THE SITUATION IN CAMBODIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-527-3-3-0
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: September 1, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: September 20, 1973
• Content Type: REPORT

No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/09/01 : LOC-HAK-527-3-3-0
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~ t,~ET X G V OR
;^I"::3ER WSAG MEETING
20 ?Scptember 1973
THE.:SITU7%TTONN, I CX"IBODIX
7. In C:anibodia, the FANK is holding up well and the
mill.t:ary situation is better than might have been
anticipated before US air operations ceased on :15
august. FANK is far from out of the woods, hoer-
ovG'3:.
A. The Khmer Co=iunist offensive against Kompong
Chain fizzled out in the race of the govern--
mont's defense of that city.
1. The performance of government ground,
naval, and air e1em.cnts at Koi pong Chars
should have some tonic effort. on military
and civilian morale.
r. The battle for Korpong Cham may,not be
over yet
3.
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/09/01 : LOC-HAK-527-3-3-0
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/09/01 : LOC-HAK-527-3-3-0
It GoveZ nman ft ?r?n;,-oeM have
against several key highways I Fading into
Phnom Penh.
B.. Usewhere, insurgent pressure has eased
some. seven miles southeast of Phnom Penh;
and the insurgents have surrendered their
hold over a section of Route 4 fifteen
~Jlie, ~x',+ &AS.L1
Miles southuost of the capital. Convoys
are once again moving over this route.
2.. The insurgents still occupy a portion of
Route 5, however, some 35 miles north-
west of Phnom Penh.
3. Military action in the im:aediate vicinity
of Phnom Penh remains relatively light,
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9 w
and Mekong River resupply convoys con-
tinue to encounter only minor harassment.
1Z. Prince Sihanouk, meanwhile, is taking a somber
line on the insurgents' military. prospects.
A. In press interviews this week he indicated
that a military stalemate is in the making
in Cambodia unless the insurgents get more
external support,
l,. Sihanouk is blaming Hanoi for not giving
adequate aid to the insurgents.
2. Ho claims that the North Vietnar:ese are.
no longer willing to transport- Chinese
su pliob to the borders o Lambodia.
3. He also claims that the Vietnamese have
withdrawn their ammunition stocks from
Cambodia, thus denying. them to the in-
surgents.
4. Sihanouk offered an explanation for these
alleged actions. He said Hanoi wants a
negotiated settlement in Cambodia be-
cause it both fears US retaliation and
wants US aid.
There is, of course, an clement. of scape;-
goatis;n in Sihanouk's remarks. He is dis-
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/09/01 : LOC-HAK-527-3-3-0
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/09/01 : LOC-HAK-527-3-3-0
appointed over the failure to take Born gong
Cham, and his co:cunanders in the field are
blaming the Vietnamese for what is, at least
in part, their own deficiency.
1. Nonetheless, Sihanouk has been asserting
every since last January that the Viet-
namese have out off arms and azrmuntjon
supplies. He accepted the stoppage with
equanimity until ?Zune, when his "defense
minis::er" P :Shiou Samphan asked him to
request a resumption of supplies.
By Sep-
teriwer, Sihanouk stated publicily that
Hanoi had signed an agreement to supply
his force with arms and azmmnit .on and
be reinbursed by the Chinese. it's that
agreement which Sihanouk now inmpl.i.es is
not working as he anticipated.
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t ,ati~ ~ 'f
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~~? Although it: now seams likely that tho cou cil's
(',-',ncaate will b6 renewed next month, Lon 'ol is
still mulling over the questa?on.
to The future of the In Tam government is
also before the council.
26 Prime Minister In Tam clearly would like
to quit, but thus far has been dissuaded.
3. Ne o theless, some sort of goverr.Imelit
reshuffle seems to be in the cards soon..
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2010/09/01 LOC-HAK-527-3-3-0
there ara Continuing
supply problems. It .is still not possi-
ble, llOWevcr, to pin down whether these
stem from a general scarcity, or fron,
the inevi;;able dislocations and shortages
of the "battlefield situation.'
IMw. On the Political front in Phnom Penh, government
ledders are still preoccupied over the futu e of
the Nigh Political Council.
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