See Dan Clore's post 5/8/97 6:49pm. I won't restate it here, for brevity's
sake.

One of the important things to bear in mind is the fact that the entire
region of Southeast Asia has suffered, and continues to suffer, as a
consequence of the devastation rained down on it by US bombing. The death
tolls in Laos, Cambodia and  Vietnam were staggering enough at the time of
impact of the weapons, but the deforestation of large swaths of the area,
the contamination of food-producing lands by dioxin, petroleum, lead and
other materials, the destruction of the infrastructure, such as roads,
storage facilities, etc., the killing of a generation of workers, etc., all
continue to impact adversely on the ability of people there to survive.

Were the Khmer Rouge the evil incarnate that has been described in the
media here? I don't know; one of the most frightening consequences of the
abundant use of hype and mis-information is that it becomes harder to come
into possession of the facts. It is clear that the role of the US in
destroying the economies and the very lives of the people in the region has
not been given the same play that the actions of the Khmer Rouge have.
Consequently, it is difficult to have an informed discussion about it. Or
was that the intent of the propaganda in the first place?

- Don DeBar