Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The temples of Angkor are spectacular monuments to Cambodia's rich Khmer past. Covering 77 square miles, these 1000-year-old temples display lovely sculptures of dancers, village life and, of course, warriors. Angkor Wat, the most famous temple, is an impressive mix of architectural and artistic skill. Other temples, haunting in their loneliness, rest in the midst of the steamy jungle, each with its own story to tell.

It is the warrior side of Angkor's history that continues to trouble Cambodia. Lying in the heart of Southeast Asia, Cambodia suffered frequent invasions. The French controlled it for decades, destroying its traditional government. America bombed Cambodia heavily during the Vietnam War, killing hundreds of thousands of people.

The worst destruction, however, came from within. Under Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge launched a devastating civil war that killed nearly a third of Cambodia's people. The United States was not blameless in this war. In our desire to rid Asia of Prince Sihanouk, Cambodia's long-time, Communist-leaning, leader, we helped install the weak regime of Lon Nol, which quickly succumbed to the Khmer Rouge.

Today, you can go from the beautiful ruins of Angkor to the horrifying museum documenting Khmer Rouge atrocities in Phnom Penh. You can visit the markets stuffed with food, electronics, flowers and clothing and then, just outside, see children maimed by land mines begging in the street. Cambodia still has 6 million land mines waiting to claim more limbs and lives.

Every person you meet tells a story of intense suffering and lost family members. Our guide had six brothers and sisters. The Khmer Rouge executed his father and brother. Five other siblings starved to death. Now, he has only his mother left. A woman told of watching her sister starve and of the murders of her father, mother and baby sister. Their stories are typical.

Who knows what the Khmer Rouge wanted Cambodia to become? When they marched into the capital of Phnom Penh in April, 1975, they drove out its 500,000 people in 3 days. Everyone went to the countryside to become a peasant. Educated people and professionals were killed immediately or hunted down and executed later. During the Khmer Rouge regime, Phnom Penh never had more than 50,000 residents.

Hunger and starvation ruled the land. Most of the peasants' plentiful food supply was sold to pay for the war, leaving hunger for the villagers. Two million of Cambodia's 8 million people starved to death. Another million were murdered. The Vietnamese army liberated Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge in 1979, though Pol Pot continued to terrorize parts of that troubled land.

The Tuol Sleng Museum in Phnom Penh testifies to this terror. A former high school turned into a torture and interrogation center, this prison processed 20,000 people during its 4 years of existence. Seven survived. Like the Nazis, the Khmer Rouge documented their torture with photographs. They used children, 14 to 17 years old, to interrogate and torture their victims. What these children did to their fellow human beings is beyond description. One of the 7 survivors showed us what happened there with his truly horrifying paintings of how people suffered.

It is always shocking to see people's cruelty towards one another. We need to remember that inhumanity won't go away just because it shocks or repulses us. Indeed, there are those who will deny that human depravity or genocide happens. That's why we need the Tuol Sleng and Holocaust Museums-to remind ourselves of what we humans have done, and still can do, to one another.

We also need to support those organizations that work to stem the causes of inhumanity, whether these be religious or ethnic battles, economic deprivation or demagogues bent on forcing their views on a reluctant world. Cambodia has a rich cultural heritage. And, it has a terrifying history as well. What happened there has happened in countless countries. Let us never forget that hatred and bigotry and demagoguery have caused unspeakable suffering. Only we, one by one, can ensure a more humane world.