Cambodia: Border Incident

In the communique that followed his visit with Prince Norodom Sihanouk three weeks ago, U.S. Ambassador Chester Bowles assured the Royal Cambodian government that "the U.S. will do everything possible to avoid acts of aggression against Cambodia, as well as incidents and accidents which may cause losses and damage to the inhabitants of Cambodia." Sihanouk chose to interpret that as an ironclad promise that U.S. forces in Viet Nam would not cross the Cambodian border under any circumstances—which it was not. Thus he was enraged when, in the midst of a firefight with a Viet Cong unit, U.S. and...

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