'Mission impossible': UN in Cambodia showed early limit of nation building
published : 13 Mar 2022 at 14:44
writer: Reuters

PHNOM PENH: Just over 30 years ago, a crackling radio in a refugee camp on the Thai border brought Sam Sophal word that the United Nations was coming to his war-ravaged homeland of Cambodia.

For Sam Sophal, who survived the Khmer Rouge genocide only because his mother bribed Khmer Rouge executioners with her silver watch, the promise of peace was irresistible.

The UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) arrived on March 15, 1992, with great expectations, the first UN nation-building operation after the collapse of the Soviet Union sparked hope that democracy would flourish around the world.

But long before last year's shambolic fall of Afghanistan and the costly international missions in Iraq, Kosovo and elsewhere, Cambodia would serve as an early warning of the flaws and limitations of nation building.

At the time, UNTAC was the most ambitious and expensive UN mission but despite its $1.6 billion cost and $20 billion in subsequent international aid, hopes of creating a vibrant democracy faded long ago.

"I felt very proud during the UNTAC time because I was the first generation to bring peace to Cambodia," says Sam Sophal, 60, who got a job as a translator with the mission soon after its launch.

"Now I see we have gone backwards. To one-party rule," he said under the shade of a Jujube tree in his Phnom Penh backyard.

In full: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-paci ... 3/?rpc=401&

A prophecy that foretold of a "god with blue eyes" that would one day bless and restore the land had spread through villages during Cambodia's darkest years.

So when UNTAC arrived with their sky-blue flag and helmets they were seen as an incarnation of that deity, some even painting their homes a U.N. shade of blue, recalled Youk Chhang, executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.

This is incredible! First time I've heard this

pootylicious wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 8:24 am

A prophecy that foretold of a "god with blue eyes" that would one day bless and restore the land had spread through villages during Cambodia's darkest years.

So when UNTAC arrived with their sky-blue flag and helmets they were seen as an incarnation of that deity, some even painting their homes a U.N. shade of blue, recalled Youk Chhang, executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.

This is incredible! First time I've heard this

Check this out:

Reuters’ White Supremacist View on Cambodia


Reuters wrote an article entitled “‘Mission Impossible’: U.N. in Cambodia Showed Early Limit of Nation Building” on 15 March 2022, arguing that Cambodia’s democracy is sliding backward after heavy investment by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), who failed to remove HE from power.

What is the most disturbing about this article is the sentence that says, “A prophecy that foretold of a “god with blue eyes” that would one day bless and restore the land had spread through villages during Cambodia’s darkest years.”
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501042040/ ... -cambodia/

Kuroneko wrote: ↑Wed Mar 16, 2022 11:29 am Reuters wrote an article entitled “‘Mission Impossible’: U.N. in Cambodia Showed Early Limit of Nation Building” on 15 March 2022, arguing that Cambodia’s democracy is sliding backward after heavy investment by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), who failed to remove HE from power.

What is the most disturbing about this article is the sentence that says, “A prophecy that foretold of a “god with blue eyes” that would one day bless and restore the land had spread through villages during Cambodia’s darkest years.”
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501042040/ ... -cambodia/

hehe that article seems to have been run thru google translate...

This article really sheds a light on Cambodia that seems much different than the Cambodia I hear about in here.