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The Christian Science Monitor has a very interesting story about how the US Congress is now cozying up to Cambodia.

Seems Washington has twigged to the fact that isolating the country won't do much for the global terrorism situation. Plus, with China courting Cambodia like a sophomore looking for a date to the prom, the US needs to step up if they ever want to dance.

"Our hope is to have more normal relations and draw Cambodia closer to the community of nations," says Joseph Mussomeli, the US ambassador to Cambodia.

The appearance in Cambodia in 2002 and 2003 of Riduan Isamuddin – an Indonesian better known as Hambali, who was believed to be Al Qaeda's top operative in Southeast Asia – was a wake-up call to Washington, one Cambodia-watcher and US congressional aide said on condition of anonymity. "Washington bureaucrats finally realized what Cambodia-watchers knew all along: Cambodia matters, and it is indeed a swamp in need of draining."

Now if Mr. Ambassador could just light a fire under the people responsible for the adoption suspension ...

Hun Sen is urging Myanmar, Laos, Viet Nam and Singapore to join the other ASEAN countries in signing the Ottawa Treating banning land mines.

"ASEAN has already declared Asia should be free of nuclear weapons and has asked other nations to sign on this, so ASEAN should also be the leader on the prohibition of the use, production and stockpiling of landmines," he said.

Cambodia is still one of the most heavily mined countries in the world thirty years after the KR years.

The first senior military officer has been arrested in a high-profile campaign against land grabbers.

Hun Sen said on Monday that he will purge perverse land grabbers out of the government and CPP, who might otherwise cause social instability or even trigger off riots.

"The government is going to fight against illegal land grabbing at any cost. The war against land grabbers is starting right now," he told hundreds of diplomats and high-ranking government officials at a national forum.

They should withdraw from land disputes by themselves, and if they don't, they will be fired from the government and expelled from the party, he said.

"I am not going to tolerate anyone any longer on this issue," he added.

Well ... we'll see about that, won't we?

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