Pol Pot

=== Fighting back against the Vietnamese: 1979–1989 ===
[[File:Case 002 Initial Hearing Khieu Samphan (2).jpg|thumb|right|In 1979, Khieu Samphan (pictured here in 2011) replaced Pol Pot as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea]]

In July 1979, Pol Pot established a new headquarters, Office 131, on the western flank of [[Mount Thom]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=411}} He dropped the name "Pol Pot" and began calling himself "Phem".{{sfn|Short|2004|p=411}} In September 1979, Khieu announced that the Khmer Rouge was establishing a new united front, the [[Patriotic Democratic Front]], bringing together all Cambodians who opposed the Vietnamese occupation.{{sfnm|1a1=Chandler|1y=1992|1pp=169–70|2a1=Short|2y=2004|2p=415}} Senior Khmer Rouge members began disavowing the cause of socialism.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=414}} The group members stopped wearing uniform black outfits; Pol Pot himself started wearing jungle green fatigues and later Thai-made [[Safari jacket|safari suits]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=414}} Short believed that these changes reflected a genuine ideological shift in the Khmer Rouge.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=414}} In October, Pol Pot ordered an end to executions, a command which was largely followed.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=414}} In November 1979, the [[United Nations General Assembly]] voted to recognise the Khmer Rouge delegation, rather than that of the Vietnamese-backed government, as the legitimate government of Cambodia.{{sfnm|1a1=Chandler|1y=1992|1p=156|2a1=Short|2y=2004|2p=412}} In December, Samphan replaced Pol Pot as prime minister of Democratic Kampuchea, a move that allowed Pol Pot to focus on the war effort and which was perhaps also designed to improve the Khmer Rouge's image.{{sfnm|1a1=Chandler|1y=1992|1p=171|2a1=Short|2y=2004|2p=415}}

During the monsoons of summer 1979, the Khmer Rouge troops began filtering back into Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=411}} Many young Cambodians joined the Khmer Rouge forces, wanting to drive the Vietnamese Army out.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=412}} Boosted by the new Chinese supplies, the Khmer Rouge rebuilt its military structure in early 1980.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=412}} By mid-1980, the Khmer Rouge claimed it had 40,000 troops active in Cambodia.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=412}} From 1981, Pol Pot's main goal was to attract popular support among the Cambodian population, believing that this would be vital in enabling him to win the war.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=417}} In August 1981, he travelled, via Bangkok, to Beijing, where he met with Deng and [[Zhao Ziyang]].{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=415–16}} Deng had been pushing for Sihanouk, living in Pyongyang, to become Cambodian head of state, something the monarch had reluctantly agreed to in February 1981.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=415}} In September, Sihanouk, Samphan, and [[Son Sann]] issued a joint statement in Singapore announcing the formation of their own coalition government.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=416}}

{{Quote box
| quote = I am old now and handicapped. I know that people inside Cambodia fear me. So when we drive out the contemptible Vietnamese and gain peace, I will retire if the comrades so desire. But if I return now, and the comrades can't drive out the Vietnamese, how can I sit still? I must share my experience and knowledge. If the Vietnamese leave and we can defend our country, I will{{nbsp}}... retire. And when I die I will die peacefully.
| source=— Pol Pot, 1987{{sfn|Chandler|1992|p=184}}
| align = left
| width = 25em
}}

In December 1981, Pol Pot and Nuon Chea decided to dissolve the Communist Party of Kampuchea, a decision taken with very little discussion among the party's membership, some of whom were shocked.{{sfnm|1a1=Chandler|1y=1992|1p=169|2a1=Short|2y=2004|2p=416}} Many outside commentators believed the dissolution was a ruse, and that the CPK was actually going underground once more, although Short noted that this was not the case.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=416}} Pol Pot proposed a new Movement of Nationalists that would replace the party, although this failed to fully materialise.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=416}} The CPK Standing Committee was replaced by a Military Directorate, the focus of which was on driving out the Vietnamese.{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=416–17}} Pol Pot's decision to disband the party was informed by global events; his anti-Vietnamese army was backed by many capitalist countries while the Vietnamese were backed by most Marxist-governed countries. At the same time, he believed that his main Marxist backers, the Chinese, were themselves restoring capitalism with Deng's reforms.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=417}} Reflecting the ideological shift, among the Khmer Rouge, collective eating was ended, the ban on individual possessions was lifted, and children were again allowed to live with their parents.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=418}} Pol Pot commented that his previous administration had been too left-wing and claimed that it had made mistakes because he had placed too much trust in treacherous individuals around him.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=418}}

In June 1982, at an event in Kuala Lumpur, the Khmer Rouge were among the factions declaring the formation of a [[Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea]] (CGDK) as an alternative to the administration in Phnom Penh.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=419}} On the ground in Cambodia there nevertheless remained little military collaboration between these factions, which included the Khmer Rouge as well as the Sihanoukist National Army and Son Senn's [[Khmer People's National Liberation Front]].{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=420–21}} In 1983, Pol Pot travelled to Bangkok for a medical check-up; there he was diagnosed with [[Hodgkin's disease]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=421}} In mid-1984, Office 131 was moved to a new base further into Cambodia, near the O'Suosadey river.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=421}} In December, the Vietnamese Army launched a major offensive, overrunning the Khmer Rouge's Cambodian base and pushing Pol Pot back into Thailand. There, he established a new base, K-18, several miles outside [[Trat]].{{sfn|Short|2004|p=422}}

In September 1985, Pol Pot resigned as commander-in-chief of the Khmer Rouge forces in favour of Son Sen; he nevertheless continued to wield significant influence.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=423}} In the summer he married a young woman named Mea; the following spring their daughter, Sitha, was born.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=423}} He then travelled to Beijing to undergo cancer treatment at a military hospital, only returning to Cambodia in the summer of 1988.{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=423–24}} In 1988, the anti-Vietnamese factions entered into negotiations with the Phnom Penh government.{{sfn|Short|2004|pp=424–25}} Pol Pot deemed this too soon, for he feared that the Khmer Rouge had not gained sufficient popular support to produce significant gains in any post-war election.{{sfn|Short|2004|p=425}}