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Fact check

Is it true: Cambodia 1969-73 US secret bombing / Operation Menu + Freedom Deal?

Confirmed5% confidence

Yes — this is confirmed.

Operation Menu (18 Mar 1969 – 26 May 1970): 3,875 sorties, 108,823 tonnes of ordnance. Dual-channel reporting confirmed by 1973 Senate Armed Services Committee investigation as deliberate congressional deception. NYT Beecher leak (9 May 1969) triggered Kissinger-authorised wiretaps. Operation Freedom Deal continued through 15 August 1973. Taylor-Kiernan 2006 reanalysis: 2.7M tonnes total on Cambodia. Scale, concealment mechanism, and authorisation chain are all documented.

The claim

Between 18 March 1969 and 15 August 1973 the United States Air Force conducted a secret bombing campaign across Cambodia, initially under the codename Operation Menu (six sub-operations: Breakfast, Lu

Key evidence

Dual-channel reporting system confirmed by Senate investigation

Nixon administration's stated rationale: interdiction was legitimate military objective

Read the full evidence file

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