DISQUS

devis1 · 1 year ago

Rest in Peace Dith Pran.

jr · 1 year ago

I want to see The Killing Fields film. RIP

devis1 · 1 year ago

In 2006 Irish photographer Nic Dunlop. who was only 10 years old when these events unfolded in Cambodia went in search of Comrad Duch. Duch had been incharge of S-21, a prison where close to 20,000 people were murdered. Dunlop had carried a picture of Duch in his pocket and eventually found this previously unnamed man. His book 'The Lost Executioner' was a tough read, really tough at times. I'd recommend it though to anyone who wants more insight. Here's a story from the Boston Globe.

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2006/03...

OlderAndWiser · 1 year ago

Excellent movie. I remember 1971 when I met Cambodian women in Toronto at an international women's conference. Their stories were heartbreaking, stories of rape and death, and they were extremely frightened, but strong. We never found out if they were able to stay in Canada, but I hope they were given asylum. What a sad period of time.

TruthCounts · 1 year ago

When I first saw "The Killing Fields" I was filled with conflicting emotions. Bill and Hillary Clinton were instrumental in supporting those at the time who were remnants of the Khmer Rouge. Without even having to compare the ties between Bush and the corrupt House of Saud, it remains to be seen why the Clintonistas embraced a violent dictatorship with a history of genocide. The more we find out about the Clinton ties to ruthless dictators and Chinese slush funds, the more hypocritical Shillary's supporters seem.

OlderAndWiser · 1 year ago

Truth, no one was listening in the 60s and 70s, either. But the Khmer Rouge, before its complete takeover of Cambodia in 1975, was already moving people out into the countryside in the early 70s. Those women I talked about were giving us a warning about them, but no one listened. They had already suffered because of Khmer Rouge policies which saw peasants as the "proletariat" which would "save" the country. So much for pointy-headed French educated Cambodian intellectuals.

GrantinHouston · 1 year ago

Truth Counts. I am no big fan of the Clintons but I would need to see some credible links to your charges that President Clinton supported the Khmer Rouge. IN FACT, he helped set up the war crimes tribunal in cooperation with the United Nations to prosecute Khmer Rouge war criminals in the last year of his administration:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=...

fostert · 1 year ago

As sad as Dith Pran's story was, he was one of lucky ones. I don't mean in anyway to make light of his experience, but he and his family lived. There are very few people in Cambodia who can say same thing. Everyone I met there lost at least one member of their nuclear family. And they all spent years in concentration camps. And then they spent the next year or so traveling the country searching for their loved ones (they were all separated by the KR). And they also endured eight years of Vietnamese occupation and civil war. We like to think that it was all over when the KR were defeated, but the situation during the occupation wasn't much of an improvement. And now Cambodia is still struggling to rebuild itself. That process has been all the more difficult given that nearly everyone with an education ended up dead. It's hard to educate your children without any teachers. The whole thing is just really sad. On a positive note, the Cambodian people seem cautiously optimistic about their future. With an emphasis on the caution. Many still fear that it could happen again. But they still have hope.

scottinsf · 1 year ago

Sad to hear this. I'm glad he was eventually able to escape and tell his story. I remember how sad it was when Haing S. Ngor, the actor that portrayed Dith in 'The Killing Fields', and had escaped Cambodia himself was senselessly murdered a few years back.

For those that have never seen the film I strongly recommend you rent it and watch it.