I had heard mixed reviews of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city. “A big bustling city with lots of things to do but not a lot of culture”. It was still very important for me to go as that was the epicenter of the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975 and I felt I needed to see that history to be respectful of the Cambodian people. It’s kinda like visiting Auschwitz or other concentration camps… You know it’s not going to be a fun day of touring but it’s something you need to see. It’s that important. I first saw the great & very powerful early 80s movie “The Killing Fields” in my early 20s and read the book on which it’s based shortly thereafter & was incredibly moved. So this was a must-see for me. We booked a tuk tuk driver, Mr Vann, to take us touring of the S-21 Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh and the Choeung Ek killing fields outside of the city. These are just two examples of hundreds of similar places that the Pol Pot regime setup to rid the country of any non-farmers or basic day laborers (e.g. teachers, doctors, any/all professionals, anyone wearing glasses). They were subject to gruesome torture at the prison and then shuttled off under cover of night to be killed and buried in mass graves at the killing fields. In 4 years, the Khmer Rouge killed over 3 million Cambodians, nearly 30% of the population. The US didn’t help the situation as it’s prior bombing of the eastern border of the country to flush out VC, forced rural Cambodians into PP, which was then emptied by the KR. I think what was most disgusting to me is how the world could standby and let this happen AGAIN after what Hitler did in WW2. I’m sure the US political atmosphere was such that entering into another war in SE Asia, immediately after getting our asses handed to us by the Vietnamese/Russians/Chinese, was not what Washington wanted. But sometimes you have to do the right thing & not only enter into war to defend your own financial or political interests. To make matters worse, even after the Vietnamese ousted the Pol Pot regime in 1979, the US (and the rest of the west) proceeded to back (financially, politically, militarily) the Khmer Rouge as it had a seat in the UN through the 1990s bc the primary US concern was “the spread of communism” & of course couldn’t support a government propped up by the Vietnamese/Russians. It’s just disgusting. And what’s even more disgusting is the same thing is probably going on in Syria right now. I’ve traveled to a lot of places but in SE Asia, more than any other place, it’s been real tough to respect the decisions our government has made (also includes not-so-secret bombing of Laos during the Vietnam war). Mr Vann told us his family’s story after the day of touring. Of 8 kids, 4 of his siblings were killed in the US bombings, forcing the family to move to PP. Once there, the rest of his immediate family fortunately survived the Khmer Rouge as they were farmers. But other family and friends of his were not so lucky. He said “I’ve met Americans and I like them, they’re good people, but I really don’t like or respect their government”. I can’t really blame him.