ABSTRACT
In Indochina the years 1983-84 were a period of contradiction: the doves of peace and the dogs of war alternating for attention with somewhat bewildering regularity. As 1982 ended, peace was in the air with behind the scenes diplomatic activity dotting the international landscape from Belgium and Romania to the Nonaligned Conference. 1 However, these peace feelers rapidly collapsed with the January - April 1983 dry season offensive and the harsh rhetoric of Soviet and Vietnamese pronouncements on the Kampuchea problem. With the rain in mid-1983, the pace again changed. The resistance forces of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) became much more active, breaking out of the western border areas and spreading to broad sections of the Cambodian interior. Recruiting prospects exceeded military resources, and even the Khmer Rouge enjoyed a renaissance. With the end of the rains in December 1983, the military momentum did not follow the usual pattern of reverting back to Vietnam. Instead, the dry season was distinguished by continued pressure by the insurgents.
