Landmines in Cambodia: Past, Present, and Future By Wade C. Rober ...

the ousting of King Sihanouk to more than 50,000 within months of him siding with the Communists.⁹ Support for the Khmer Rouge continued to grow, eventually leading to a takeover of the country in 1975.

In spite of Lon Nol being imperialist backed and receiving an abundance of western military aid to combat the Khmer Rouge, support for the Communist guerrillas grew at a rate far surpassing that for the Royal Government armies. Millions of Cambodians suffered the wrath of aerial bombardments, a gruesome and bloody reality that left survivors deeply detesting the responsible country. Support for the Khmer Rouge armies grew quickly because they were recognized as directly opposing Western initiatives—specifically, the bombing practices. In addition to attracting those opposing imperialism, the Khmer Rouge continued to grow as Sihanouk loyalists followed him in supporting this initiative. For those who had joined forces with the Khmer Rouge prior to the ousting of King Sihanouk, a renewed fervor invigorated their spirits as they experienced imperialism breaching their domestic borders and killing thousands.

Official records indicate the United States dropped nearly 540,000 tons (1,080,000,000 pounds) of bombs on Cambodian soil.¹⁰ In comparison, a total weight of 160,000 tons of bombs was dropped on Japan during the Second World War. Bombing raids officially comprised 115,273 bomb-drop missions that targeted various locations throughout Cambodia between March 18, 1970, and August 15, 1973. In addition to the officially recognized targets, unofficial carpet-bombing raids erratically released thousands of tons of bombs primarily over eastern Cambodia beginning in 1965 and lasting until early 1975. The magnitude of bombing targets can be observed in Figure 1.1. As is reflected in this map, the majority of US bombing drops occurred on the eastern half of Cambodia.¹¹

Calculating the residual UXO that exists in consequence to US carpet bombing is not a simple task. Immediately following the US pullout from Vietnam, financial support was also removed from Cambodia’s Royal Armies. Knowing the underbelly of the Royal Army was sliced, the Khmer Rouge seized the capital, Phnom Penh, and gained control of the country. Rates of starvation, rape, murder, disease, and suicide were alarmingly high throughout the Khmer Rouge domination period