Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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Documents declassified by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency this week give dramatic insight into how news of the Khmer Rouge’s capture of Phnom Penh and the subsequent evacuation of the city trickled through to former U.S. President Gerald Ford.
Released on Wednesday, the reports, all stamped with “Eyes Only For The President,” illustrate the uncertainty of what lay ahead as the new regime launched a final siege of the capital.
By April 14, 1975, intercepted communications indicated preparations for a major push into Phnom Penh, with “a buildup of communist units in the capital area,” while “major attacks” were launched in the southeast the following day.
“The Khmer communists, pressing closer to Phnom Penh from the northwest, have launched major attacks southeast of the capital in an apparent final attempt to force the government’s capitulation,” reads the president’s daily briefing on April 15.
On April 16—the day before the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh—theories began circulating that the remnants of the Khmer Republic were trying to negotiate a surrender on the condition that the insurgents agree not to take the capital.
The next day, the war was declared over.
“The Cambodian government surrendered this morning,” says the president’s April 17 briefing. “A cease-fire reportedly is in effect, and the capital is described as calm,” it adds, describing the situation in the countryside as “unclear.”
Files Show US View of Khmer Rouge Siege - The Cambodia Daily
You can read the rest at the above link.
And here:
FOIA | CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov)
Interesting stuff.
Released on Wednesday, the reports, all stamped with “Eyes Only For The President,” illustrate the uncertainty of what lay ahead as the new regime launched a final siege of the capital.
By April 14, 1975, intercepted communications indicated preparations for a major push into Phnom Penh, with “a buildup of communist units in the capital area,” while “major attacks” were launched in the southeast the following day.
“The Khmer communists, pressing closer to Phnom Penh from the northwest, have launched major attacks southeast of the capital in an apparent final attempt to force the government’s capitulation,” reads the president’s daily briefing on April 15.
On April 16—the day before the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh—theories began circulating that the remnants of the Khmer Republic were trying to negotiate a surrender on the condition that the insurgents agree not to take the capital.
The next day, the war was declared over.
“The Cambodian government surrendered this morning,” says the president’s April 17 briefing. “A cease-fire reportedly is in effect, and the capital is described as calm,” it adds, describing the situation in the countryside as “unclear.”
Files Show US View of Khmer Rouge Siege - The Cambodia Daily
You can read the rest at the above link.
And here:
FOIA | CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov)
Interesting stuff.
