Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Brother Number 2 walks out.

According to the Bangkok Post, Brother Number 2, otherwise known as Nuon Chea, walked out of the court proceedings as of June 27, 2011.  In fact, the defiant attitude of the Khmer Rouge leaders gives you an insight into their soul.  Brother Number 2 was a real effective administrator of death.  Ironically, he was not of the same educational background as Pol Pot who was heavily influenced by the French.  Nuon Chea went to Thammasat University in Bangkok, and became a fan of the Communist party in Thailand during the 1940s.  Whatever the source of indoctrination, the main motivating factor behind the Khmer Rouge was their obsession over an idealized utopian world of the proletariat which warped into a dystopian reality of genocide.

What is curious is that in a cafe in the old Khmer Rouge strongholds in Pailin Province, there were cheers for him as reported in the Phnom Penh Post.  Culturally, you are dealing with a complex series of factions within the country.  In this sense, the ghosts of past are still present.