Monday 28 April 2008
My Blog
I don't really know what aspect of this topic I should focus on, it is however quite a grim and sad reminder to everyone about the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia after the Vietnam war in the mid to late 1970's. After throwing out the Americans, Cambodia's new communist government decided to rule its people with an iron fist slaughtering nearly 1\4 of its population. I think that it is important to remember what happened in the past and it should be a lesson to all of us that war, being civil or international is no way to achieve peace. I watched the movie - "The Killing Fields" which was based on the story of one man, Dith Pran, about his peril and escape from Cambodia. he recently passed away a few months ago, so i thought i would start there by focusing on his life and also the other events that took place during that time. what do you guys think? any ideas appreciated
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Hey dylan.
A really sad topic to blog about, but it is inspirational that you are focusing on a man who escaped the war. I always find those documentaries on t.v interesting, because you find out the true emotion behind such wars first-hand from people that have actually experienced it. In my opinion wars are a complete waste of time, money and peoples lives! Not to mention the ruins that it left behind! Also I agree with you that we should remember these significant wars and learn from them. Learn that fighting will not bring about change as easy as first thought and especially in this day in age there are a number of other ways to go about making a point peacefully.
Take for instance the war on terror that is happening at the moment. This war was started for what reason again?? Im pretty sure even Bush cant give a valid explanation why he is allowing thousands of Americans and other young soldiers to die in Iraq for all these years. There surely must have been other options available to President Bush before he started this war. There would have been other effective ways to peacefully solve the problem!!
“Make love not war!” – an expression that sums it up nicely.
I will definitely be interested in reading more about this mans life and other events when he escaped from Cambodia.
Hey Eileen thanks for your comment, i completely see your point. War is not an option in my book. Personally i find that the story of a single person in times of strife with no one to depend on can bring about hope for this day and age. It just goes to show that it only takes a single person. also the war on terror in my opinion is such a sad excuse. I'm not gonna go to far into what i think of it but i find it outrageous that the US seems to always attack the middle east for no real reason
dylan.....its claire(sweet-niblets) that commented you!! hehehe not eileen!!
oops i think i better lay off the sake
Hey dylan ,
You have a very good point in bringing about the past war in vietnam. As in this world there will always be one culprit in a group I think it is time to pull out those memories of that war and give the people of today and especially to those who are involved in war a reminder of the consequences. I certainly disagree with war however it is good to reflect and remeber those who died of war, the innocent victims and the culprits.From the innocent victims we can learn that even those who are not involved can end in the result of death .And from the culprits we can learn that war only leaves destruction, death and misery.I am looking forward to hearing more of that story about that man .
Hey Dylan~
It's Eileen (for real)
Anyway, one of my best friends is Cambodian and her parents and older sister were forced to flee Cambodia because of the wars over there. I don't know much on the topic to be honest but I can relate to it in that aspect. Also my mum and her family had to leave their country (Ireland) because of the fighting. It's such a sad topic but I'm sure its relevant to many people
hey Eileen,
thanks for your comment, so i think i will mainly focus my blog on the actions and hardships that Dith Pran went through to escape Cambodia and do a summary of the government and its actions and crimes against the people.
What do you think?
That's a good idea. I think if you show a specific person's personal turmoil it will be easier for people like me who haven't much understanding on the topic to follow.
Hey Dylan,
While I don't agree on war, I do sometimes agree on the reasons for it and also sometimes the reasons are not as black and white as they seem. It is hard on the people going through it, however from a social perspective the civilians of one of the other countries that are engaged, but not being attacked it can lead their attention away from current legislation of the time that is being pushed through. It also allows for some legislation to go through that would not normally be able to be passed without a conflict going on. Take for instance the Patriot Act for the USA that they put in a few years ago. That particular piece of legislation would never have gotten through in times of peace. So motives are a lot more political than just the black and white they did something bad. It is usually the governments knowing that they need to show that they have a requirement to maintain their armed forces and civil security levels to the rest of the parties involved.
So what also might be interesting is to look at what kinds of legislation changes were able to be created in this confusion and who actually profited apart from just the weapon merchants.
-Josh
Post a Comment