Volume 14, Number 12 · June 18, 1970
Cambodia: Why the Generals Won
By Peter Dale Scott
President Nixon's ground operations in Cambodia with US troops will likely be over, as he promises, by June 30, 1970. The long-range strategy by which the Cambodian adventure was undertaken almost certainly will not be. For though the invasion itself was unprecedented, all of the prior elements in the scenario were often repeated clichés, from the initial military overthrow of a popular leader by a right-wing pro-American clique, to the announced response to an enemy 'invasion' at a time when the prospects for ending the war seemed to be increasing. Most characteristic of all is the likelihood that Nixon was pressured by the Joint Chiefs to authorize the Cambodian adventure in great haste, and in such a way as to bypass or overrule most of his civilian advisers, as a response to an 'emergency' for which US intelligence agencies and perhaps the Joint Chiefs themselves were largely responsible.
Feature, 6355 words
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