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)
Uh yeah, the topic is how you Paul followers are more concerned with how the world views the U.S. than with the fact that our embassy was torched. Right?
The pogroms in Russia were terrible - especially in the Jewish Pale. In fact, Russia has been on the wrong side of history many times. Its just that in this particular conflict they are on the right side and sadly we are on the wrong side.
Yes well the fact that there is a lot of Russian Jewry in Israel (and not in Russia) is that there’s been persecution. But I wouldn’t compare Russian ‘general unfriendlyness’ with Islamic ‘genocidal tendencies’ of the modern day.
If you are concerned with the Jewish point of view on this, why don’t you try http://www.israpundit.com/2008/ or Julia Gorin http://www.juliagorin.com/ They are both Conservative Jewish viewpoints. It’s the Liberal & Neo-Con lovefest that hate Serbs.
But ultimately, we have a common enemy, right?
Please, no one here is talking about hating Serbs. Don’t go there.
Yes, and the tin horns of the world have learned over the past century that provoking America into a conflict means billions in U.S. Dollars available when the truces and armistices are made. Peace, of course, is rarely made.
Perpetual war for perpetual “peace” is the U.N.O. name of the game, and played by every president since Harry Truman (with the possible exception of Ike, but I’m not sure about that either). And Mr. Bush is involved in it too.
Yes, Clinton was a player, and that is part of the plan that led up to what we have now — the establishment of Islamic states, and the rebuilding of other Islamic states. And all of these Islamic states will continue to follow that pervert Mohamed and will be a perpetual affliction to us.
That depends on how you define "as a state". Serbia dates back to the 7th century, and the land that currently includes "Kosovo" was given to them by Emperor Heraclius after their defeat of the Avars around that time. Of course, at this time they were a protectorate of Byzantium and not an independent nation.
But since the independent Serbian Kingdom was proclaimed in 1217, I suspect some people would assert that 800 years is a pretty accurate estimate, despite their failure to maintain that independence from external domination (Turks, Nazis, communists, etc.).
Let me set up a hypo for you: Say California becomes Majority Hispanic and a radical group “La Raza” starts attacking Anglo-American’s and government officials as well as moderate hispanics untill finally our military goes after the militants. La Raza claims atrocities every time our troops kill any of their fighters and Russia and the E.U. come and bombs us untill we agree to a UN resolution where we will withdraw our troops from California while Russia and the EU will keep troops in CA. Under this resolution California will have autonomy but will remain part of the United States. Say, that Ten Years later Russia and the EU encourage the Californians to refuse to negotiate with us and instead assure them that they will recognize their independance. California declarers independance and Russia and most E.U. countries recognize their independance even though it violates the U.N. resolution and has not been accepted by the security council due to Britains veto. Remember that Russia and teh E.U. are maintaining troops in California and thus preventing us from going in to end this rebellion. So, here is my question. Would you consider this to be an act of war by Russia against the United States? And would you understand if a group of angry American teenagers attacked and burned the Russian embassy under these circumstances?
You're right, Clinton bombing Serbia when the Lewinsky scandal hit the papers was an unrelated event.
Not sure how to answer your question because I am not sure what you are refferring to as we. Russia and the US. Serbia and the US. You and I. I think we would all see radical islam as our common enemy.
btt
Your history is a little lacking.
Kosovo has been part of Serbia since the seventh century, when the Serbs pressing eastward from Dalmatia established themselves in the old Roman province of Upper Moesia, Kosovo was the spiritual core of the Serbian nation. But Serbian identity was shaped by the Battle of Kosovo Polje (The Field of Blackbirds) against the Ottoman Turks in 1389, in which both Serbian King Lazar and the Ottoman sultan Murad were killed.
The medieval state of Serbia was conquered by the Osmanli in 1459 and unlike some other conquered states, which continued to exist as tributaries, it was simply annexed to their empire.
Following several revolts a Principality of Serbia was formally restored in 1815/1817. It was granted a large measure of autonomy following the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829 and became a fully independent state in 1878 following the Treaty of Berlin.
In 1882 Serbia was proclaimed a Kingdom
During the Balkanic wars (1912-1913), Serbia and Montenegro occupied northern and central Albania, whereas Greece occupied Epirus. The Albanian leader Ismail Qemal entered Durrës before the arrival of the Serbs and from there advanced on Vlora, where a National Assembly representing all the regions of Albania (the valiats of Shkodra, Kosovo, Janina and Monastir)proclaimed the independence on 28 November 1912.
The independence was not recognized by the great powers (France, United Kingdom, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia), which granted only autonomy (20 December 1912), later confirmed by the treaty of London signed with Turkey in May 1913. Kosovo has always been part of Serbia.
Excerpts from “Albanian Nazi troops in WW2 Launched a Wide Spread Terror Against Kosovo Serbs”
“On April 6, 1941, Nazi Germany and the axis powers invaded Yugoslavia, Operation Punishment, and Greece forcing the capitulation of Yugoslavia on the 17th, and Greece on the 23rd.
To create an ethnically pure Shqiptar Kosovo, which Albanian called “Kosova”, the Shqiptari (Albanians) launched a widescale campaigns of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Ethnic Serbs in the Kosovo-Metohija regions were massacred, and their homes were burned, and survivors were brutally driven out and expelled in policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The Balli Kombetar (BK or National Union) was an Albanian nationalist group led by Midhat Fresheri and Ali Klissura whose political objective was to in incorporate Kosovo-Metohija into a Greater Albania and to ethnically cleanse the region of Orthodox Serbs. It is not possible to ascertain at the present time the exact number of victims of those atrocities, but it may be estimated that at least between 30.000 and 40.000 perished.
Bedri Pejani, the Muslim leader of the Albanian National committee, called for the extermination of Ortodox Serbian Cristians in Kosovo Metohija and for a union of a Greater Albania with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Rashka (Sandzak) region of Serbia, into a great Islamic state. The grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin El Husseini was presented to Pejani a plan which he approved as a being in the interest of Islam. The Germans however rejected the plan.The SS high Command planed to create a mountain division of 10.000 men. The Skanderbeg Division was formed and trained in Kosovo and was made up mostly of muslim Shqiptar Kossovars. There were only a small number of Albanians from Albania proper in the division. The Skanderbeg division engaged in a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against the Serbian Orthodox Christian populations of the regions under occupation by the division in Kosovo Metohija, Montenegro, and southern Serbia. Balkan Historian Robert Lee Wolff, in the “Balkans in Our time”, described the genocide committed against Kosovo Serbs by the Shqiptar 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS Skenderbeg as follows:
In the regions annexed by the Albanians, their so-called Skanderbeg division, made up of members of the Albanian minority in Yugoslavia, massacred Serbs with impunity.Historian L.H. Stavrianos, in “The Balkan Since 1453”, described the genocide committed against Orthodox Serbs by the Shqiptar Skanderbeg Division in these terms: Yugoslav Albanians, organized in their fascist Skanderbeg Division, conducted an indiscriminate massacre of Serbians.The Skanderbeg Division played a role in the Holocaust, the genocide if European Jewry, by rounding up scores of Kosovo Jews in a group roughly 500 persons deemed enemies of the Third Reich when the division occupied Prizren in Kosovo Metohija.
The division sought to create ethnically pure Kosovo, ethnically cleansed of Orthodox Serbs, Jews and Gypsies the untermenschen (subhuman), who were targeted for extermination.The Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal declared the Shutzstaffel or SS criminal organization and every individual member of SS was found to Be a war criminal guilty of “planning and carrying out crimes against humanity”. The Shqiptar Kosovars in the 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division “Skanderbeg” committed war crimes and genocide against the Orthodox Serbian population of Kosovo. The Shqiptar planed and carried out crimes against humanity in Kosovo. Orthodox Serbians of Kosovo were the victims of ethnic cleansing and genocide. This genocide would contribute in the Shqiptar goal and policy to create an ethnically pure, Shqiptar Kosovo, in an attempt to create a greater Shqiperia or greater Albania.”
And, General Ratko Mladic?...Does he not get a pass too (in your eyes)?
After all, we are all on the same side--aren't we? :-)
Good post. Most people are unable to do the mental detachment to consider your scenario. That’s not being critical of them, but it’s just a fact. This is why I’ve always told people who don’t worry about the UN to try and view the UN and it’s power from a position of weakness. Now they can fully appreciate the UN’s power, or any other Regional blocks that pop up down the road.
Clinton didn’t start the bombing until after the scumbags in the Senate refused to convict him.
We were in a ground war in Bosnia during impeachment and it started before the impeachment. (1995/1996)
That means something is up. Russian state media going quiet means that, either, the apparatus is confused and doesn’t know what to do (which in Russian terms usually precipitates a change in the top leadership), or, more ominously and far more likely, something the west will find pretty big is up. They’ve called up an unscheduled meeting of the CIS. Whatever it is, it’ll most likely be anounced there.
My personal take on all of this is that we are still fighting a cold war. Georgia and Serbia are pawns in the game.
No he doesn’t. Siege of Sarajevo was a war crime as was Mladic’s entire Bosnian campaign. It was an intentional campaign of terror/murder directed at specific ethinc groups - the definition of genocide. Which is different from collateral damage which occurs in wholesale industrial warfare (which we were discussing).
The same pass is also not given to the war criminals on the Bosnian Muslim and Croatian sides either. There were no ‘good guys’ there.
Oh Georgia and Ukraine are *prime* spots for the Russian response. Georgians must be crapping their pants about now. There are good size Russian minorities that just may want to be Annexed, or will want ‘autonomy’, or, ‘independence’, all of a sudden.
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