Secret Bombing Of Cambodia

Secret Bombing of Cambodia

At the superlative of the Vietnam War U.S. bombers were secretly ordered to bomb what were believed to live on strategic targets inwards neutral Cambodia. The being in addition to extent of those missions were officially denied in addition to covered upward at the highest levels for several years.

Kingdom of Cambodia emerged from French colonial dominion inwards 1953 nether the leadership of Prince–turned–Chief of State Norodom Sihanouk. After cultivating an alliance alongside the United States, Sihanouk broke off formal relations. after ascertaining that the neighboring Republic of Vietnam (RVN) would eventually autumn to Communists from North Vietnam in addition to insurgents within the field itself.

As a result, he also turned a blind oculus to Vietnamese Communists who ready bases on Cambodian territory inwards social club to evade U.S. forces. For these concessions, Sihanouk did non involve hold to worry nearly Vietnamese forces aiding the small-scale Communist Central Khmer Rouge insurgency that was opposing his regime.


In reply to Sihanouk’s lax edge policy, outset inwards 1966, U.S. Special Forces in addition to South Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) troops began engaging inwards classified the world missions into Kingdom of Cambodia known every bit Operation Daniel Boone.

On ix Feb 1969, less than i calendar month after the inauguration of President Richard Nixon, General Creighton Abrams, commander of U.S. forces inwards South Vietnam, related that the headquarters of enemy forces operating inwards South Vietnam had been located inwards the jungles of Cambodia.

Abrams stated that a U.S. laid on on Central Office for South Vietnam base of operations camps (COSVN HQ) would involve hold a crippling outcome on hereafter Vietcong in addition to North Vietnamese Army hostile actions inwards South Vietnam.

Bombing surface area (in red)

Abrams’s report, which came at a fourth dimension when the direction was already hinting to South Vietnam of a withdrawal of U.S. troops, seemed to supply a long-term armed forces solution without additional the world troop involvement. Soon, Abrams received news that his proposal was garnering serious consideration yesteryear the Joint Chiefs of Staff in addition to that his message had been seen yesteryear President Nixon himself.

After 5 weeks of give-and-take in addition to debate inwards Washington, a innovation was approved that called for forty-eight sorties against COSVN HQ every bit good every bit twelve strikes against targets within South Vietnam that were nowhere close the truthful objective. The actual target of the operation, code-named Breakfast, was to live on concealed in addition to treated every bit if it were but a measure bombing laid on on enemy targets inwards South Vietnam.

Published information would dot that the bombing took house within the RVN and, if questioned yesteryear the press nearly air strikes inwards Cambodia, a U.S. spokesman would solid pose down that sorties side yesteryear side to the Cambodian edge did involve hold place, that he had no other data on the subject, in addition to that he would await into the question.


Just earlier takeoff, the pilots in addition to navigators of the Strategic Air Command’s B-52 bombers executing Breakfast were told yesteryear their commanding officers that they would live on bombing Cambodia, non South Vietnam. During the nighttime raid, the B-52s dropped their payloads into forty-eight divide areas inwards the neutral field of Cambodia.

Daniel Boone teams dispatched right away next the bombing, inwards social club to capture supposedly dazed enemy troops, flora themselves nether heavy fire, providing the justification for hereafter attacks on Cambodia.

Over the next xiv months, the Nixon direction secretly authorized 3,630 raids, collectively known every bit Operation Menu, on xiv suspected North Vietnamese Army in addition to Vietcong bases within the Cambodian border. Beginning inwards May 1970, the U.S. Army in addition to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) launched a formal the world invasion into the officially neutral field of Cambodia.

In 1973, the covert bombing raids were fully disclosed; however, both Nixon in addition to Henry Kissinger (who at the fourth dimension of the bombing had been serving every bit a National Security Affairs adviser) maintained that the sorties were undertaken alongside the encouragement of President Sihanouk. They farther argued that the bombed areas were non inhabited yesteryear Cambodians in addition to were legitimate armed forces targets.

Bombing result

Now serving every bit secretarial assistant of state, Kissinger stated the attacks were non a bombing of Kingdom of Cambodia or its people per se, but of enemy troops located within Cambodia. Yet, every bit early on every bit Apr 1969, the Joint Chiefs of Staff had informed the Nixon direction of considerable numbers of Cambodians living within the COSVN HQ sanctuary areas.

As early on every bit i calendar week after the Breakfast mission, the New York Times reported that Abrams had requested air strikes against areas inwards Cambodia. On ix May 1969, Pentagon correspondent William Beecher stated that U.S. air raids against ammo dumps in addition to base of operations camps inwards Kingdom of Cambodia had definitely taken place. While the study sparked trivial appreciable populace involvement in addition to no federal inquiries at the time, the same account, 4 years later, generated express calls for impeachment.

Further, Beecher’s pronouncement prompted the Nixon direction to enquire FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to ascertain how news of the bombing was leaked. The illegal FBI wiretaps placed on Kissinger’s assistant for planning, Morton Halperin (the human being suspected of passing on the information), became the foremost of Nixon’s abuses of ability that came to live on known collectively every bit the Watergate scandal.