On May 14, 6:09=A0am, Chim <Chi...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> For Cambodians, McCain a Familiar Face
> By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
> Original re****t from Wa****ngton
> 13 May 2008
>
> Arizona senator John McCain is no stranger to Cambodians. But will
> they know him as president? His reputation and experience have earned
> the senator a lot of attention from American voters, and many are
> convinced he will be next in the White House.
>
> =93Don=92t tell me we cannot make our country stronger and the world
> safer,=94 he said recently, having secured the nomination of the
> Republican party to run for president. =93We can. We must. And when I am
> president, we will.=94
>
> McCain=92s messages of democracy hit home for many, and Cambodians
> remember his strong stance against the regime of Prime Minister Hun
> Sen.
>
> Opposition leader Sam Rainsy called McCain a good man, and said he
> could push for the FBI to release a re****t on the 1997 grenade attack
> on opposition sup****ters, a re****t that has been mired in secrecy.
>
> McCain was also likely to push for human rights, Sam Rainsy said.
>
> =93Mr. John McCain is a candidate who understands well the democratic
> process in Cambodia and always sup****ts democrats in Cambodia,=94 Sam
> Rainsy said. =93I understand that if Mr. John McCain becomes president,
> the US really will pay more attention to Cambodia than ever.=94
>
> Cambodians recognize him above the other two candidates, senators
> Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, said Nhiek Bun Chhay, Funcinpec=92s
> secretary-general.
>
> =93He knows Cambodia very well and has a good connection with Cambodian
> leaders,=94 Nhiek Bun Chhay said.
>
> Cambodian People=92s Party lawmaker Cheam Yiep applauded McCain=92s
> reputation and said he was the most likely to help people in Southeast
> Asia.
>
> Chanly Kuch, a Cambodian voter in Maryland, said McCain may know about
> Cambodia, but he has not shown yet how his policies differ from the
> current president, George W. Bush.
>
> Dr. Samuel Nuon, a Cambodian voter in Virginia, called McCain a hero
> of the nation.
>
> =93I believe he will continue to help protect Cambodian freedom,=94 Nuon
> said. =93Frankly speaking,=94 said Koul Panha, executive director of the
> Committee for Free and Fair Elections, =93in foreign policy, in
> intervening to help countries achieve democracy, freedom, to get out
> of dictator****ps and communism, he has done a lot.=94
The opinion of Nhiek Bun Chhay about John McCain is from one soldier
to another soldier. The Funcinpec general may not be a shrewd
politician. But he knows how to manage survival by learning to adapt
with the quicksand of Cambodian cultural landscape. Can he predict
what inside the Beltway is another story?
But most folks know that the Beltway system changes only on its own
term. That's the reality of American politics.
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