Albanian Triumph, Serb Anger as Kosovo Secedes

The New York Times ^ | February 17, 2008 | N/A

[raybbr]

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo Albanians will proclaim independence from Serbia on Sunday, ending a long chapter in the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia but cementing a bitter ethnic frontline in the Balkans.

Kosovo will be the 6th state carved from the Serb-dominated federation since 1991, after Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Montenegro, and the last to escape Serbia's embrace.

The Serbs vow never to give up the land where their history goes back 1,000 years.

They will reject independence in defiance of the Albanians and their Western backers and will keep their grip on strongholds in northern Kosovo, making the ethnic partition of the new state a reality from the start.

President George W. Bush said the United States, which has 1,700 troops in Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeeping force of 16,000, would work with its allies to make sure there was no violence.

"The United States will continue to work with our allies to do the very best we can to make sure there's no violence," he said during a visit to Tanzania. Bush added that he was heartened by the Kosovo government's proclaimed willingness to support Serbian rights.

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said on Saturday: "The success of Kosovo's independence as a new beginning will be clearly measured by respect for the rights of minorities, especially Serbs."

[Condor51]

The shiites going to hit the fan. Serbia ain't gonna take kindly to this (and why should they) and it won't be long before they ask their ONLY remaining ally, Russia, for military aid. Naturally NATO will respond, then Russia escalates its aid, then ... etc, etc, ...

So I guess 'gen' Weaselly Clark will get his war with Russia after all.

[I think I saw this picture before. It was 1914]

[bill1952]

“War on Terror,” my @ss. This country is building an empire, and we really don’t give a sh!t if that involves the outright persecution of Christians on behalf of Muslims.

Total bullshit. Stupid post of the day.

and I do not like the stand vs the Serbs at all, but you throw the word “empire” around like its supposed to mean something that it clearly does not.
sounds like Howard Dean.

[NYC Republican]

Moronic post

[SolidWood]

Albertas Child is a Ron-Paulist... don’t expect anything worthwhile.

[montag813]

If the U.S. and Western nations recognizes this outrage, we will be sowing the seeds for racial, ethnic and Sharia separatist movements everywhere in the West.

[Cacique]

btt

[isrul]

So Bush will use American troops to guarantee the muzzie takeover. Disgusting. After next November the new president (no matter which party )will use this as a precedent to dismantle the U.S. It’s only fair. to give back what we unjustly took blah blah blah

[isrul]

I hope the Russians do just that. They are the good guys, if they do.

[isrul]

What would be the point? Every candidate is on the same page with it. RINO or RAT

[isrul]

Must protect the R o P. Expecting Bush to take action to protect any Christians there is naive.

[isrul]

More like 2011.

[RightWhale]

Before this is over we will see Russian troops

Probably not. The time for the ultimatum is long past.

[isrul]

we already have troops there and they will kill any Christians who resist.

[isrul]

The current occupant fully supports it as will the future occupant from either party.

[raybbr]

If we can not control the few Christians left in Iraq and the Middle East, how can we then prevent their persecution in Kosovo.

It appears we aren't even going to try.

[raybbr]

If the U.S. and Western nations recognizes this outrage, we will be sowing the seeds for racial, ethnic and Sharia separatist movements everywhere in the West.

I think it's too late to stop it. Europeans have been so homogenized regarding not showing any prejudice that their will to retain any sense of identity of their own has atrophied to the point of near suicide.

[rogue yam]

Hey Clinton said the troops would be home by Christmas? I wonder which year?

You said "Christmas"! Racist!

[rogue yam]

It's worth noting that the same so-called "neo-conservatives" in the Bush administration who spent the better part of the 1990s clamoring for a U.S. invasion of Iraq were also openly calling for the Clinton administration to initiate its military campaign against Serbia in 1999.

I don't know about "neo-cons" but it is certainly true that many prominent Republicans, including Bob Dole, called for intervention in Kosovo against the Serbs and on behalf of the murderous Islamist Albanians. I was against it then and I still am today.

[mcshot]

Looks like their “perfect war” continues to unravel. Wonder who they’ll blame.

[Truth29]

"If the U.S. and Western nations recognizes this outrage, we will be sowing the seeds for racial, ethnic and Sharia separatist movements everywhere in the West."

Yes, we will, but it is even worse than you stated. The US worked tirelessly to create this monster. Other separatist movements that take their inspiration from the creation of an independent Kosovo and the resultant bloodshed will be the dragon's teeth offspring of Bill Clinton's decision (And Bush's failure to reverse it).