CIA activities in Cambodia
The CIA conducted secret operations in Cambodia and Laos for eight years as part of the conflict against Communist North Vietnam.
1954
The National Intelligence Estimate projected relatively little Communist activity in Cambodia as Viet Minh withdraw. With outside help, the Cambodians should be able to build a security apparatus.[1]
1959
In December 1958
1969
President
- Creating covert paramilitary harassing operations directed against North Vietnamese Regular Forces in the sanctuary areas just over the Cambodian border
- CIA capability for eliminating or reducing the arms traffic through Cambodia to communist forces in South Vietnam.
After discussion in the
As far as the second, CIA has identified a number of Cambodian army officers who are actively involved in supporting communist forces in South Vietnam, but does not now have direct, secure and controlled access to any of these officers. They doubt any of the officers involved in the arms traffic would be now susceptible to bribery both because of the profits accruing to them from such operations as well as the personal political risks entailed in a relationship involving the United States. Further, they pointed out that if recent U.S. diplomatic approaches to Cambodia result in the formal resumption of full diplomatic relations, CIA will gain an operating base for improved intelligence collection and covert action. With such a base, they would have a better chance to convince
Kissinger recommended continuing to monitor rather than taking action. There is no record on file of a Presidential decision on these matters.[11]
1969
A February 19 memorandum from
On February 18, 1969, Mr. H.A. Kissinger, Secretary of Defense Laird, Deputy Secretary of Defense Packard, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Wheeler, and Colonels Pursley and Haig met in the Secretary of Defense’s conference room and were briefed by a two-officer team from Saigon on the conduct of the proposed Arc Light strike against the reported location of COSVN Headquarters.[12]
Note that no intelligence personnel were present.
At an 11 October 1969 meeting with Nixon, Kissinger, United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, Attorney General John Mitchell and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (i.e., no CIA personnel),[13] several pertinent observations were made.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) Earle Wheeler cited two COSVN Resolutions, with the inference that COSVN existed as an organizational entity. In the subsequent discussion of bombing options, there were no mention of COSVN's physical location.
1970
Prince Norodom Sihanouk was ousted by Lon Nol in March 1970. Sihanouk claimed in his 1973 book that the CIA engineered the coup.[14] The overthrow followed Cambodia's constitutional process following a vote of no confidence in the country's National Assembly and most accounts emphasize the primacy of Cambodian actors in Sihanouk's removal. Historians are divided about the extent of U.S. involvement in or foreknowledge of the ouster, but an emerging consensus posits some culpability on the part of U.S. military intelligence.[15] However, according to Ben Kiernan, "There is in fact no evidence of CIA involvement in the 1970 events".[16]
1972
Senator Clifford P. Case sponsored a law effective December 1972 cutting off funds for CIA and private military company operations in Cambodia (see the Case–Church Amendment).[17]
1980s
In December 1978, Vietnam
While the United States government stated that it only provided aid to the forces loyal to Son Sann and Norodom Sihanouk, a leaked correspondence between Jonathan Winer, counsel to Senator John Kerry, and Larry Chartienes of the Vietnam Veterans of America claimed that the United States had provided $85 million in aid to the Khmer Rouge between 1980 and 1986. A declassified CIA letter in response described the allegations as "without basis in fact". It also condemned the Khmer Rouge for its brutality and said the US had no contact with the group.[21] According to John Pilger, the Reagan administration attempted to deny any links between the CIA and the Khmer Rouge by using Thailand and Singapore as middlemen for logistical support and as a conduit for delivering weapons to the Khmer Rouge, respectively, in violation of a 1989 congressional law that explicitly banned aid to the Pol Pot forces.[22] The CIA also attempted to deflect responsibility by shifting the burden of covert support to the British SAS. A senior SAS officer testified that "We first went to Thailand in 1984...The Yanks and us work together; we're close, like brothers. They didn't like it any more than we did. We trained the Khmer Rouge in a lot of technical stuff."[23]
In 1989, Vietnamese forces were withdrawn from Cambodia, after having successfully quelled the uprising by Khmer Rouge and KPNLF insurgents.
See also
- CIA activities in Laos
- Hughes–Ryan Amendment
- Allegations of United States support for the Khmer Rouge
References
- ^ Central Intelligence Agency (3 August 1954). "NIE 63-5-54: Post-Geneva Outlook in Indochina" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
- ISBN 0-14-021689-8.
- ISBN 0-300-05752-0.
- ISBN 978-0-8248-1639-1.
- ISBN 0-14-021689-8.
- ISBN 0-14-021689-8.
- ISBN 0-300-05752-0.
- ISBN 0-14-021689-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8248-1639-1.
- ISBN 0-300-05752-0.
- ^ Henry A. Kissinger (March 17, 1969). "Memorandum for the President on Possible CIA Courses of Action in Cambodia".
- ^ Kissinger, Henry (19 February 1969). "Consideration of B–52 Options Against COSVN Headquarters" (PDF). Foreign Relations of the United States, Nixon-Ford Administrations. Volume VI. Foreign Relations, 1969-1976. Vietnam, January 1969-July 1970. United States Department of State. FRUS Document 22.
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(help) - ^ "JCS Meeting with the President" (PDF). Foreign Relations of the United States, Nixon-Ford Administrations. Volume VI. Foreign Relations, 1969-1976. Vietnam, January 1969-July 1970. United States Department of State. 11 October 1969. FRUS Document 136.
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: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ISBN 0-394-48543-2.
- ISBN 978-0415326025.
Sihanouk's dismissal (which followed constitutional forms, rather than a blatant military coup d'état) immediately produced much speculation as to its causes. ... most others see at least some American involvement.
- ISBN 9780300102628.
Prince Sihanouk has long claimed that the American CIA 'masterminded' the coup against him. ... There is in fact no evidence of CIA involvement in the 1970 events, but a good deal of evidence points to a role played by sections of the US military intelligence establishment and the Army Special Forces. ... While [Samuel R.] Thornton's allegation that 'the highest level' of the US government was party to the coup plans remains uncorroborated, it is clear that Lon Nol carried out the coup with at least a legitimate expectation of significant US support.
- ^ "SWEEPING CUTOFF OF FUNDS FOR WAR IS VOTED IN SENATE". The New York Times. June 15, 1973.
- ^ Brinkley, Joel (2011). Cambodia's Curse: The Modern History of a Troubled Land. PublicAffairs. p. 57.
Vietnam appointed Heng Samrin, a longtime member of the Cambodian Communist Party, as Prime Minister ... In 1978 the Vietnamese military had chosen him to command a small group of Khmer Rouge deserters who would "lead" the invasion of Cambodia, to give it an indigenous face.
- .
- ^ Washington Post. Archived from the originalon 17 Dec 2019.
- ^ "CAMBODIA -- CONGRESSIONAL LETTER ON ALLEGED USG SUPPORT FOR KHMER ROUGE" (PDF). CIA Reading Room. Feb 1988.
- ^ Pilger, John (Fall 1997). "The Long Secret Alliance: Uncle Sam and Pol Pot" (PDF). Covert Operation Quarterly. pp. 5–9.
- ISBN 978-0714685007.