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)
“How so? NATO has been enforcing peace in Kosovo since 1999. After massacres such as Srebrenica, how can you make the Albanians go back to Serbian rule? As other people have asked, what other realistic alternative is there? Do you have any useful ideas? I would be interesting in hearing these. The problem is, I see a lot of rioting in Serbia, but unfortunately, a lack of realistic, truly good, ideas.”
I’ve thought about this myself many times. Overall, with the history of the Balkans there may never truly be peace there. It is what it is. All sides have very deep scars. But if you’re looking for a real good idea, I can tell you what definitely NOT to do. You do not show Muslim extremists that our international laws can be broken (with the US leading the charge, at that) if they push the right buttons. These laws are what separates the present day world from pre-WWI and WWII. They were made to prevent any sort of land grabs such as this. The blatant breaking of them may indeed be the opening of Pandora’s Box.
Great clip.
Too bad the willfully ignorant won’t watch it.
They have summer camps all over the US now.
I hope Jorge doesn’t really believe he’s made friends with these Orcs. But I’m afraid he does.
The only smart thing we did in that stupid air campaign was to bomb the Chinese embassy. Accidentally, of course.
Post #531... Bwahahahahaha
I see they rewarded Richard Perle by taking a load off his shoulders so to speak.
Now they will back Serbia and Russia in a conflict that shouldn’t happen.
I think the hot version of WWIII is on the way, probably in time for our elections.
Elections where we will choose the most useless and corrupt candidate in history.
Their history is loaded with hate. And their representatives in this thread are acting childishly, calling freepers morons and idiots, etc.
And wideawake, kudos on putting up with all the badgering/flak you're getting for a very poignant point: whether or not supporting Kosovo's independence was bad or good, supporting an attack on the American embassy--American soil--is siding with Serbia over the United States. An American generally shouldn't side with a foreign state over their own... unless somehow the United States becomes extremely oppressive, or something similar--an improbability and not applicable in this case.
And enough with the 'Christian' Serbs against the 'Muslim' Albanians. It's embarrassing how many freepers have fallen for that, too. They're acting the same way the Muslims that they criticize do. Some Danish cartoonist makes a cartoon insulting Mohammed, and so Christians in Turkey and Nigeria are murdered and American flags burned. Some Saudi, southwestern Asian, and southeast Asian Muslims murder people, and so these freepers act as if Kosovars will automatically act as these 'paragons' of Islam.
For much of the latter part of last century, Yugoslavia was ATHEIST. The Yugoslavs had a Communist government. That history, along with the region's looking toward the EU, the United States and the West, makes them quite Atheistic 'Muslims.' To the Serb freepers (whether they are legally Serbian, American, or both): STOP PLAYING THE RELIGION CARD. An actual Christian would approve of Christians who did bad things against a non-Christian (such as a Muslim) being punished. And actual Christians might even support taking action to protect that non-Christian (such as a Muslim) from predation from those 'Christians.' Now, in the case of the former Yugoslavia, actually support Kosovo being part of Serbia. The Muslim Yugoslavs were not innocent--nor were the 'Christian' Serbs such darlings. You've failed to mention how the 'Christian' Croats fought for their independence from you, too. The same with Slovenia. Anyway, losing the cradle of your culture would be quite a blow, especially for a people whose heyday was in history. Russia lost the Ukraine. India lost Pakistan. You aren't alone. Some freepers might actually approve of New England being ceded....
And enough with the flowery language and verbiage. Acting as if in the 1990s innocent Serbs were attacked without provocation and all those killed were innocent children your butt. And don't use the word genocide lightly. There was no Albanian--much less American--genocide of Serbs. Many Serb civilians were cruelly murdered by other Balkan ethnicities. However, the goal was not the extermination of the Serb 'race.' Pretending that what the Serbs faced and are facing is genocide is an insulting figurative slap in the face to the Jews, Roma, Tutsis, [potentially Armenians], etc. who were actually victims of genocide.
After World War 2, Germany lost a fair chunk of its eastern, pre-war territory (they lost more after World War 1). Japan lost the southern half of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands plus Korea and Formosa (Taiwan). For both losing powers, ethnic Germans and Japanese living in surrounding countries were brought to the new Germany and Japan, respectively, even though they may not have set foot in those lands before. Germans from eastern Europe and Japanese from Korea and Formosa (Taiwan) were 'repatriated.'
Granted, at least percentage-wise, Serbs have lost more land than the Germans or Japanese. However, there is precedent. Germany and Japan (for the most part) have come to terms with their losses, and generally do not hold grudges against Poland, the Czech Republic, North and South Korea, and China for taking 'their' land.
In any case, non-Russian Europe is moving more and more toward unifying into a single state, more or less as the United States has/have done. Serbia and Kosovo might just become two states in a United States of Europe, with no more enmity than West Virginia has with Virginia (a small chunk of a country declaring independence and being recognized by the United States..... hmmmm).
As for the California/Azatlan thing: doesn't such an analogy p.o other Californians? California is not some little province. California has a larger economy and is more advanced than Kosovo, Serbia, and Mexico--combined. Granted, that isn't the point. Still, as mentioned, the West Virginia/Virginia case might be more appropriate. California will not secede because of Mexicans and unassimilated Mexican-descendants. As opposed to Serbia, the United States has strong history of assimilating immigrants (though this could be becoming more difficult), and generally doesn't have a policy of trying to 'ethnically cleanse' Mexicans. Such Mexican-descendants would not have as much motive to secede as did the non-Serb Yugoslavs. Too many Mexican immigrants are more loyal to Mexico than the United States. Less so their children. Even less so their children. And so on. While not ideal, California will not be ripped away the way Kosovo has been.
And what if California was replaced with Texas (one freeper sort of did that). Surely some Texans would be ticked off? Suspect that more similar about California as Texans are about Texas than other Californians. At least one Californian has made the California/Azatlan comment. More Californians should have the same attitude about California as Texans do about Texas. Anyhoo.....
The racist (term used as a label for those who ascribe genes as the primary determinant for behavior/personality, not as a slur) freepers might argue that this hatred and anger so symptomatic of southeast Europeans and southwestern Asians is because of genes they have in common. (Or might not, considering most freeper racists are of European extraction).
Personally would argue that this hatred and anger so symptomatic of southeast Europeans and southwestern Asians is because of cultures they have in common. (And cultures are not primarily based on genes, though genes could have played a role in the birth of that culture: a foreigner can assimilate into any culture he chooses, though the foreigner's native people might not have come up with that culture by themselves).
So, again, enough with the Christian/Muslim spiels. In this case, it's in your cultural genes, not your religious (or racial) ones.
Hopefully one day you and all Balkan people will learn how to grow up, get along with one another (so that at least you don't want each other dead), and then work on developing your country(s).
On the contrary, those 'Muslims' you mention have one of the most pro-American stances in Europe--for the same reasons the Serbs do not.
And the United States isn't beholden to support or side with either.
“What a naive and simplistic thing to say. So youre willing to sacrifice the world (the US especially) in a nuclear armageddon for some piddly piece of crap po dunk chunk of Muslim land?”
You know what, pal? That “piddly piece of crap po dunk chunk of Muslim land” was once full of Christian churches and was the sacred land of an entire country. Try and have some feelings before you describe it like that. It was ripped out of the hands of innocent Christian folks who became the minority in the region after years of ethnic cleansing by Muslim extremists and terrorist organizations. International laws were broken in the process, and it was led by the US. Last time I checked, it went “GOD, Country, and Corps”. The America we used to be, what this country what built off and once stood for is gone...I guess it has been for a while.
A bit longer than anticipated.
A war with Russia (who will probably ally with China--notice how chummy they are in the UN Security Council) could literally bring about the collapse of the 'global civilization.' Not to mention the loss of billions of human lives. Not to mention the number of Americans who probably would be forcibly drafted into the military. Not to mention the rationing and material hardship people would be faced with as resources went toward running a war machines.
You and Marmema seem civil enough in your responses, too.
“A bit longer than anticipated.”
A bit of an understatement. You have burritos for breakfast? That was an awful lot of hot air. Not religious? Serbia is atheist? Were those hundreds of Atheist churches that burnt to the ground and replaced by mosques, then?
My first estimate was that Putin would wait till spring to send the tanks, but I'm moving that up to early March. Here we go.
Thank you.
Everyone on FR who complains about liberals and Democrats taking the side of other nations over America should not be blind to the disgusting display of these so-called Americans who take Serbia's side over America's.
Such people are not conservatives, or patriots or Americans.
One of the greatest things about America is its ability to rise above historical tragedies like the slave trade and the Civil War, to put the past behind us and work productively toward the future. If the US were like almost any other country the Civil War would have left scars so deep that Texans would fear for their lives today if they set foot in Massachusetts, and families from New Jersey buying real estate in North Carolina would get burned out and assaulted.
Luckily, most Americans are made of sterner mental stuff.
The worst thing about Serbia and the rest of these Balkan countries is that they are still whining about events that took place 600 years ago.
We have Serbs crying about 1389 and Arabs whining about 1096 and 1492.
Grow up and man up.
We have Serbs crying about 1389 and Arabs whining about 1096 and 1492.
Grow up and man up.
Yours is the best post on this whole thread! Thank you for relaying the same thoughts that I have but in a more eloquent way!
This tribal/blood feud crap is old world stuff. Let's all move into the 21st century for heavens sake.
Let me get this straight. If a country is occupied, say like Norway being occupied by Nazi Germany, it ceases to exist? So Norway has existed only since 1945?
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