Cambodia: “Operation total victory no. 43”

Abstract

Rising high above the lush Cambodian jungle, the spiraled gray towers of Angkor Wat mark the cosmological center of one of the most brillant ancient civilizations of Southeast Asia. Today, all that remains of this vast Khmer kingdom is a nation about the size of Washington state, a nation inhabited by nearly seven million people; most of whom spend their lives in the verdant paddy fields surrounding their village. Although proud of their heritage, they do not aspire to new glories of conquest and empire. Rather the Cambodians have long sought one-thing: peace.