Operation Freedom Deal

Operation Freedom Deal
Part of the Cambodian Civil War and the Vietnam War
Location
Cambodia
Commanded byUnited States Richard M. Nixon
United States Henry Kissinger
Date19 May 1970 – 15 August 1973
Executed bySeventh Air Force
Outcome
  • In U.S., adoption of the War Powers Resolution
  • Delaying the fall of the capital Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge
  • Accelerated collapse of rural Cambodian society, displacement of tens of thousands from countryside to city, increased social polarization[1]
  • Pushing North Vietnamese troops further into Cambodia away from the South Vietnamese border[2]
  • Khmer Rouge used civilian loss to promote recruitment, strengthened the hard-liners within the CPK[3]
CasualtiesCambodian casualties: 50,000–150,000 (per Ben Kiernan; other estimates vary widely)[4][5][6][7][8] This figure refers to the entirety of the U.S. bombing of Cambodia, including the Operation Menu bombings. Vietnamese casualties: unknown

Operation Freedom Deal was a military campaign led by the United States Seventh Air Force, taking place in Cambodia between 19 May 1970 and 15 August 1973. Part of the larger Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War, the goal of the operation was to provide air support and interdiction in the region. Launched by President Richard Nixon as a follow-up to the earlier ground invasion during the Cambodian Campaign, the initial targets of the operation were the base areas and border sanctuaries of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong (VC).[9]

As time went on, most of the bombing was carried out to support the Cambodian Government of Lon Nol in its struggle against the communist Khmer Rouge. The area in which the bombing took place was expanded to include most of the eastern one-half of Cambodia. The bombing was extremely controversial and led the U.S. Congress to pass the War Powers Resolution.[10]

Operation Freedom Deal followed and expanded the bombing of Cambodia conducted under Operation Menu in 1969 and 1970. Most of the bombing was carried out by U.S. Air Force (USAF) B-52 bombers. While the effectiveness of the bombing and the number of Cambodians killed by U.S. bombing remains in dispute, civilian fatalities were easily in the tens of thousands.[11]

  1. ^ Chandler, David (2000). Brother Number One: A Political Biography of Pol Pot, Revised Edition. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books. pp. 96–98.
  2. ^ Kiernan, Ben; Owen, Taylor (26 April 2015). "Making More Enemies than We Kill? Calculating U.S. Bomb Tonnages Dropped on Laos and Cambodia, and Weighing Their Implications". The Asia–Pacific Journal. Retrieved 18 July 2017. First, the bombing forced the Vietnamese Communists deeper and deeper into Cambodia, bringing them into greater contact with Khmer Rouge insurgents.
  3. ^ "Cambodia: U.S. bombing and civil war". sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings. 7 August 2015.
  4. ^ Valentino, Benjamin (2005). Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the 20th Century. Cornell University Press. p. 84. ISBN 9780801472732.
  5. ^ Tyner, James (2008). The Killing of Cambodia: Geography, Genocide and the Unmaking of Space. Routledge. ISBN 9780754670964.)
  6. ^ Rummel, Rudolph. "Statistics Of Cambodian Democide: Estimates, Calculations, And Sources". Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  7. ^ "FRONTLINE/WORLD . Cambodia – Pol Pot's Shadow . Chronicle of Survival. 1969–1974: Caught in the crossfire | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  8. ^ Kiernan, Ben; Owen, Taylor (26 April 2015). "Making More Enemies than We Kill? Calculating U.S. Bomb Tonnages Dropped on Laos and Cambodia, and Weighing Their Implications". The Asia–Pacific Journal. Retrieved 18 July 2017. The evidence of survivors from many parts of [Cambodia] suggests that at least tens of thousands, probably in the range of 50,000 to 150,000 deaths, resulted from the US bombing campaigns
  9. ^ Kennedy, David M.; Cohen, Lizabeth; Piehl, Mel (2016). The Brief American Pageant: A History of the Republic, Volume II: Since 1865. Cengage Learning. p. 669. ISBN 9781305887886.
  10. ^ Kennedy, David M.; Cohen, Lizabeth; Piehl, Mel (2016). The Brief American Pageant: A History of the Republic, Volume II: Since 1865. Cengage Learning. p. 669. ISBN 9781305887886.
  11. ^ Power, Samantha (2013). A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465050895.