Dear United States: How Long Will You Allow Your F-16s to Kill Cambodian Civilians?

A Thai F-16. A school in Banteay Meanchey was destroyed by the Thai military this week. Supplied

[Opinion]

Let me begin by acknowledging that the US has called for restraint and ceasefire. Cambodians appreciate these diplomatic efforts, including past US engagement under President Donald Trump, which showed that Washington can play a constructive role. But appreciation alone does not protect lives when Thailand repeatedly ignores US calls. When warnings are issued without consequence, diplomacy loses its meaning. The United States must do more than speak.

The US presents itself as a defender of human rights, international law and civilian protection. Yet today, many Cambodians are asking a painful question: how long will the US allow its military weapons to be used against innocent civilians in Cambodia?

Thai military aircraft continue to use US-made F-16 fighter jets to strike deep inside Cambodian territory, not at the border. Homes, schools, hospitals, temples, pagodas, bridges, roads and petrol stations have been destroyed. These are not military bases. These are civilian spaces.

Cambodia has no fighter jets and no air force capable of defending its skies. This is not a conflict between equals. When one side controls advanced fighter aircraft and the other has none, the result is not a border conflict. It is civilian suffering.

Thailand is also reported to have used other heavy and destructive weapons, including cluster munitions and weapons producing toxic smoke. These attacks have caused widespread civilian casualties, with people killed and injured and more than half a million forced to flee their homes. Such actions raise serious concerns under international humanitarian law. Indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas are war crimes, regardless of who commits them.

The US has spoken. China has spoken. Malaysia and others have spoken. Ceasefire calls continue to be made. Thailand does not listen, and the bombing continues.

So, as a Cambodian, I ask the United States directly:

If U.S.-supplied F-16 jets are being used to kill civilians, why is there no accountability?

If ceasefire calls are ignored, why are there no consequences?

If the US truly stands for human rights, why has it not publicly condemned these actions or suspended military support pending an independent investigation?

Arms sales are not neutral. Military partnerships carry responsibility. When American-made weapons are allegedly used to destroy civilian lives and infrastructure, silence is not neutrality.

This is not hatred toward America. It is an appeal to America’s own values.

Cambodian civilians deserve the same protection as civilians anywhere in the world. Their lives should not matter less because they are small, poor or geopolitically overlooked.

If US-made F-16s are being used to bomb Cambodian civilians, the US must act now. History will remember not only who dropped the bombs, but who had the power to stop it and chose not to.

Neang Sopheap is a Phnom Penh-based geopolitical analyst. The views and opinions expressed are its own.

-The Phnom Penh Post-