Us Carpet Bombing Cambodia

From that year until 1973 the us air force dropped bombs from more than 230 000 sorties on over 113 000 sites.

Us carpet bombing cambodia.

President richard nixon s administration carpet bombed eastern cambodia from 1969 to 1973 although bombings and incursions into cambodia by the u s. Cambodia on march 18 1969 usaf strategic air command sac b 52 bombers began carpet bombing cambodia on the order of president nixon. Johnson and ended in 1975 under president gerald ford. The cambodian campaign also known as the cambodian incursion and the cambodian invasion was a brief series of military operations conducted in eastern cambodia which was a neutral country in 1970 by south vietnam and the united states as an extension of the vietnam war and the cambodian civil war thirteen major operations were conducted by the army of the republic of vietnam arvn between.

Bombing were concentrated during the period in which u s. The exact tonnage of bombs dropped is in dispute but a conservative estimate of 500 000 tons almost equal to what the united states dropped in the entire pacific theater of world war ii is. The us began bombing cambodia in 1965. On march 18 1969 the united states began a four year long carpet bombing campaign in the skies of cambodia devastating the countryside and causing socio political upheaval that eventually led to the installation of the pol pot regime.

During the vietnam war president richard nixon ordered carpet bombing of north vietnam as well as cambodia which was believed to be supplying the viet cong. B 52 bombers are diverted from their targets in south vietnam to attack suspected communist base camps and supply areas in cambodia for the first time in the war. Several nations complained about the u s. To combat this handicap b 52 bombers on standard bombing runs in south vietnam were redirected to the border with cambodia on 18 march 1969.

Cia and us special forces units were also on the ground in laos during the secret war. Operation breakfast was the first course in a four year bombing campaign that drew cambodia headlong into the vietnam war. As civilian casualties mounted and media accounts of the destruction surfaced public support for the carpet bombing diminished. Until us and army of the republic of vietnam arvn forces could successfully interdict the ho chi minh trail they would fight the war with what felt like one hand tied behind their backs.

The aircraft used by the cia in the secret war included transports stol short take off and landing planes and helicopters. Operation menu was a covert united states strategic air command sac tactical bombing campaign conducted in eastern cambodia from 18 march 1969 until 26 may 1970 as part of both the vietnam war and the cambodian civil war the targets of these attacks were sanctuaries and base areas of the people s army of vietnam pavn commonly referred to during the vietnam war as the north vietnamese.