Bak-kheng

Subject: Phnom Bakheng, a Vietnamese stronghold
From: Baphuon@aol.com (Baphuon)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.cambodia
Organization: http://clubkhmer.com/
Date: Jan 20 2003 19:25:01

Phnom Bakhèng, a Vietnamese stronghold

The famous French Art school "L'Ecole Française d'Extrême Orient ", during the colonialism era, had recorded almost all ancient temples built in Champa and Cambodia.

One French journalist told me Champ temples after the first Vietnam War were almost destroyed by Vietnamese. Vietnamese soldiers, from all sides, didn't care about Champ heritage. Vietnam intended to erase all trace of Champa civilization.

Years later, at the end of the second Vietnam War, as the North Vietnamese were winning their expansionist war over all Indochina, I met with a retired French official of the Quai d'Orsay (the French State Department). The French official told me that Vietnamese communist official asked the Quai d'Orsay to transfer all French historic administrative documents during the French Colonial era to Hanoi. The Vietnamese communist official justified their demand by the fact that Hanoi was the center of the French Colonial Administration on all over Indochina. My French friend told me that the Quai d'Orsay has said no to the Vietnamese demand.

We, Khmer, need these French documents to defend legally Cambodia integrity. Our Khmer defense team lawyers at the International Court of Hague relative to Preah Vihear Procès, Cambodia versus Thailand, based their argument on French Colonial Administration documents.

BAKHÈNG TEMPLE

Actually, Vietnamese still occupied military Cambodia. Vietnamese had transformed Bakhèng Temple into a military stronghold.

No Khmer dared raise their hand to fire on Khmer Temple. For all Khmer, our temples were sacred and veneered. But Vietnamese had no respected to our temple. Bakhèng is a group of temples. There were a big one and small ones. Under a small temple of the group Bakhèng, Vietnamese has built a concrete basement to stockpile howitzers and howitzer ammunition 105 and Anti Aircraft Artillery.

Vietnamese did the same for Phnom Krom.

They installed and stockpiled 105 howitzer and Anti Aircraft Artillery almost everywhere and all over Cambodia, including under "Bibliotheque = Library" Temple.

You can go and check by your self. Just try to approach not the main temple but the side area surrounding the main temple. Try to take photos. You will be stopped by Vietnamese soldiers.

ANGKOR WATT

Did you heard of a problem caused by a specialist Indian (INDIA) curator who was in charge by Hun Sen government to take care of Angkor Watt stones? Their objective was to clean the Angkor Watt stones.

The National Geography Magazine had published at that time that The Indian specialist had used a chemical product to clean the Angkor Watt stones.

French curators had used the same chemical product for the cleaning of their French ancient churches in France. But the French curators had abandoned that chemical product long time ago -- maybe, 30 years ago -- because at the end, the French specialists knew for sure that that chemical product will attack the stone and destroyed it.

The US intelligence had successfully at the time slipped his agent to work with the specialist Indian. The agent told me that North Vietnamese had paid the Indian specialist several hundred thousand dollars to destroy secretly Angkor Watt stones. The Indian specialist had done an irreparable damage to our immortal heritage Angkor Watt stones. First thing first, we should change Hun Sen government. By what mean?

It will be impossible by the election means. Nobody can imagine that Saddam Hussein, the IRAQ dictator, can be changed by an election. It will be the same for Hun Sen. Nobody can imagine that Hun Sen government can be toppled by an election. Police Hun Sen will cheat, assassinate, terrorize, rape, stabbed and axed their opponents to win the election. Slaughter innocent people was the only way that Hun Sen and his henchmen know best. The only way to overthrow Hun Sen government is the street demonstration, the popular uprising as it has been in 1998.

Everyone knows very well that only the people uprising can fell Hun Sen government. Hun Sen knew that, Hanoi government knew that and the US government knew that also.

IF, IF, IF Hun Sen government is overthrew, what's next? Hun Sen would appeal immediately to Vietnamese Army. The Vietnamese army, with their heavy equipment howitzer 105 and 155, their Anti Aircraft Artilleries, and their 100 tanks T55 already inside Cambodia and their helicopters MI5 and MIG 21 from Tay Ninh, or disguised as Hun Sen Army will crush Cambodian people uprising.

Cambodian people will resist and be able to resist to the Vietnamese onslaught for two weeks, maybe a month at maximum. Vietnamese Army might kill Cambodian civilian 10,000 or 50,000, or 100,000 before the eye of the whole world. What would the reaction of the World?

I hope that the world would help Cambodia. Some of my friend told me that the US might have a solution in case of genuine successful of Cambodian people uprising in the style of the 1998.

I would like to quote: "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that were our countrymen."

Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776.

"In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us," 'Make us your slaves, but feed us.'" says Dostoevsky Baphoun