Response to Anonymous Critique

by Elizabeth Becker
— 26 Aug, 2011

I have had numerous requests for my response to an anonymous article published in the Cambodian government’s official press –Agence Kampuchea Press or AKP on August 24, 2011. The article was intended as a critique of my opinion piece that ran in the International Herald Tribune on August 17, 2011.

The problem was: Who do I send it to? Normally if an official takes issue with an article, he or she writes a signed letter to the news organization that ran the piece. Instead, the Cambodian government chose to publish a mean-spirited attack written by an anonymous writer who cannot be held accountable for the articles’ many inaccuracies and distortions. Here is my answer:

The Paris Peace Accords made peace possible in large part by depriving the Cambodian factions of their foreign sponsors. Critical was China dropping the Khmer Rouge. Without the Chinese, Pol Pot and his army were incapable of returning to power. Indeed the only major battles in Phnom Penh after the peace accords were between the forces of Prince Ranariddh and those loyal to Hun Sen. (These were the two ‘co-prime ministers’ at the head of the government following the elections held under the auspices of the U.N.)…

ctm_blog_08-26-2011 Response To Anonymous Critique by Elizabeth Becker _ Cambodian Journalism Review

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