Read Online KILLERS IN COLD BLOOD (True Crime) by Gordon Kerr, Ray Black, Rodney Castleden, Ian Welch, Clare Welch - Free Book Online
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Between 1963 and 1967 the Khmer Rouge ideology was developed, and the movement grew in strength as many disaffected Cambodians volunteered to join.
In January 1968, the Khmer Rouge – proper name Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) – began its uprising against the existing seat of power. The rebellion saw the Khmer Rouge seize army weaponry and begin to establish its own arsenal. As the Khmer Rouge became increasingly powerful in military terms, so Pol Pot became more powerful within the party. He assumed absolute power, consigning his former power-sharing colleagues to positions below him. Pol Pot had metamorphosed into an omnipotent tyrant – a despot. All others had to defer to his wishes, and it only became possible to communicate with him if he chose to summon someone, but that was not necessarily a good thing.
The year 1969 was spent consolidating his position and then events in Cambodia began to assist Pol Pot in his ambitions. Tensions between the Cambodians and North Vietnamese (Viet Minh) had led to rioting in early 1970 because the Viet Minh wanted control of the peninsula. Insurgents blamed the king and his government for the troubles and demanded that he be removed from power. This gave Pol Pot his opportunity. He sided with the Vietnamese, who invaded much of Cambodia in the same year.
Warring between the Viet Minh–Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian government continued for five years. The communists were heavily funded by the communist Chinese government, which was naturally anti-imperialist. Gradually, the Khmer Rouge grew into a formidable communist army and Pol Pot became increasingly extremist in his leftist leanings. The true nature of the man’s insecurities revealed themselves as he banned students and the middle class from joining the ranks of the Khmer Rouge. Only those who came from the peasantry were allowed in, even though he himself had come from a privileged background.
Things began to get unsavoury in 1973, when Pol Pot introduced the torture and summary execution of anyone who stood against the Khmer Rouge. He also began ordering the populations of cities and towns to move away from their urban environments to work in the fields. The logic behind this policy was that a rural life would cause them to forget about their former capitalist ways. By 1974, Pol Pot had also planned to phase out the use of money so that people traded by barter as the ultimate two-fingered salute to capitalism.
The Khmer Rouge seized total control of Cambodia in April 1975. Then all hell let loose on the population. Pol Pot put to death all members of former government. He then began the systematic process of torturing and murdering anyone deemed to be unsuitable for his regime’s purposes. This meant anyone who was educated or privileged in any way. The Khmer Rouge used a proverb in summing up their attitude: ‘To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss.’ That chilling sentence justified the extermination of perhaps two million people who were simply seen as surplus to requirements. They were known collectively as ‘depositees’.
Death camps and killing fields were used in this wholesale slaughter and burial of human life. Inevitably, in their desire to thin out the population, those who lost their lives to the Khmer Rouge also included people from ethnic and racial minorities, those with physical and mental disabilities, and anyone who even appeared to be more intelligent than they needed to be, such as those who wore glasses. The infamous S-21 camp was the sinister heart of the purging machine. It was where thousands were tortured into confessions before dying. Pol Pot justified these acts by claiming that the gleaned information provided useful intelligence for his government. In truth, it was a sadistic way of getting his own back on the memory of all those who had ever belittled him, either intellectually or aristocratically.
Ultimately, the Khmer Rouge shot itself in the foot and failed in
In January 1968, the Khmer Rouge – proper name Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) – began its uprising against the existing seat of power. The rebellion saw the Khmer Rouge seize army weaponry and begin to establish its own arsenal. As the Khmer Rouge became increasingly powerful in military terms, so Pol Pot became more powerful within the party. He assumed absolute power, consigning his former power-sharing colleagues to positions below him. Pol Pot had metamorphosed into an omnipotent tyrant – a despot. All others had to defer to his wishes, and it only became possible to communicate with him if he chose to summon someone, but that was not necessarily a good thing.
The year 1969 was spent consolidating his position and then events in Cambodia began to assist Pol Pot in his ambitions. Tensions between the Cambodians and North Vietnamese (Viet Minh) had led to rioting in early 1970 because the Viet Minh wanted control of the peninsula. Insurgents blamed the king and his government for the troubles and demanded that he be removed from power. This gave Pol Pot his opportunity. He sided with the Vietnamese, who invaded much of Cambodia in the same year.
Warring between the Viet Minh–Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian government continued for five years. The communists were heavily funded by the communist Chinese government, which was naturally anti-imperialist. Gradually, the Khmer Rouge grew into a formidable communist army and Pol Pot became increasingly extremist in his leftist leanings. The true nature of the man’s insecurities revealed themselves as he banned students and the middle class from joining the ranks of the Khmer Rouge. Only those who came from the peasantry were allowed in, even though he himself had come from a privileged background.
Things began to get unsavoury in 1973, when Pol Pot introduced the torture and summary execution of anyone who stood against the Khmer Rouge. He also began ordering the populations of cities and towns to move away from their urban environments to work in the fields. The logic behind this policy was that a rural life would cause them to forget about their former capitalist ways. By 1974, Pol Pot had also planned to phase out the use of money so that people traded by barter as the ultimate two-fingered salute to capitalism.
The Khmer Rouge seized total control of Cambodia in April 1975. Then all hell let loose on the population. Pol Pot put to death all members of former government. He then began the systematic process of torturing and murdering anyone deemed to be unsuitable for his regime’s purposes. This meant anyone who was educated or privileged in any way. The Khmer Rouge used a proverb in summing up their attitude: ‘To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss.’ That chilling sentence justified the extermination of perhaps two million people who were simply seen as surplus to requirements. They were known collectively as ‘depositees’.
Death camps and killing fields were used in this wholesale slaughter and burial of human life. Inevitably, in their desire to thin out the population, those who lost their lives to the Khmer Rouge also included people from ethnic and racial minorities, those with physical and mental disabilities, and anyone who even appeared to be more intelligent than they needed to be, such as those who wore glasses. The infamous S-21 camp was the sinister heart of the purging machine. It was where thousands were tortured into confessions before dying. Pol Pot justified these acts by claiming that the gleaned information provided useful intelligence for his government. In truth, it was a sadistic way of getting his own back on the memory of all those who had ever belittled him, either intellectually or aristocratically.
Ultimately, the Khmer Rouge shot itself in the foot and failed in
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