I agree that Hoplite makes as a good measuring stick (not much else though) as going beyond the official line seems to be proof of paranoia/conspiracy freak which makes him quite antsy and rude. We have history on our side. Before I forget, I hope you all saw ABRIT's outburst and Hoplite's slience. A moment of clarity? Still, it would be no fun if there were a boycott or our opposite numbers were banned.
Back in '98 I had a friend with whom I used to have arguments over Kosovo before she went to be a journalist for a large agency. Two years later we met again and she was in agreement with almost everything I said, which was extremely boring.
On a slightly different tack, have any of you noticed that the BBC now refers to 'hundreds killed' during the war in Kosovo. I wonder if they've told the ICTY and their statistics expert, Dr. Balls yet? Very slippery indeed. The old chesnut of 200k dead is still regularly bandied about, and of course nothing about the Bosnia >60k systematic rapes... Speaking of which, there is that convenient dissapearance of a hard drive full of the testimonies of rape victims the other day in Kosovo...
Another tidbit. Disturbed to learn that Wesley Clarke's roots (Minsk), are up the road from my own and that there has been a long line of rabbis in the family. Apparently both his 'maternal grandparents' were Jewish, which most likely means that his granddad didn't follow the rules. It seems a clear case of:
Roses are red,
Violets are bluish,
If it wasn't for Christmas,
We'd all be Jewish
VRN