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One of the questions bedeviling the diplomats is the role the Khmer Rouge would play in a Kampuchean government after the Vietnamese withdraw. As a U.S. official said, "A return of the Khmer Rouge would be unacceptable in the eyes of the world." Its political comeback would be acutely embarrassing to Washington. In supporting the non-Communist members of the rebel coalition, the U.S. has at least indirectly backed the Khmer Rouge as well. But Washington hopes to undercut the Khmer Rouge by boosting aid to Sihanouk. Diplomats in Beijing believe that China is ready to accept the "decapitation" of the Khmer Rouge, permitting it to take part in a national-unity government but barring its infamous leaders from holding power.
Fear of the Khmer Rouge still rules much of the Kampuchean countryside, where the rebel fighters battle the improving army of the People's Republic. Around Chhun Kiri, 65 miles southwest of Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge has stepped up its "war of the villages." At a nearby hospital lay Pen Kea, 40, his leg injured in a guerrilla attack. "The Khmer Rouge comes every three nights," he said. "You have got to be afraid of them."
By comparison, even the once despised government regime is winning some popular support as it gains militarily against the rebels. With a view toward future elections, the government has initiated a series of rural land reforms, and its economic liberalizations have been bringing a measure of prosperity to + this benighted land. With hopes rising that Viet Nam's soldiers will eventually be gone, perhaps peace, too, will visit tortured Kampuchea before long.