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)
Thank you. I have to do some other things now, but it has been a thought-provoking discussion.
“The US contacts with Iran are handled through the British embassy in Tehran.”
Might want to check that. I would but it’s too late, and I’m tired...
I'll get hammered for this, but I'm starting to wonder if the underlying rationale for this is in the Orthodox/RC schism and some Protestants' attitude toward both...supporting one side as a means of punishing the other.
What are you smoking ? What the hell were they fighting for then in 1389 ? Yea it hasn’t existed because it fell under the Ottoman Empire invasion. In the 600s there was a Serb state there called Rashka.
One World War has been started in the Balkans, I'd really hate to see another one kick off there in the near future, because I don't trust our esteemed leaders in Washington to put us on the right side of the conflict.
In this case, I know more than you do.
Have you ever heard of the Cossacks? Do you know the Jewish point of view on that?
There are Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo dating back to the 14th century and perhaps earlier.
www.britishembassy.gov.uk/iran
I thought you were all about sticking to the thread topic.
You are right on one level.
However, you have to be careful, "Dr. Kissinger." For example, bombing Cambodia and killing innocent women and children was wrong.
I'm sure you understand.
Your batting avg sucks, FRiend.
You’re going to make me work, eh? How about through the swiss as well.
I like your tagline...
Yes I blieve you’re correct, actually. Perhaps both. Swiss deliver carrotts, and British sticks, probably. :)
Funny, and accurate too :)
Bravo, precisely! We are supposed to lead by example, not act like some bully on steroids -- but I guess that this is just too hard for this narcissistic generation, who deserve to really have their clock cleaned.
When we push around people just "because we can", when we screw up people lives, just because we can, when we think that the world is just our personal playground and that other people aren't really people like we are (unless the media tells us that they are), then we have lost all sense what "America" really means!
Yes I do, perfectly. A lot of innocent people tended to get caught up in the crossfire between the superpowers during Cold War. Not any more wrong than Nazi and Allies civilian terror bombings of WWII. War and Conflict is Hell. It is also part of the world we live in. I prefer my country to at least be on the righteous side of it. The end result has been freedom for millions.
I knew you were going to have to look it up...:-)
Eventually, you will realize what effect they had on the Jews of Russia and why Russian Jews were the first settlers, indeed the founders, of the modern state of Israel.
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