Posted on 03/19/2008 4:08:36 PM PDT by joan
WASHINGTON (AFP) President George W. Bush authorized Wednesday supplying Kosovo with weapons, signaling the establishment of government-to-government relations after recognizing its independence, the White House said.
In a memo to the State Department made public by the White House, Bush said: "I hereby find that the furnishing of defense articles and defense services to Kosovo will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace."
A senior official said the authorization followed US recognition of Kosovo's independence and was part of the normal process of establishing relations with a new government.
In a comment apparently meant to allay concerns from Serbia and its ally Russia, the official stressed the military restrictions imposed on Kosovo under a plan by former UN special envoy for Kosovo Martti Ahtisaari.
Under the Ahtisaari plan, which is the basis for Kosovo's supervised independence, Kosovo is allowed a lightly armed 2,500-person security force under NATO oversight and training.
Kosovo, an Albanian-dominated Serbian province under UN administration since 1999, unilaterally declared its independence on February 17. The United States recognized it on March 18, despite strong opposition from Serbia and Russia.
The US official, who asked not to be identified, said the US weapons deliveries were preparing the ground for the future, adding that the United States had struck similar relations with other countries in the region.
Furthermore, the official said, provisions of defense equipment and services would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The official said that providing military equipment to Kosovo would improve security relations and engagement with Kosovo, promote security and stability throughout the Balkans, improve Kosovo's capacity to take part in peacekeeping activities, to detect, deter and defeat terrorists, and to deal with humanitarian emergencies.
He’s running out of terrorist since we seem to be giving money, aid and weapons to everyone.
Since today he noted we went in it Iraq to save the people - that is done so we can bring our folks home now in victory.
Get your emails fired up....we gotta get this out to everyone who is not paying attention. We are gonna be in a huge mess...we have to stop him this time. NO support. Call write the congress, luckily it is an election year, and the dems will be happy to make this an issue, to get focus of Obama’s racism.
Well, with amnesty for illegal Central American invaders, the “religion of peace” nonsense and arming muslim invaders in the heart of Europe, it’s all incomprehensible - unless the U.S. is involved in “assisted suicide” and no one told us. It’s gonna get ugly.
You have GOT to be kidding. If this from the Onion?
Oh, for the love of God....this man is completely insane and needs to be removed before he kills us all!
Too late.
Correction: "Another welfare nation of muzzies" WITH OUR GUNS!
This is nuts.
Bush is completely wrong on this one. How can he arm Muslims who will use those weapong to kill Christians? Isn’t he supposed to be a Christian?
Shut up and sit down, you little pissant! Don't you know Bush was a history major at Yale and so knows exactly what he's doing? {/sarcasm)
Outrageous!
Could this have anything to do with Russian arms sales to Syria, Iran, Sudan, Algeria, Malaysia and Indonesia, not to mention China, Burma, and Venezuela?
Condi carries out Bush’s directives.
“Well, with amnesty for illegal Central American invaders, the religion of peace nonsense and arming muslim invaders in the heart of Europe, its all incomprehensible - unless the U.S. is involved in assisted suicide and no one told us. Its gonna get ugly.”
Seems like Jorge Bush is on the Saudi Arabian/Iranian/Mexican payroll.
Maybe if one of his overated daughters gets blown to hell by terrorists, he’ll pull his head out of his ass.
If this is not your pic, you are wrong.
You only foot the bill.
You had an almost pissed off pissant until I saw the sarc tag at then end. I got myself a history degree, too, but just from your basic Catholic Jesuit university so maybe Ivy League history is different. F. Scott Fitzgerald observed that “the rich are different” so maybe they study different history. Or maybe this stupid SOB just can’t find a hole he’s not willing to jump into. I say arm the Serbian Christians to the teeth and let them annihilate the so-called “ethnic Albanians” who are nothing more than the advance guard and sacrificial lambs for a muslim beachhead in Europe. I still think I need to up my meds, though.
That's OK, the article says nothing about selling arms to Kosovo, rather supplying arms to Kosovo. My guess you and I will be paying for it.
It’s OK for the serb/russian axis to supply radical muslinms.
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