Talk:Cambodian humanitarian crisis

Causes of the famine in 1975?
Could someone please include a discussion of the causes of the famine under the KR, notably the accusations that the US bombings played a major role in destroying the country's infrastructure and forcing large numbers of persons to relocate from the rural areas to the city, thus causing the collapse of agriculture and subsequent famine? I don't feel qualified at all to write on the topic, but I recall reading several times that the critics of the US intervention source these claims to none other than the US intelligence community... I feel this ought to be discussed when discussing the mass deaths under the KR.

Especially when this article already half-admits this point of view ("The U.S. bombing and civil war forced many Cambodians in the countryside to flee to the cities for safety. The population of Phnom Penh increased from 600,000 to more than 2 million. Resupply of the city by land and sea was cut off by the Khmer Rouge and, by the time the government surrendered on April 17, 1975, many of the inhabitants were starving.") but states bluntly in the intro that "The Khmer Rouge murdered or starved about one-fourth of the 8 million Cambodian people." 27.55.89.210 (talk) 12:45, 28 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Nonsense. The Menu bombings extended no further than 40 miles into the country, in border regions containing a non-combatant population of 4,000. Moreover, the bombing was a minor factor in the civil war and ended two years before the Khmer Rouge takeover. The population of Phnom Penh, like the population of Saigon, was flooded with refugees desperately trying to escape the terror of the communist zones; the Khmer Rouge were able to beige and starve the city due to the end of U.S. air support. The famine was caused by a combination of careless agricultural policies and dams that did not work, as well as the intentional destruction of all non-perishable food supplies to ensure food was only available in communal stockpiles controlled by the Khmer Rouge, when it wasn't entirely artificial.TheTimesAreAChanging (talk) 02:06, 29 January 2015 (UTC)