Additional U.S. Air Strikes in Cambodia

The Nixon administration grants MACV increased authority to conduct air strikes in Cambodia after new Cambodian leader Lon Nol requests U.S. assistance in dealing with the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces in the border regions. The Air Force begins striking targets in eastern Cambodia, which Vietnamese Communist forces have been using as a refuge from the U.S. and South Vietnamese militaries. While the United States has covertly bombed targets in Cambodia before—most notably under Operation MENU—these new strikes rapidly increase in frequency and intensity in the lead-up to the Cambodian Incursion of May and June.¹