The Origin of the Radical Genocidal Khmer Rouge

Amb. Quinn describes the civil war that was being fought in Cambodia following the overthrow of Prince Si Hanouk in March of 1970, and the formation of a united opposition front which merged royalists with the communist movement in the struggle against the military government. Within the Cambodian Communist party, however, were two distinct elements: the Old Line Party Cadre who had allegiance to Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese communist movement; and a newly formed secret radical movement led by Saloth Sar, later known as Pol Pot. It was this radical element, which became known as the Khmer Rouge that would seize control of the entire resistance movement and then impose its brutal new order on the entire country in April 1975 when it defeated the Pro-American military government in Phnom Penh.