Free Republic

At no time did the Serbs ever have a nuclear weapons program. In fact, the only nuclear reactor Serbia ever had was built when Serbia was part of Yugoslavia. It was shut down in 1984 and dismantled in 2002. That being the case, at no time did Serbs ever pose a dangerous nuclear weapons threat to another country. At no time was Serbia ever an exporter of terrorism around the world. Let alone call for the use of nuclear weapons to "wipe another country off the map".--as Iranian Ayatollah Rasfanjani has done. And also Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Nevertheless: In August of...

A spectacular 61km section of highway through mountainous northern Albania opens on Thursday, creating a strategic link with fellow ethnic Albanians in landlocked Kosovo. For Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia last year, the modern four-lane route is a vital commercial link through a friendly country. At more than €600m (£510m, $840m) the new stretch of road will cut the eight-hour journey between Tirana and Pristina by at least two hours, according to Ernest Noka, Albania’s deputy transport minister. It was the toughest construction challenge on a corridor linking Albania’s Adriatic port of Durres with the Balkan interior and pan-European...

The March 11, 2006 death of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic while in U.N. custody at The Hague was the tragic end to an unjust war and prosecution. The U.N. war crimes tribunal had tried unsuccessfully for four years to convict Milosevic. Since 2004, the health of the former Yugoslavian President had been in decline. For several months before his death, Milosevic claimed that he was being poisoned and requested a trip to Russia for medical treatment. Of course, all requests were denied by the U.N. A January blood test given to Milosevic showed traces of the rarely used antibiotic...

In the isolated village of Velika Hoca in southwestern Kosovo—a new nation or a rebellious province of Serbia, depending on whom you ask—people still talk about a brawl that broke out several years ago. It was after the Kosovo war, which had begun between separatist Albanian guerrillas and Serbian forces and had ended when NATO air strikes pounded Serbia and its strongman president, Slobodan Milosevic, into submission in June 1999. The West had stepped in to stop atrocities against Kosovo Albanians and avert a refugee crisis, assuming peace would reign once the dictator and his fighters were vanquished. But the...

BELGRADE, Serbia, June 4 (UPI) -- Serbian police said they are investigating the desecration of 724 graves of the Serbian Orthodox and Jewish graveyards in the northern Vojvodina region. Milan Glumac, chief of the police station in Sombor, 115 miles north of Belgrade, said they had no immediate suspects in the incident whose number of vandalized graves surpasses anything recorded in the Serbian multi-ethnic province of Vojvodina, bordering Croatia, Hungary and Romania. Vandals desecrated the Orthodox cemetery at the village of Stapari, close to Sombor, on the night from Sunday to Monday when 713 tombstones were broken or damaged, Belgrade's...

Photo of communist guard with gun and General Draza Mihailovich from the archives of the Military Museum in Belgrade. BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbia's government has formed a special commission to try to locate the grave of a World War II guerrilla leader executed as a traitor by the Communists, officials said Monday. The location of Dragoljub Draza Mihailovic's grave has been unknown since postwar Communist authorities executed him in 1946 for collaboration with the Nazi occupiers. For decades, the issue has fueled divisions in Serbia, where many believe that Mihailovic was a hero who was killed for his loyalty to...

SPEECH OF HON. JOSEPH CROWLEY OF NEW YORK IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESMONDAY, MARCH 16, 2009 Mr. CROWLEY: Madam Speaker, I am joined by the co-chairs of the Congressional Serbian Caucus, Representatives Melissa Bean of Illinois and Dan Burton of Indiana, in honoring a treasured constituent of mine and one of the unsung heroes of World War II, retired Major George Vujnovich. Major Vujnovich, a proud Serbian-American, was instrumental in 'Operation Halyard' and one of the last surviving members of that successful wartime mission. In the summer of 1944, Americans and Allied airmen flew hundreds of sorties over Europe with...

It was the best moment of Carl Walpusk's life. He was 19 years old, and the plane he was flying over Nazi-occupied Serbia had just been shot down. He jumped from the aircraft and pulled his parachute cord. Feeling the chute open, relief hit him. He realized he would make it. U.S. Airman Carl Walpusk and his wife Virginia. // Photo courtesy of Milana "Mim" Bizic "When you're that high up, you can't even tell you're moving," said Walpusk, now in his eighties. "But the last couple hundred feet, I tried to climb back up my chute." Despite his efforts,...

May 21 (Kosovo Times) - British Foreign Secretary David Miliband in a keynote speech, “Our shared future: Building coalitions and winning consent�, at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies called for coalition of consent between the West and Muslim world. He said Britain is strongly supportive of reforms to the international system that institutionalize close political relations between western and Muslim majority countries. APP reports that Secretary Miliband also reflected on the cooperation between the west and the Muslim world over the case of Kosovo which is more than 90% Muslim. “And it is the basis of our very active (joint)...

The following piece is brought to us by Iseult Henry, author of Hiding Genocide in Kosovo. She penned it as part of a collection of Kosovo-oriented essays titled Kosovo: The Score. The occasional highlighting is my own, and just a reminder to American readers: “Kosovo” means “of blackbirds”, as in “field of blackbirds”. An observer at a Crow’s Court...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32RXEuS6ZzY

<p>BELGRADE (AFP) — Serb ultra-nationalist lawmakers held up insulting signs in parliament Wednesday as US Vice President Joe Biden, considered a strong backer of Kosovo independence, arrived in Belgrade.</p> <p>"Biden, you Nazi scum, go home," said the posters brandished by opposition Radical Party deputies during the live national broadcast of a parliament sitting which coincided with the start of Biden's visit.</p>

VP Joseph Biden is on a tour of the Balkans this week. With stops in Bosnia, Serbia,-- and Serbia's "Kosovo" province, that Islamists have claimed for themselves, with Bush, Obama, and Biden's blessing. There are protests to Biden's visit. One political oposition leader said : "He [Biden] personifies all the crimes committed against Serbia starting with the 1999 bombing to the snatching of Kosovo and Metohija and new crimes that will be committed against Serbia, such as taking Vojvodina and partitioning Serbia into seven regions."-Todorovic Another said Biden should be taken on a walking tour of all the places destroyed...

US Vice President Joe Biden offered Belgrade a clean slate in ties here Wednesday promising Serbia would not have to recognise the independence of breakaway Kosovo. "The United States does not, I emphasise, does not expect Serbia to recognise the independence of Kosovo," Biden told a joint media conference with Serbia's pro-Western president Boris Tadic. "It is not a precondition for our relationship or our support for Serbia becoming part of the European Union." Biden, the most senior US official to visit Serbia since Jimmy Carter came to the then Yugoslav republic as president in 1980, said the US administration...

Joe Biden, the US Vice-President, departed Washington for the Balkans on Monday, seeking to press a "reset button" with Serbia after relations plummeted over Kosovo's independence last year. More broadly, a US administration official said Mr Biden hoped to demonstrate President Barack Obama's commitment to engage with a region where Washington invested heavily in the past to end wars in the 1990s and promote stability. The Vice-President will be the highest-level US official to visit Serbia since Jimmy Carter who when he was president toured what was then Yugoslavia in June 1980. Mr Biden will spend Tuesday in Bosnia-Herzegovina –...

On the occasion of the announced Belgrade visit of the U.S. vice president Joseph Biden, one of the most virulent Serbophobes in Washington, representatives of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and New Serbia (NS) today submitted to the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs a set of documents containing records of Biden’s racist anti-Serbian slurs and insults. DSS Parliament representative Jovan Palalić told gathered reporters that submitted documents are a reminder of the things current American vice president and former senator was saying and of the vicious crusade he relentlessly lead against Serbian nation and state. The records include Biden’s...

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - The South Stream pipeline, which the European Union fears will increase Europe's reliance on Russia for energy, faces a setback after demands by transit countries for better terms put a planned deal signing in doubt, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. "The parties were meant to sign an agreement in Sochi on May 15, but that is now in doubt," the source said, referring to the Russian city Sochi. An agreement could still be hammered out in time to save the signing, but this looks unlikely, the source added. South Stream, which...

As Judge Fernando Andreu of Spain's National Court decided on Monday to push on with the inquiry into a 2002 IAF bombing in Gaza that killed Hamas terrorist Salah Shehadeh and 14 others, Almagor, the Terror Victims Association, was finalizing a lawsuit against NATO personnel who approved bombings in Yugoslavia in the 1990s that killed some 2,500 civilians. In this July 23, 2002 photo, people sift through the rubble of a Gaza house destroyed in an IAF strike, in which Hamas military wing head Salah Shehadeh and 14 other people were killed. Photo: AP [file] SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region |...

Here is a link for the Mihailovich program on "Radio, Television Serbia" that aired on April 28, 2009: Draza Mihailovich: Serbia's Biggest Secret. For those who know the extent of the censorship that has been imposed in Serbia on the topic of General Mihailovich over the years will recognize how significant this program is. The website address for "Radio, Television Serbia" is www.rts.rs (Don't be confused by the "RTS". Those are the letters in the website address, however in Cyrillic on the actual website pages, the title reads "RTC") The program is under "Emisije" then "Uputnik" The direct link for...

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is concerned over the rising tensions between the Serb and Albanian population in Kosovo, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. "The use of international police and activities against Serbs is unacceptable," spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said. Nesterenko said that there is a growth in the destabilization of northern Kosovo that could lead to an escalation of tensions throughout the region, adding that "balanced actions in the interests of all parties are needed." Kosovo's minority Serb population, which is dominant in the north of the territory, began to protest last week in Brdjani, an Albanian...

BELGRADE (Reuters) - A Serbian union official who chopped off his finger and ate it in a protest over wages that in some cases have not been paid in years, said Monday he did it to show how desperate he and other workers were. "We, the workers have nothing to eat, we had to seek some sort of alternative food and I gave them an example," Zoran Bulatovic told Reuters. "It hurt like hell." Bulatovic, a union leader at the Raska Holding textile factory in Novi Pazar in southwest Serbia, used a hacksaw to cut off most of his left-hand...

BELGRADE, Serbia — A war crimes court on Thursday found four Serbian former policemen guilty of the massacre of 48 Kosovo Albanians and sentenced them to up to 20 years in prison. The Serbian court's judges said the victims of the worst single massacre of civilians during the 1998-99 Kosovo war included 14 children, two infants, a pregnant woman and a 100-year-old woman. After a three-year trial, two of the men were sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in jail, one to 15 years and another to 13 years. All the defendants had denied the charges. Three other men...

Serbia's chief diplomat said Wednesday that it may be time for Bosnia's governing structure, set up by the 1995 Dayton peace accords, to be changed to allow for true self-rule instead of the current U.N.-appointed "viceroy." Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told editors and reporters at The Washington Times that he wants to assure the Obama administration that his country is not like Slobodan Milosevic's Serbia, known to many Clinton administration officials from the 1990s who are now back in government. However, on the two Balkan issues most important to the new administration - Bosnia and Kosovo - Mr. Jeremic offered...

BELGRADE -- An international expert on territories under international administration says Kosovo Albanians' UDI is tantamount to illegal secession. “The local Albanians do not have the right to self-determination and Kosovo is not an independent state,” Professor Ralph Wilde said in a statement for Belgrade daily Ve�ernje Novosti published on Tuesday. Wilde is a consultant for a number of governments and international organizations, a member of the Law Faculty of University College London, the University of London, and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center. “Under international law, a new state can be formed out of a part of...

The Ahtisaari Plan-mandated decentralization will strengthen further Serb-Albanian divisions in education and other public services. When asked, most of the Serbs involved in the parallel education system will tell you that this is a way for them to secure their identity and survival here. They don’t realize how their choices defeat the purpose. For them this is a loaded emotional issue and counterintuitive. They refuse to acknowledge, that at least in Kosovo, God has stopped speaking Serbian. Albanian has been the language of the majority here prior to 1999 as well, although many of the parents of these children can’t...

With her huge furrry ears and long, quivering nose, baby kangaroo Tijana is utterly adorable. But her unarguable cuteness hides a rather unfortunate start to her short life. At just a few weeks old, the tiny creature tumbled from the pouch of her mother, who had been terrified by an emu. Tijana, who lives at Belgrade Zoo, in Serbia, had to be retrieved by staff and is now being handreared. She is still so young she cannot survive outside of a pouch and must stay in a special incubator, where the temperature remains a constant 35C. Biologists have also made...

We were so far out in the desert that boundaries didn't matter anymore. Were we in Tunisia? Libya? Algeria? It didn't matter, our guide Massoud told us, pouring mint tea into my battered metal cup under a Saharan sky filled with stars. Didn't matter?! Libya supported the bombing of airplanes, and Algerians were killing tourists. "No countries matter out here," Massoud explained in French that was almost as mangled as his teeth. "We are all Sahara." It had been pure stupidity to come to the Sahara in the middle of August. During the day the temperatures rose above 120 degrees,...

On April, 4, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) marked its 60th jubilee. In Serbia, my home country, many people are doomed not to celebrate their 60th birthdays- they will die of cancer. In 1999 NATO bombed Serbia with depleted uranium bombs, which caused a cancer outbreak in the region. Serbia's soil, water and air will remain polluted for a few more decades, taking lives of hundreds of Serbs. There isn't a single word about it in NATO's official reports. One may read there about NATO's contribution to peace in Kosovo. 1 While NATO exists, there will exist such parallel...

Last week, Richard Goldstone, the South African judge who was chief prosecutor for war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, was selected by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate allegations that Israel violated international laws in its assault on Gaza. The Human Rights Council is a body of nations not controlled by either the UN secretary general or the UN's high commissioner for human rights. The secretary general, the first high-ranking international official to visit Gaza after the attacks, has not tried to block what is essentially a war crimes investigation. Israel's relations with the United Nations...

The streets of Moldova and Georgia are boiling with protest and anger, while Kosovo continues to grapple with its self-proclaimed statehood. All three situations originate in the departure from the Cold War-era agreements respecting borders. We are witnessing the repercussions of the "Kosovo precedent," and they're not pretty. What is happening in Moldova? Is it another so-called "colored revolution," or simply an expression of rage by young people who demand to live better lives? It’s anyone's guess. There are certainly specific individuals who are interested in stirring up trouble in Moldova, both within the country and in Romania. Some Romanian...

Michael Montgomery BBC Radio 4, Crossing Continents The man spoke plainly as he explained the horrors he lived through in a Kosovo Liberation Army prison camp 10 years ago. He told me about how he watched people beaten with steel pipes, cut with knives, left for days without food, and shot and killed. Civilians were detained by the KLA and kept in prisons where some were killed "What can you feel when you see those things?" he said. "It's something that is stuck in my mind for the rest of my life. You cannot do those things to people, not...

Croatian President Mesic and Prime Minister Ivo Sanader ZAGREB, CROATIA - "This is a historic moment because Croatia is arriving at the summit as a member of NATO. We waited very long for this moment and we implemented all the necessary reforms. We got an army which is depoliticised and profesionalised," Croatia’s President Stjepan Mesic said before leaving for the NATO Summit in Strasbourg. He voiced satisfaction with the fact that he would be present at that historic moment. "NATO is not an army, it is also a political alliance which gathers countries that protect certain democratic values, freedom, democracy,...

PRIŠTINA -- Croatian President Stjepan Mesic; said Croatia and Kosovo have well-developed bilateral cooperation at all levels and this cooperation should be strengthened. In an interview with Radio Television Kosovo (RTK), he said that Kosovo was well organized, that all state institutions had been formed and were functioning, and that it was becoming a more functional state. “The proof is in the fact that more than 50 countries in the world have recognized Kosovo,” Mesic said. He said that the development of industry was of special importance, to encourage foreign investors to come to Kosovo and to take advantage of...

Jakup Krasniqi, the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo, met today with the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe,Tomas Hammarberg Speaker Krasniqi and Commissioner Hammarberg assessed the developments in Kosovo and the work of the Kosovo's legislative body, particularly regarding the guarantees and achievements on the human rights. Speaker Krasniqi spoke extensively on the work of the Parliament regarding the adoption of laws which have been done carefully in accordance with legislation of European Union countries. Meanwhile, speaking of the legal protection for human rights and freedoms, Krasniqi emphasized that they are guaranteed by...

A delegation of French businessmen accompanied with the French Ambassador to the Republic of Kosovo,Delphine Borione, met yesterday with the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce representatives. They agreed to continue to further the support on the economic level and establish better flexibible economic policies to enhance the investment activity in Kosovo. The Kosovo Chamber of Commerce Secretary General, Berat Rukiqi, invited the French businessmen to find their place in the Kosovar market as well as begin concrete investments in the newborn country. "Kosovo Chamber of Commerce will offer support for all the business activities and economic cooperation among businesses of France...

The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recognizes the Republic of Kosovo passports and the Saudi Arabia consular diplomatic office is authorized to provide visas for the Republic of Kosovo citizens, informs the Kosovar-Arab Chamber of Friendship and Economic Cooperation. Saudi Arabia is among the countries that are in the process of recognizing Kosovo. The Kosovar-Arab Chamber for Friendship and Economic Cooperation informs that all citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, who want to travel to Saudi Arabia, can use the passports of the Republic of Kosovo, reports Kohavision. "Recognition of the Passports is a great achievement for Kosovo...

The Euro-Atlantic Club of Kosovo was formed today in Prishtina. The Club aims to help Kosovo in the process of NATO integration. The Club Board includes representatives of the Euro-Atlantic institutions, political parties, civil society and minorities. Former Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Çeku was elected chairman of the Euro Atlantic Club. "As a first step, the Euro-Atlantic Club will assess the vision and the steps that the state of Kosovo should follow towards NATO integration," said its Chairman, Agim Çeku. On March 26, 27, at the invitation of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, Information Center of NATO in Sofia and...

French Hero, Major Pierre-Henri Bunel Proud of Upholding French Honor Even though ten years ago, because of giving away NATO aggression plans to a Serbian military intelligence officer, Major Pierre-Henri Bunel lost everything this former agent for French military intelligence does not regret his decision to side with the Serbs in a dishonorable, undeclared war of conquest led by the mighty Western nations on the eve of the 21st century. Because of Serbia, Major Bunel lost everything in 1999: his job, decorations, thriving carrier and freedom itself. As a French Army intelligence officer, in 1998 he revealed the plans for...

Из других извора �е �азнаје да ће потпред�едник парламента Војтех Филип иницирати процедуру на првој �едечој �едници парлемента. The withdrawal of Kosovo recognition possible with the new Czech government 26 March 2009. The Czech Parliament Vice-Speaker, Voitech Filip, said that, after the voting of no confidence to the minority government, a possibility of reconsideration of the Czech decision to recognize independence of Kosovo is opened. The toppled government recognized the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo despite the stands of most parliamentary parties and the president of the state, which opens up a possibility of reconsideration of that decision, Filip told...

In Memoriam 24 March 1999 - 24 March 2009 Ten years ago, NATO commenced the 78-day illegal bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), which was done without the approval of the UN. In the operation, code-named "Merciful Angel", there were 1002 Yugoslav Army soldiers and Serbian police killed; 2500 civilians including 89 children; while 12,500 people were wounded/injured. The estimated damage to property, including factories, schools, bridges, hospitals, roads, railways, etc. is estimated at about 30 billion US dollars. No Western politician or general has been held accountable for the brutal murder of a country,...

SERBIANS marked the 10th anniversary of the start of a NATO blitz on the former federal republic of Yugoslavia on Tuesday with commemorations honouring over 3,000 victims. Air-raid sirens sounded at noon throughout the country, while schools opened classes with a minute's silence for the 89 children who were killed in the 78-day bombing campaign, which was initiated without UN security council backing. NATO claimed that it had launched Operation Allied Force in order to force then president Slobodan Milosevic to stop a military crackdown against Western-backed separatist insurgents in Kosovo province and pull out his troops. But the US...

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A Chicago-based Serb group said Monday it is offering a $100,000 reward for anyone who can locate the grave of a World War II guerrilla leader executed as a traitor by the Communists. The burial site of Dragoljub Draza Mihailovic has been unknown since his execution in 1946 by the postwar Communist authorities. Mihailovic was convicted of collaboration with the Nazi occupiers in a hasty trial orchestrated by the new government. The Serbian National Defense Council of America posted the reward offer on its Web site. The group said that the reward would be paid only...

The forces of NATO opened an assault on Serbia with cruise missiles and bombs today as President Clinton denounced the Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic, for feeding the ''flames of ethnic and religious division'' in Kosovo and endangering neighboring countries. The missiles began striking Serbian targets within minutes of Mr. Clinton's midday announcement that the long-threatened attack was under way. It was expected to be a broad, sustained barrage intended to stun the Yugoslav leader and punish the military for its yearlong onslaught against the ethnic Albanian separatists of Kosovo. ''Ending this tragedy is a moral imperative,'' Mr. Clinton declared in...

BELGRADE: Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci says that the air strikes on Yugoslavia 10 years ago were “a great historic event for Kosovo.” Thaci thanked the countries that had backed Kosovo on its path to independence. “The successful culmination of the NATO campaign opened a new chapter in Kosovo’s recent history. A chapter of liberty and the construction of real democracy,” he said in a statement to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the start of the NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia, which claimed the lives of around 2,500 civilians, including 88 children. The prime minister said that the Kosovo...

Note: 10 years ago today... ___________________________ NATO today authorized air strikes against Serbia as President Clinton declared that force was necessary to halt the aggression by Serbs against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. The air campaign, using primarily American aircraft and cruise missiles, is poised to begin over southern Serbia and targets in Kosovo under cover of night Wednesday, NATO officials said. In his first full explanation of why the Administration had decided NATO should strike, Mr. Clinton said in a speech to a union group here today, ''If President Milosevic is not willing to make peace, we are willing to...

BELGRADE -- Today is the tenth anniversary of the NATO air strikes on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). The scenes 10 years ago (FoNet, archive) At midday, air raid sirens sounded throughout the country in a mark of remembrance for the victims. The government, which has decided to build a memorial center dedicated to the victims of the air strikes, called on all citizens to stop whatever they were doing and respect the minute’s silence for the victims. Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković said that the air strikes had been an illegal act that could have been avoided. "Could the...

Today Serbia is marking the 10th anniversary since beginning of the NATO air strikes. All schools in the country shall begin their classes with a minute of silence for the people who lost their lives. The Parliament shall not work, meetings shall be held across the whole of Serbia, while officials shall lay wreaths on the monuments to the dead. Addressing the UN Security Council at the session dedicated to Kosovo, Serbia President Boris Tadic said that ten years ago the Serbs had been punished with bombs and Kosovo Albanians five years ago in spite of expelling Serbs and...

PARIS — Every time Radovan Karadzic, the onetime Bosnian Serb leader, appears in court on war crimes charges, he has hammered on one recurring claim: a senior American official pledged that he would never be standing there. The official, Richard C. Holbrooke, now a special envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan for the Obama administration, has repeatedly denied promising Mr. Karadzic immunity from prosecution in exchange for abandoning power after the Bosnian war......

Note from Ravnagora: As the 10 year anniversary of the NATO bombing of Serbia is upon us this week, it's important to revisit events in light of the present day realities in Kosovo. The following story was issued just the day before the 1999 bombing of Serbia by NATO commenced. ________________ Clinton: Serbs must be stopped now U.S. on verge of attack; divided Senate to unify on Kosovo mission WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Accusing Serbia of "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo similar to the genocide of Jews in World War II, an impassioned President Clinton sought Tuesday to rally public support for...

BRUSSELS (AFP) — US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said Saturday that NATO's air attack on former Yugoslavia a decade ago was "the right thing to do" and had improved the lives of Kosovo Albanians and Serbs. Speaking at the Brussels Forum conference, Holbrooke -- former envoy to the Balkans -- recalled how 10 years ago this week he had given the final ultimatum to former strongman Slobodan Milosevic to comply or face air strikes. "I look back on it and I think that sometimes it's necessary to use force, and the result was good in the end," the new US representative...