Cambodia

You’re absolutely right, it strikes some of us as ludicrous that the U.N. Security Council peace plan for Cambodia includes the Khmer Rouge (editorial, “Is a Neutral Cambodia Really in the Cards?” May 3). Not just ludicrous, but immoral. What is so unrealistic about bringing Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Ta Mok and all the Khmer Rouge leaders responsible for the deaths of 3 million Cambodians to trial for war crimes and liberating people under the control of the Khmer Rouge?

The U.N.’s peace plan serves to validate the Khmer Rouge. How can the U.N. claim to be a disinterested party in Cambodian elections, when it has funneled aid to the Khmer Rouge at the Thai-Cambodian border, rebuilding its strength for more than a decade? The U.N. seat for Cambodia has been held by the coalition government that includes the Khmer Rouge. The U.N. has never recognized the Hun Sen government, which has held this brutalized country together for 11 years. Let Cambodians have elections now that include all Cambodians, extending at least as much acknowledgement to the Hun Sen government as the Khmer Rouge-led coalition government has been accorded.

China’s “owing us one” is a callous way to refer to the horrors of Tian An Men Square and the fate of Cambodia, in exchange for its support of the U.N. plan. China will not be the only party to have “allowed” another Khmer Rouge rampage to be re-enacted. U.S. policy and that of all members of the Security Council can take responsibility for it and, most sadly, Cambodians will die again. It’s high time that we forget our grudge against Vietnam and stop punishing Cambodia.

MARY DOOLEY

Santa Monica