> Yet the truth is that, like Pol Pot and Stalin, Milosevic was an
> ally of leading elements in the Western alliance. Just as Ronald
> Reagan followed Chomsky's lead in defending the Khmer Rouge, so
> Chomsky has followed the lead of Britain's John Major and France's
> Francois Mitterand in defending Milosevic.
Chomsky would find it ironic that the leaders of the free world prosecuted Milosevic but defended Pol Pot: <blockquote>The Khmer Rouge government fell in 1979 when Vietnam invaded Cambodia after a series of violent border confrontations.
Pol Pot and his forces once again fled to the northern jungle as evidence of their atrocities was broadcast around the world.
But even though international audiences were horrified by the Hollywood movie about his rule, The Killing Fields, the Khmer Rouge enjoyed support from the United States and other Asian nations because of its opposition to America's enemy Vietnam.
Pol Pot officially retired as leader of the Khmer Rouge at the end of the 1980s.
Following a bloody power struggle inside the Khmer Rouge he was arrested by his former colleagues in July 1997, and charged with treason.
After a "people's tribunal" sentenced him to life under house arrest he gave an interview two months later in which he declared: "My conscience is clear". <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/ 78988.stm></blockquote>
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>