NEWSMEN in a Pailin guest-house listened into the cut and thrust of radio
exchanges between Khmer Rouge and government soldiers.
A government
soldier on the radio inquired sadistically: "Are you cold", the KR soldier
responded, " I'm very warm thank you. I'm just worried about your trucks getting
bogged in the rain."
The government soldier replied: "Remember when your
bosses Pol Pot, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and Ta Mok left Phnom Penh in 1979,
they did not bring blankets with them. You'd better ask them if they were
cold?
The angered KR soldier retorted: "How dare you insult my bosses!
They are rich, not poor like you.
"They have beautiful houses and healthy
families. I am close to you and I will come and kill you, all of you. Do you
remember the souvenir in Anlong Veng?"
The government soldiers' cocky
final words were: "Stop dreaming about Anlong Veng. Never, never will it happen
again. Pailin is Pailin.
"This is not a big deal, it is normal for
private soldiers who fulfill their duty for the sake of the nation. Goodnight
and sleep well."
