I wouldn't argue with that assertion. The US provided material aid to Khmer Rouge insurgents at various times and encouraged them in other ways too, I believe t

I wouldn't argue with that assertion. The US provided material aid to Khmer Rouge insurgents at various times and encouraged them in other ways too, I believe the idea was to have some kind of bulwark to North Vietnam. In addition, Operation Menu, which was a military operation ordered by Richard Nixon, resulted in the bombing of large sections of Cambodia and of course resulted in civilian deaths. This, as is not hard to believe, increased Cambodian support for the Khmer Rouge and revealed the inefficacy of the then ruling Cambodian government. Of course, this wasn't the first or last time US foreign policy would see its 'chickens coming home to roost', so to say. During the Soviet-Afghan war, US forces trained and materially aided the Mujahideen (Osama bin Laden was once involved with this group) in an effort to stymie the Soviet's forces and keep them enveloped in a financially-draining quagmire that would eventually prove to be the Soviet Union's own "Vietnam".