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)
And you are.... a Democrat?
That, or a Ron Paul follower.
You go first.
Obviously not -- that would send the message that burning down U.S. embassies gets us to back down from our stated positions. Bad precedent.
But alas, supporting the Kosovo state also set a bad precedent, and one that is sure to encourage separatist groups the world over, including the "Aztlan" types in our own back (and front) yard and Islamists in various global hot spots.
So now we're caught between a moon rock and a hard place thanks to both Bill Clinton for getting the ball rolling by sticking our nose where it doesn't belong (and taking the wrong side to boot) and GWB for expressing his support for this outlaw Islamic regime.
been here a whole lot longer than you, and it sure looks like I will still be around when you are gone after your personal attacks....
But good luck.
Great, let’s allow the rest of the world to determine what our foreign policy should be. You sound like Ron Paul.
I generally do keep my word, thanks.
Too bad Bush can’t.
It sounds like Ron Paul to suggest we make agreements and then keep them? Interesting.
If 150,000 angry Americans stormed the Russian embassy, I don't think we have enough troops in the United States to protect that piece of real estate.
The White House knew it was coming and we got our personnel out. That was the smartest decision the Administration has made this week. Recognizing Kosovo was the stupidest decision Bush has made during his entire presidency.
And you look like a newbie to me. Welcome to FR.
Well, you haven’t denied being either a Democrat or a Ron Paul follower, so I get to take my pick?
What exactly did that accomplish?
Agreed. Perhaps a close followup is his lack of support for the DC handgun upcoming decision.
However, now we will have chechnya the second in the midst of Europe and all the heroin traders will be happy.
Jorge? I think Mohamed is more apt for this Bush.
Not if Serbia has anything to say about it.
A cunning bastard Tito was...may he rot in hell forever. So sorry about your family...
Fine, so get a mob of your kind and storm the Serbian Embassy if you're so hot to trot!
The only thing that is going to stop that is to get off Oil altogether.
Russia is not going to confront us up front.
They are pulling a Reagan on us.
We are spending loads of money doing nothing in the Kosovo.
Russia on the other hand has been playing us and the rest of the world like a harp to keep oil prices up and drain the economies of the west while they gain power.
All they have to do is poke the tiger every time oil prices drop. They can set back and watch the fun without ever getting their hands dirty.
We have no way to get out of the problem on the short term and we are not doing what we need to do in the long term.
We are even about to make it worse with a carbon credit tax. My god how stupid we are being about this global warming crap!
And added to that they are helping the Islamists to get more money for Jihad.
We are pursuing a no win strategy here suffering from a death of a thousand cuts
Yes, and being a geopolitics buff I agree - however this time they really screwed the pooch in my opinion. A lot of times I feel I understand the deeper game that goes on. For example, Iraq - it truly is about power projection in order to realign the ME in a shape that makes local governments clamp down on the terrorists that they used to ignore. It’s about redefining the power relationships in the ME center of gravity.
Kosovo - a piece of crap po-dunk chunk of land of no consequence to anyone but Serbs and Albanians. No strategic route there. No roads to connect anything. No natural resources like oil (sure some smallish mineral deposits but nothing to get excited about). Nothing of geopolitical value, only trouble.
If this is a pawn being played to further push on the Russians, I think we’ve overplayed our hand here. They’ll have to respond to this and we won’t like it.
ET is a McCainiac that all for the Mexican invasion of the US.
I got to ask.
Were you ever in the military?
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