Posted on 02/21/2008 11:04:42 AM PST by 11th_VA
BELGRADE, Serbia - Serb rioters broke into the U.S. Embassy Thursday and set fire to an office after a massive protest against Kosovo's independence that drew an estimated 150,000 people.
Masked attackers broke into the building, which has been closed this week, and tried to throw furniture from an office. A blaze broke out inside one of the offices and parts of the facade also caught fire.
Authorities drove armored jeeps down the street and fired tear gas to clear the crowd. The protesters dispersed into side streets where they continued clashing with authorities.
The neighboring Croatian Embassy also was attacked by the same group of protesters.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack strongly urged the Serbian government to protect the U.S. Embassy. He said the U.S. ambassador was at his home and was in contact with U.S. officials.
More than a dozen nations have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence on Sunday, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany.
But the declaration by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leadership has been rejected by Serbia's government and the ethnic Serbians who populate northern Kosovo. Russia, China and numerous other nations have also condemned the declaration, saying it sets a precedent that separatist groups around the world will seek to emulate.
Kosovo, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, has not been under Belgrade's control since 1999, when NATO launched airstrikes to halt a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. A U.N. mission has governed Kosovo since, with more than 16,000 NATO troops and KFOR, a multiethnic force, policing the province.
But Serbia — and Kosovo's Serbs, who make up less than 10 percent of Kosovo's population — refuse to give up Kosovo, a territory considered the ancient cradle of Serbs' state and religion.
Earlier Thursday, police estimated that about 150,000 people had attended a rally in the Serbian capital. The crowd waved Serbian flags and carried signs reading "Stop USA terror." One group set fire to a red-and-black Albanian flag.
The U.S. embassy in Belgrade burns after masked attackers broke into the building and set an office on fire at the end of a massive protest against Western-backed Kosovo independence, in the Serbian capital, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008. More than 150,000 Serbs gathered at the rally vowing to retake the territory which is viewed as Serbia's religious and national heartland. (AP Photo)
Well that ain't going to happen...so screaming at me in all caps isn't going to help.
>>Imho, it’s almost like this decision was made to intentionally destablize the region and force Russia into a no win situation. But hey, I know nothing about foreign policy.<<
Naw. Yer just stupid. Like me.
And our recognition of Kosovo was an act of war against Serbia.
So are we ready to go to war with Serbia?
That very well could trigger a nuclear showdown with Russia.
Personally I think we need to get the heck out of the Balkans before WWIII breaks out.
Frankly I fear it may have already started.
I have no sympathy for either side in the Balkan... but if the Serb mob killed an American Embassy worker/clerk/guard I say screw 'em... screw em good!
so true yet so sad
if the public were told why the serb army went in and how we are taking land away from a country to set up a muslim country then every American would be outraged I would hope
LOL. Nice to meat ya.
And he game has been conceded to Adolph Hitler, who hasn't been personally involved since 1945.
>>And our recognition of Kosovo was an act of war against Serbia.
So are we ready to go to war with Serbia? <<
Naw. We just pull out...
WTH is wrong with people here? The headline now reads that a CHARRED BODY was found in the US Embassy and no one comments!?
Jane_N ~ "Uhh?? I think you should get your facts straight before you make such comments."
Well said, Jane.
And, of course, Russia's nukes still can be targeted, launched, and exploded.
These will back up their armor.
The truth is that Clinton backed the wrong side in Kosovo. We're on the side of the jihadists against the West. It was bizarre then, and it's bizarre now.
Smartest thing to do.
I don't like it either, not one iota. It's well past time for Europe to start defending itself. They've sucked off our military protection teet long enough.
You're right, their backyard let them deal with it.
Wag the dog part deux.
I try not to be too much of a dick, because we were all under the blanket of MSM propaganda at one time.
Some are just too comfy to peek out from under the blankie, but some are indeed propagandists themselves.
We did respond. You must have missed the comments. It turned out to be a protester that was charred.
What you regurgitate is mostly a hind sight 20/20 angle, pure polemics, where the post 911 anti-Islamic sentiment in the US is exploited to some advantage by the Serbs; which had the tanks, the fighters, the artillery, air defense system etc etc etc. The former YU military went overwhelmingly Serb during the break up. They were being supplied arms from the Russians while the Bosnians were more or less disarmed. It’s a very cute revisionist effort, where those doing the Goose-stepping in the Balkans want to redefine themselves as the victims and dare you make the connection I just did with Goose-stepping! Then you’ll hear diatribes about how the Serbs fought the Germans (Another angle you brought up) which I guess makes it OK for them to operate their own camps 50 years later and more or less annex territory they require for their “Lebensraum.”
The Balkan intervention was more than justified, and in fact the hesitation of nations like Germany which didn’t want to take action until 250,000 refugees sat in their country, that is the real shame. So much for the German “Nie Wieder” when forced to view their handy work after WWII. The political weights behind the Balkan intervention were Germany and Great Britain, like that or not. The Serbs were the ones calling the shots. They had the capabilities to wage war and it was to their advantage to do so. They had no intent on stopping and as the crisis became graver, with massive amounts of Bosnian refugees fleeing, other nations and areas being sucked into this feud and it spreading, eventually action was sought by the European powers. We have zero economic interests in this region. There is little strategic value in this place for us. Our involvement in the Balkans was because of our commitment to allies who through NATO (Which was the military apparatus controlling the war) tied us into this conflict. Because of our capabilities in communications, SEAD, intel collection, reconnaissance, targeting, C2, large lift capacities, ordinance capabilities, shear size, etc., we de facto became the tip of the spear, but we were never the political engine behind this intervention and that’s something completely lost in what we claim as history.
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