pen Sovann were once part of the Khmer Rouge cadre.

After the civil war between Khmer Republic and Khmer Rouge/CV ended in 1975, the CV encouraged the idiotic and egoistic Pol Pot to kill his own people by manipulating him to think that he was the first communist leader who could transform Cambodia into a purest communist state that even Vietnam or China could not attain. In reality, CV was simply following its 800-yo expansion plan and tactics.  

The goals were to kill two birds with one stone. The first objective was to reduce Cambodian population, and the second one was to demonize Pol Pot such that no one would support him no matter what, making it easier for Vietnam to conquer Cambodia later. Vietnam used the same tactics of letting their enemy killing each other before conquering and wiping out Champa in 1832.  From 1975 to 1979, orders to commit the atrocity and the killing were received from a mysterious organization called "Angka." Till these days, no one really knows who and what Angka was. Most people believe that it was a Vietnamese clandestine organization that worked and traveled only at night. 

In 1979, after having met all of its objectives and prior to the arrival of the United Nation fact-finding team to investigate what had happened inside Cambodia, Vietnam invaded the country, and declared that the tragedy was over and therefore, there was no need for the UN team to come. Without the knowledge of the root cause of the genocide, and the real reason for the invasion, the world applauded, and the fate of Cambodia was once again left in the hands of its predator, Vietnam.

Cambodians Conscripted to Participate in K-5 Program

Cambodians Clearing Land Under Vietnamese Watch

Did the killing stop after the invasion? I am afraid not. There was no more Angka to order the killing, but Cambodian population continued to suffer.  The conquerer and its puppet government had created a killing plan, masqueraded as an economic and defense plan called K-5 or Bamboo Wall program.

For further reading about K-5:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/cambodia/bamboo-wall.htm

Vietnamese Soldier and K-5 Workers

Under this plan, Vietnam and its puppet government forced hundreds of thousands of Cambodians, at gun point, to go to the jungle to clear lands, knowing that those lands were full of land mines. A new killing field once again took place without too many people knowing it.  For the past several decades, Vietnam and its puppet government have been pulling every tricks in the book trying to convince the world that they were the saviors of Cambodia. Although skepticism has been on the rise, I am afraid to say that the puppet and its master have been somewhat successful in convincing the world that they were the saviors.

Area Landscape Prior To Vietnamese Expansion

Although, there were not supposed to be any Vietnamese troupes remained in Cambodia after the implementation of the 1991 Paris Agreement, reports indicated that a large portion of Vietnamese soldiers did not leave the country; they simply shed their uniforms and stayed on. Today, CV is controlling all aspects of life in Cambodia the same way it did during Khmer Rouge era[1].

If the movie fails to show this truth, I have no doubt that it will become a propaganda tool for the Communist Vietnam and its pawn who, for the past four decades, have been working hard to justify their domination of Cambodia.  As the result, the people of Cambodia will face an even bigger and irreversible tragedy.  They may not just lose their lives this time, but they will lose something even more precious, their nation, their identity, and their way of life as did Champa[2] and Khmer Kampuchea Krom[3].

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[1] The VC operated secretly and mysteriously behind the scene under the name of ANGKA.

[2] An Empire just South of Annam or Dai Viet (origin of Vietnam) wiped out by Viet in 1832

[3] Cambodia territory (Cambodia South and Southwest coastal area including Prey No Kor or Saigon now changed to Ho Chi Minh City) ceded to Vietnam in 1949 by French to entice Vietnamese King Boa Dai to join French in fighting against the Communists. Once the King got what he wanted for his country, he left the throne and retired in France.