1972 in the Vietnam War the number of air raids against North Vietnam during all of 1971. Prime Minister Lon Nol declared President of Cambodia. Unlike the former Cambodian leader, Norodom Sihanouk, Lon Nol was a U.S. ally. The U.S. 101st Airborne Division left South Vietnam, the last U.S. ground combat division to be withdrawn from South Vietnam. The Khmer Rouge bombarded with artillery Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, killing more than 100 civilians. This was the heaviest attack on Phnom Penh since the Cambodian Civil War began in 1970. The United States boycotted peace negotiations in Paris with the North Vietnamese, citing
1972 in the Vietnam War Abrams cabled Washington that "the enemy [North Vietnam] is preparing and positioning his forces for a major offensive... There is no doubt this is to be a major campaign." Abrams requested additional authority to use U.S. American air power to mount an effective defense. President Richard Nixon revealed that National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger had been meeting secretly with North Vietnam representatives for more than 2 years. He also revealed the U.S. peace plan that had been proposed to Hanoi. Nixon proposed that, within six months of an agreement, all U.S. military be withdrawn from South Vietnam, Prisoners of War