The coup in Cambodia

Cambodia's tragic history leads some diplomats and others to consider hopeless the cause of democracy there. Certainly the Southeast Asian nation has had more than its share of seemingly mortal blows -- above all the unspeakable Khmer Rouge genocide. And none of Cambodia's factions is untainted by the bloody past. Yet few observers considered democracy hopeless in 1993, when an astonishing 89 percent of voters went to the polls despite threats of violence and actual attacks. A United Nations-led transition was hailed as a model for democracy-building.

The international community needs to do more. Before all hope is lost of getting Cambodian democratization back on track, the United States as well as Cambodia's neighbors in ASEAN should make clear that they will not recognize a government installed by coup d'etat, that they will not keep giving aid to an illegitimate regime and that they won't accept any phony elections organized in an effort to pretty up the coup. Anything less is a disservice to those 89 percent.

-- The Washington Post