Should we stop calling Pol Pot's brutal oppression of the Cambodian people genocide?

[Cantankerous]

Nobody can deny that Pol Pot took 20th century savagery to new depths by putting to death almost 2 million of his own people through forced labor, famine, and executions, but because he was focused solely on taking Cambodia back to the time of the Khmer Empire by abolishing modern ideas, which he deemed evil, and getting rid of medical and educational institutions in the country, it seems somewhat awkward to call the Khmer Rouge's brutal repression of the Cambodian people genocide because, as noted by Kiernan (2002) and Vickery (1984), ethnic minorities targeted for persecution in Cambodia during Pol Pot's reign, namely the Cham and Cambodians of Thai and Vietnamese descent, constituted a tiny minority of Cambodia's population prior to the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh.

References:
* Kiernan, B., 2002. The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975–79, 2nd edition New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 254–255.
* Vickery, M., 1984. Cambodia: 1975–1982. Boston: South End Press.

[David Thompson]

Cantankerous --Please give sources for your claims. From the H&WC section rules:

2. Claims and Proof

The sixth rule of the forum is: "When quoting from a book or site, please provide info on the source (and a link if it is a website)."

If a poster raises a question about the events, other posters may answer the question with evidence. If a poster stops asking questions and begins to express a point of view, he then becomes an advocate for that viewpoint. When a person becomes an advocate, he has the burden of providing evidence for his point of view. If he has no evidence, or doesn't provide it when asked, it is reasonable for the reader to conclude that his opinion or viewpoint is uninformed and may fairly be discounted or rejected.

Undocumented claims undercut the research purposes of this section of the forum. Consequently, it is required that proof be posted along with a claim. The main reason is that proof, evidence, facts, etc. improve the quality of discussions and information. A second reason is that inflammatory, groundless posts and threads attack, and do not promote, the scholarly purpose of this section of the forum. For more on this subject, see the announcement at http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 676#990676

This requirement applies to each specific claim. In the past, some posters have attempted to evade the proof requirement by resort to the following tactics, none of which are acceptable here:

A general reference to a website, or a book without page references; citations or links to racist websites; generalized citations to book reviews; and citations to unsourced, secondary articles or opinions.

Noncomplying posts are subject to deletion after warning.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=53962

[Cantankerous]

Cantankerous --Please give sources for your claims. From the H&WC section rules:
2. Claims and Proof

The sixth rule of the forum is: "When quoting from a book or site, please provide info on the source (and a link if it is a website)."

If a poster raises a question about the events, other posters may answer the question with evidence. If a poster stops asking questions and begins to express a point of view, he then becomes an advocate for that viewpoint. When a person becomes an advocate, he has the burden of providing evidence for his point of view. If he has no evidence, or doesn't provide it when asked, it is reasonable for the reader to conclude that his opinion or viewpoint is uninformed and may fairly be discounted or rejected.

Undocumented claims undercut the research purposes of this section of the forum. Consequently, it is required that proof be posted along with a claim. The main reason is that proof, evidence, facts, etc. improve the quality of discussions and information. A second reason is that inflammatory, groundless posts and threads attack, and do not promote, the scholarly purpose of this section of the forum. For more on this subject, see the announcement at http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 676#990676

This requirement applies to each specific claim. In the past, some posters have attempted to evade the proof requirement by resort to the following tactics, none of which are acceptable here:

A general reference to a website, or a book without page references; citations or links to racist websites; generalized citations to book reviews; and citations to unsourced, secondary articles or opinions.

Noncomplying posts are subject to deletion after warning. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=53962

Hi David,

I just edited my post to cite references relevant to the question of whether it is inappropriate to classify the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodians under Pol Pot as genocide.