Chairman Mao (left) with the genocidal Khmer Rouge leaders Pol Pot (center) and Ieng Sary, Beijing, China, 1975
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https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/3f3fa86c-583e-4a25-ada5-6a16003ac3e5.jpeg
At least in Norway, Marxist Leninist publicly supported Pol Pot well into the 70s. I would bet on #2, with an added element of whataboutism taking about America's wars.