Dear Editor:

Call me a doubting Thomas, but I am still skeptical about the split between Pol

Pot and Ieng Sary. When these two mass murderers and still brother-in-laws decided

to denounce each other in public about their crimes and treacheries, one must always

wonder what was the reason they acted that way.

Did they really hate each other that much? Is it possible that these two men have

their ideological difference that are now irreconcilable? In addition to the difference

between these two top Khmer Rouge (KR) leaders, are we also to believe that Ei Chien

(At one time considered to be Pol Pot's right hand man), Ny Korn (Son Sen's brother),

Ta Muth (Ta Mok's son-in-law), and Sam Bith (Ta Mok's deputy) have sided with Ieng

Sary instead of staying with Pol Pot/ Son Sen/Ta Mok?

After the Ieng Sary faction decided to leave the KR and join the government, these

former KR men, with the exception of Ieng Sary, are being rewarded with the ranking

of major generals (two-star) and top government positions. A new province of Pailin

was created and Ei Chien is its governor. The other three former KR were given the

positions as advisers to the Ministry of Defense. Many more of the former KR were

given the ranking of colonels.

The stage is now set. On one side, the so called former KR are now inside the government

and their people are integrated within the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) armed

forces, with some of them under the command of their own colonels. On the other side

(the Pol Pot's faction), there are still a lot of KR living in the forest and ready

to fight the government at any time. The KR are very smart. They do not want to put

all their eggs in one basket.

Let analyze the peace dividend that the government is claiming right now. The KR

well known for their patience. They lost power in 1979. Therefore, the people born

after that year have not directly experienced the atrocities and the hellish life

under the KR regime. They have only hard about the KR and their violent regime but

they have not lived through it. Therefore, the KR are now counting on this generation

of younger people to come to their rescue. The Khmer Rouge will wait until the 1997-1998

elections take place and then allow the winner and loser to fight it out. In the

meantime, the government will become more and more corrupted. As the corruption rises,

the gap between the have and have-nots also widens. People will be more and more

dissatisfied with the government and its arrogance of power. The fruit is now ripe

to be plucked from the tree. The KR will call on their people who had "defected"

and are now serving the government to overthrow it and start a new revolution. In

this fashion the KR will be able to call on their people to get out of the "Trojan

Horse" and take over the "fortress."

"Treating your adversary with respect is giving him an advantage to which he

is not entitled." - Samuel Johnson (1709-84), English author, lexicographer.

- Kenneth T. So, California