Why did President Nixon order the secret bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cambodia?
1 Answer
To secure victory in South East Asia.
Explanation:
When Nixon came to power in 1968 (the inauguration was in January 69), he believed at that time a military victory was still possible in Vietnam. As well as Vietnam both Cambodia and Laos were involved in that the Ho Chi Minh trail ran through these countries. This was a supply route from the north to the south and was vital in supporting the communist forces in the south.
Within Cambodia, Prince Norodom Sihanouk maintained a fragile balance. He could not prevent the communists using the trail, but he balanced this against keeping Cambodia out of the conflict in Vietnam.
Nixon and Kissinger could not openly bomb the Ho Chi Minh trail as it was a breach of Cambodia's neutrality. Therefore they bombed it in secret falsifying the flying logs back into the computers at the Pentagon.
The CIA also organised a coup ousting Sihanouk and replacing him with Lon Nol a Cambodian army leader.
These two policies were disastrous for Cambodia. The bombing, which was often based on wrong intelligence, destroyed 80% of the Cambodian countryside and killed 500,000 Cambodians. The new military government launched an offensive against the communists which started a bloody civil war. This in turn led to the coming to power of the Khmer Rouge in 1975 and 4 years of mass terror starting with Year Zero.
