Belgrade, 30 Nov. (AKI) – Peace and stability in the Balkans depends on the US and how it resolves the crisis in Serbia’s breakaway Kosovo province, Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Friday.
If the US respected UN Security Council resolution 1244, which treats Kosovo as a part of Serbia, and the UN Charter, which guarantees sovereignty of internationally recognized states and their borders, a compromise solution for Kosovo could be found, Kostunica said in a statement distributed to Serbian media.
But he warned if Washington compromised the resolution and the UN Charter, peace and stability in the entire Balkan region would be at risk.
“Peace and stability in the Balkans can’t be built by force, legal violations and lawlessness,” Kostunica said.
“The whole responsibility is obviously on America and her choosing between law and stability on one side and lawlessness and long-term instability on the other."
Kostunica was responding to threats from Washington that the US and most European Union countries would recognise Kosovo bypassing the UN Security Council after negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina failed this week.
Kosovo has been under UN control since 1999 when NATO bombing drew Serbian forces out of the province amid reports of gross human rights violations in suppressing ethnic Albanian rebellion.
Belgrade has offered ethnic Albanians broad autonomy, but ethnic Albanians, who outnumber the remaining Serbs in Kosovo by 17 to one, have insisted on independence.
Kosovo president Fatmir Seidiu said on Thursday ethnic Albanians would proclaim independence soon after 10 December, when the UN negotiating troika submits a report to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.
“We will make these decisions in co-operation with our friends, the US and EU, immediately after constituting the new institutions, the government and parliament by 10 December,” Seidiu said.
He said the new parliament and government, based on November 17 election results, should be formed in the next ten days. The elections were won by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (DPK) and its leader Hasim Taci is likely to take over as new prime minister from Agim Ceku.
Taci, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which started a rebellion against Serbian rule in 1998, has said the proclamation of independence was his first major goal.
Belgrade and its ally Russia oppose independence and advocate continuation of talks until a negotiated solution is found.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Der Spiegel: 'Kosovo Talks Failed Due to the Albanians' Intransigence'
Kosovo Albanians refused to give up the dream of independence Wednesday during the final round of talks on the future status of the province. Serbia, however, is refusing to grant anything more than autonomy. German papers fear the consequences for the region and the EU.
Last-ditch efforts to find a solution to the problem of Kosovo failed on Wednesday -- as expected.
Three days of talks involving Serbia, the Kosovo-Albanians and envoys from the European Union, the United States and Russia had failed to produce an agreement for the future status of Kosovo that would be palatable to both sides. Now it looks increasingly likely the Kosovo-Albanians will declare independence from Serbia after the Dec. 10 deadline when the envoys are due to report back to the United Nations.
The only glimmer of hope was that the rival sides pledged to refrain from the use of force. "Both sides have made it clear to us that they are committed to avoiding violence," EU envoy Wolfgang Ischinger said after the talks in the Austrian town of Baden failed to find a way out of the deadlock. "The peace of the region is very much at stake," his US counterpart Frank Wisner said. "We're going to have a very difficult time."
Kosovo leaders have said that they will declare independence unilaterally if they do not gain UN Security Council approval -- something that is highly unlikely given that Russia, Serbia's key ally, intends to block recognition.
The province, whose population is 90 percent ethnic Albanian, has been administered by the UN since the war in 1998-99 when Albanian guerrillas fought Serb security forces. Over 10,000 civilians were killed and 800,000 forced to flee before NATO brought a halt to Serbia's offensive with three months of bombing.
A previous plan for eventual independence put forward by UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari was rejected by Serbia last summer and then blocked by Russia's Security Council veto. The UN then embarked on new diplomatic efforts to end Kosovo's limbo.
During the recent talks, Serbia had offered the province autonomy but the Kosovo-Albanians, encouraged by the United States, were unwilling to compromise and have insisted on nothing short of independence. Serbia is insisting that any unilateral declaration would violate international law and is drawing up plans which may include embargos and blockades. Serbia and Russia claim an independent Kosovo could trigger a domino effect in the region.
German papers are united in accepting that Kosovo will eventually declare independence and warn that this could have serious consequences for the region and for the European Union's foreign policy.
The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:
"Kosovo ... will declare independence unilaterally, probably in the spring. The politicians in the West will be able to say that they had wanted a different development and did everything conceivable to achieve that -- but things are the way they are. And it will then be time to quickly recognize this reality: the state of Kosovo. For the EU that will be a severe test. Only a short time ago countries with minorities were reluctant to reward the separatism of the Albanians in any way. Now, in the face of the complete lack of prospects for any other option, only Cyprus looks like blocking it."
"The example of the neighboring states would support the quick recognition of Kosovo. When Slovenia and Croatia declared independence a decade and a half ago, the EU had a lot of misgivings. The speedy recognition was criticized by many as a fatal mistake. But from today's perspective, it seemed to stablize both countries, and was exactly the right move."
The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:
"Wolfgang Ischinger failed ... due to the intransigence of the Albanians. They want only one thing: independence ... None of the suggestions the Serbs made during the 120-day negotiations had the slightest chance. Why should the Albanians settle for autonomy when George W. Bush had already promised them their own state?"
"The EU mission in Kosovo has to have a sensible legal basis and the EU must unanimously accept an independence that is no longer avoidable."
"Both need time -- time the Albanians in their independence delirium don't want to take. Europe now has to try to exert a moderating influence on the leaders in Pristina. Because if independence is declared before the spring, it would have massive consequences for Serbian domestic politics. The Serbs are due to elect a new president at the start of next year. There is no doubt that the pro-European President Boris Tadic would lose to his radical opponent if Kosovo is independent by then. That could be fatal -- for Serbia and for the Balkans."
The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:
"In a few days the clock will start to tick -- and then a series of events will be set in motion which has something fatalistic about it: The Kosovars will declare independence, America and the majority of EU states will recognize them, Serbia and Russia will furiously denounce the violation of international law (with Moscow playing a double game) and there will be unrest in Bosnia. The only thing that is clear is that the international community will be present in Kosovo for a long time -- and it will also have to have a military presence."
The conservative daily Die Welt writes:
"The Albanians have spent eight years in a transitional phase, during which everything has stagnated, the economy has not developed and politics has been paralyzed. One cannot leave 2 million people permanently stranded just because the big powers cannot agree. The human right to pursue happiness, as laid down in the American Declaration of Independence, is also valid for Kosovars.""The Balkans is going to become a test case for Europe's foreign policy once again. This failed miserably in the 1990s when Yugoslavia tore itself apart in a series of wars. Now the Europeans have to prove that they have learnt from previous mistakes and can act as the peacekeeping power in the Balkans and prevent new conflicts."
-- Siobhán Dowling, 12:45 p.m. CET
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Serbs Will Reach a Biological End in Kosovo
WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Predicting tough times ahead, the NATO commander in Kosovo called on Wednesday for clear guidance on how his force should act if the Serbian province declares independence as expected.
French Lt. Gen. Xavier de Marnhac also said the problem of tense relations between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority would eventually reach a "biological end" as the average age of the Serbs was much older.
Ethnic Albanians and Serbs failed in three days of talks in Austria to reach an agreement on Kosovo's final status, mediators said on Wednesday. Leaders of the 90 percent Albanian majority are preparing to declare independence within months.
De Marnhac said his KFOR peacekeeping force was prepared for a rise in tensions but declared: "It's going to be tough and to expect to do that without breaking eggs, forget it. We will definitely break some eggs."
Speaking by videolink from Pristina, he said: "We need, from a military perspective, to have a very clear understanding on what is the international community intent here in Kosovo."
He said this was particularly true for the Serb-dominated north if Serbs and the Serbian government refused to accept the authority of an ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo government.
Western powers are widely expected to accept Kosovo independence under European Union supervision. But Belgrade, backed by Russia, insists Kosovo should remain part of Serbia.
The province, with a population of around 2 million, has been under U.N. administration since NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to end Serb repression of ethnic Albanians.
At the briefing organized by the Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington, de Marnhac said the Serbian government had exerted increasing influence in the administration of Serb areas of Kosovo.
He said it appeared Belgrade was considering "some kind of separate ruling of these areas."
POLICING GAP
De Marnhac also said he was worried there could be a gap in the capabilities of Kosovo's international police force while it made the transition from a U.N. to an EU mission.
"Any gap that might happen in the changing of the international police presence here in Kosovo is a major concern for me," he said.
Albanian riots erupted in Kosovo in March 2004, killing 19 people and catching NATO flat-footed.
Asked if he had requested more troops for his 16,000-strong force, de Marnhac said he could call on reserve forces outside Kosovo but had not done so yet. One such battalion was conducting mission rehearsals in Kosovo now, he said.
In his briefing, de Marnhac also noted the average age of Kosovo's Albanians was 28, while the figure for Serbs was 54.
"In the mid to long term there will be some kind of biological end to the problem here because, you know, one of the population(s) will simply disappear," he said. (Editing by David Wiessler)
SerbBlog: And no one has the guts to call this what it is -- genocide!
French Lt. Gen. Xavier de Marnhac also said the problem of tense relations between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority and Serb minority would eventually reach a "biological end" as the average age of the Serbs was much older.
Ethnic Albanians and Serbs failed in three days of talks in Austria to reach an agreement on Kosovo's final status, mediators said on Wednesday. Leaders of the 90 percent Albanian majority are preparing to declare independence within months.
De Marnhac said his KFOR peacekeeping force was prepared for a rise in tensions but declared: "It's going to be tough and to expect to do that without breaking eggs, forget it. We will definitely break some eggs."
Speaking by videolink from Pristina, he said: "We need, from a military perspective, to have a very clear understanding on what is the international community intent here in Kosovo."
He said this was particularly true for the Serb-dominated north if Serbs and the Serbian government refused to accept the authority of an ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo government.
Western powers are widely expected to accept Kosovo independence under European Union supervision. But Belgrade, backed by Russia, insists Kosovo should remain part of Serbia.
The province, with a population of around 2 million, has been under U.N. administration since NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to end Serb repression of ethnic Albanians.
At the briefing organized by the Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington, de Marnhac said the Serbian government had exerted increasing influence in the administration of Serb areas of Kosovo.
He said it appeared Belgrade was considering "some kind of separate ruling of these areas."
POLICING GAP
De Marnhac also said he was worried there could be a gap in the capabilities of Kosovo's international police force while it made the transition from a U.N. to an EU mission.
"Any gap that might happen in the changing of the international police presence here in Kosovo is a major concern for me," he said.
Albanian riots erupted in Kosovo in March 2004, killing 19 people and catching NATO flat-footed.
Asked if he had requested more troops for his 16,000-strong force, de Marnhac said he could call on reserve forces outside Kosovo but had not done so yet. One such battalion was conducting mission rehearsals in Kosovo now, he said.
In his briefing, de Marnhac also noted the average age of Kosovo's Albanians was 28, while the figure for Serbs was 54.
"In the mid to long term there will be some kind of biological end to the problem here because, you know, one of the population(s) will simply disappear," he said. (Editing by David Wiessler)
SerbBlog: And no one has the guts to call this what it is -- genocide!
“TRAIN WRECK”: U.S. Policy Knowingly Sets Course for Diplomatic Collision Over Kosovo
State Department Pushes Throttle Despite Clear Warnings
Renewed Violence Likely – But, Hey, Let’s Do It Anyway!
Editorial Comment from the American Council for Kosovo – You would think that anyone generally regarded as a skilled American diplomat, looking ahead to a looming confrontation among the major world powers, would be interested in finding a way to avert it. You would think that with U.S. forces stretched thin in so many places, notably in Iraq and Afghanistan, such an American diplomat would not seek to trigger violence in a region that, if not entirely quiet, at least has not been sufficiently unstable as to require the deployment of additional American forces. You would think that with America engaged in a global struggle with jihad terrorism, any competent diplomat would want to make extra sure the U.S. took no action that would strengthen terrorist and organized crime elements.
If that was what you thought, then meet former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke.
Writing in the Washington Post, Ambassador Holbrooke as much as says that an Albanian Muslim unilateral declaration of independence will lead to renewed violence in the Balkans – not just in Kosovo but possibly spilling over into Bosnia. (Anyone remember Bosnia?) Yet, applauding such a declaration as “long overdue,” his answer is to “beef up” the American and NATO presence in advance of the violence his recommended course would in fact trigger.
Perhaps even worse, Ambassador Holbrooke himself describes as a “train wreck” the inevitable confrontation U.S. recognition of an illegal and forcible attempt to separate the province from Serbia would provoke with Russia. (In a strange inversion of the truth, Ambassador Holbrooke blames Russia for the collision that would occur – because Moscow refuses to go along with an action that violates every accepted principle of the international system – not his friends at the State Department for insisting on it.) Meanwhile, Serbia’s reaction to any illegal and forcible attempt to grab any of its territory should not lightly be dismissed. “No one should have any doubt that we will annul any unilateral act, and treat unilateral independence as a null, void and non-binding phenomenon,” said Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, after once again offering a deaf Albanian delegation the widest autonomy enjoyed by any ethnic or religious minority anywhere in the world; but, he said, “Serbia will not let an inch of its territory be taken away.”
It remains to be seen if the Bush Administration will proceed with eyes wide shut down the path Ambassador Holbrooke has marked. (And one can’t help asking: What’s he doing calling the shots for the Bush Administration, anyway?) But if they do, they can’t say they weren’t warned.
James George Jatras
Director, American Council for Kosovo
Other news worthy of note:
1. In November 21, 2007 Wall Street Journal letter-to-the-editor, “Mr. Ceku’s Disorderly House,” James George Jatras wrote: For the sake of brevity, let us focus on just one [assertion]: Mr. Ceku's suggestion that Kosovo, under his U.N.-supervised administration, has "put our structures in place and our house in order." This month's report by the European Commission tells a very different story: "Due to a lack of clear political will to fight corruption, and to insufficient legislative and implementing measures, corruption is still widespread," the report said. "Civil servants are still vulnerable to political interference, corrupt practices and nepotism" and "Kosovo's public administration remains weak and inefficient," the report added. Furthermore, "the composition of the government anti-corruption council does not sufficiently guarantee its impartiality," and "little progress can be reported in the area of organized crime and combating of trafficking in human beings." War crime trials are being "hampered by the unwillingness of the local population to testify" and "there is still no specific legislation on witness protection in place," according to the report. "Civil society organizations remain weak" and "awareness of women's rights in society is low." If this is the "house" Mr. Ceku claims "is in order" in advance of what he hopes will be conferral of independence, one shudders to think what disorder would look like. To be sure, Mr. Ceku makes use of the usual dodge that Kosovo's progress is limited by the absence of "clarity on our future status," namely independence. But Taiwan, by contrast, has gone without such clarity for over half a century and is nothing like the disaster over which Mr. Ceku presides. Instead of falling for his fairy tales about Kosovo's fitness for sovereignty the international community needs to open its eyes to the reality of this corrupt, criminal, and nonviable entity. Granting independence to Kosovo, which would mean handing de jure power to those responsible for this state of affairs, can only turn a disaster into a catastrophe.
2. In a November 20, 2007 WorldNetDaily column, “Kosovo and Israel,” Joseph Farah wrote: Let's face it: Americans don't care about Kosovo. So I want to talk about Kosovo today in a way that may help you care. If for no other reason, you should care because your government is about to shape the destiny of this province in Serbia in a way that is, well, immoral, illegal and counterproductive, to say the least. For starters, Kosovo is, and always has been, a part of Serbia. Its population is mostly Muslim and ethnically Albanian, in part due to a campaign of anti-Christian persecution that continues even under the watchful eye of the United Nations and NATO since 1999. Apparently George Bush and Condoleezza Rice believe America can win goodwill with radical Muslims around the world by creating a new state for them in Europe by ripping a province away from the predominantly Christian country of Serbia. Think about this: Globalists like Bush and Rice are at once promoting mergers and integration of sovereign nations into ever larger superstates and, at the same time, breaking apart tiny states like Serbia and Israel into even smaller pieces based on religious identity and ethnic issues. Why, on the one hand, does George Bush see no problem in welcoming tens of millions of Spanish-speaking Mexicans into the U.S. without regard to our laws but insists Arabs who recently moved into land controlled by Jewish Israel should have their own independent state? Is this consistent? Will Bush turn around at some time in the future and apply the same self-determination rules to his own country, creating an independent Spanish-speaking state? Supporters of Israel should be especially concerned about what is taking place in Kosovo. This is proving ground for the New World Order. Do you think the U.S. and the Western world should have the power to break apart sovereign nations that pose no threat whatsoever, carving them up and creating new states out of existing ones? I don't think so.
3. In a November 20, 2007 Boston Globe editorial, “First Kosovo, and then what?,” the editorial page opined: While 20 of the EU's 27 members favor independence for Kosovo, nearly all dread a unilateral declaration. That prospect conjures up memories of Europe's careless acceptance of declarations of independence from Yugoslavia by Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia in the early 1990s. Those acts ushered in horrific wars and crimes against humanity. A unilateral lunge for independence by Kosovo could spur Serbs in Bosnia and Herzogovina - half that country's population - to follow suit. And Kremlin warnings against the imposition of any Kosovo formula not acceptable to Serbia raises the specter of Russian backing for independence movements in Georgia, Moldova, and even Ukraine. This would be a prescription for armed conflict around the periphery of Europe. Some European diplomats also worry about the United Nations carving new countries out of older countries' provinces. They recognize that separatist reflexes persist in regions such as Catalonia and the Basque country. Even the Flemish and Walloon populations of tiny Belgium may want a nationalist divorce. The Kosovo majority's impatience for independence is understandable, particularly since it has been subjected to a corrupt and inefficient UN tutelage. But the European, American, and Russian mediators should keep Serbia and the Kosovars at the negotiating table as long as it takes to hammer out a resolution to which both sides agree. This may mean incorporating the Serbian-populated area of Kosovo into Serbia proper, along with Serbian monasteries and holy sites. It may entail minor population transfers. But whatever the eventual solution, it should be accepted by the two peoples and not imposed by outsiders.
4. In a November 21, 2007 Washington Times Forum, “Jihad can’t break our cold war addiction,” Julia Gorin wrote: Despite al Qaeda and Iran considering it their greatest recent victory, the Balkans remain the most aggressively ignored region in the context of the war on terror — by media, by the blogosphere that is supposed to police the media, and by our politicians — busily feeding off the spoils of our suicidal machinations there. It is popularly thought that this forgotten and convoluted region is insignificant. Most people hardly remember the word “Kosovo” and even members of the conservative (and liberal) intelligentsia furrow their brows when someone is odd enough to bring it up. And yet “insignificant” Kosovo has so far managed to restart the Cold War; to lay the foundation for Europe's next Muslim state; to foist a terrorist neighbor onto Macedonia, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia; to break international law; to set a precedent for secessionist movements the world over; to reverse the American imperative in the War on Terror and the War on Drugs; and to expand al Qaeda's long-sought European base. In short, it has managed to turn America into a traitor to itself and the Free World it once led. Had the Right grasped the horror of what Bill Clinton's Balkan wars have achieved, and exposed the mainstream media lies that led to them, the Bush policy could have charted a different course there, one consistent with post-September 11, 2001, thinking, and conservatives would be setting the terms of debate today rather than constantly defending their war in Iraq.
5. In a November 23, 2007 EUobserver comment, “A Baltic Solution to a Balkan Problem,” Peter Sain ley Berry wrote: We are not often given the privilege of seeing into the future. Certainly, if we expect something to turn nasty, we rarely know when that nastiness will begin. Yet we have on the European continent at the present time just such a time bomb with the days and minutes until it goes off quietly ticking away. I wonder that they don't erect a large digital display on the Berlaymont in Brussels; it might help to concentrate minds. I refer, of course, to Kosovo and the deadline of Monday 10 December by which date a determination of that province's final status has to be determined. At the time of writing, we are a mere 18 days away. Legally the province is a part of Serbia but has been under United Nations administration since NATO led troops drove out the Yugoslav army almost a decade ago. The population is overwhelmingly Albanian and in last Sunday's general election, boycotted by the few remaining Kosovo Serbs, the largest number of seats were taken by a party pledged to declare independence unilaterally after 10 December, if an agreed solution has not been found beforehand. Such a unilateral declaration has always been seen as potentially damaging to orderly relations and poses a special problem for the European Union whose members would be split over whether to recognise the new entity in the absence of a UN resolution. It would also split the USA and Russia whose sympathies lie respectively with the Kosovans and the Serbs; Russia wielding a UN veto over any independence proposal, not approved by its Serbian ally.
1. Mr. Ceku’s Disorderly House
By James George Jatras
The Wall Street Journal – November 21, 2007
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119561138717200039.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The recent column by Agim Ceku ("Kosovo Wants Independence," Nov. 15) presents the critic with what military planners would call a target-rich environment. Virtually every assertion about Kosovo's prospects as an independent state screams out for rebuttal.
For the sake of brevity, let us focus on just one: Mr. Ceku's suggestion that Kosovo, under his U.N.-supervised administration, has "put our structures in place and our house in order." This month's report by the European Commission tells a very different story:
"Due to a lack of clear political will to fight corruption, and to insufficient legislative and implementing measures, corruption is still widespread," the report said. "Civil servants are still vulnerable to political interference, corrupt practices and nepotism" and "Kosovo's public administration remains weak and inefficient," the report added.
Furthermore, "the composition of the government anti-corruption council does not sufficiently guarantee its impartiality," and "little progress can be reported in the area of organized crime and combating of trafficking in human beings."
War crime trials are being "hampered by the unwillingness of the local population to testify" and "there is still no specific legislation on witness protection in place," according to the report. "Civil society organizations remain weak" and "awareness of women's rights in society is low."
If this is the "house" Mr. Ceku claims "is in order" in advance of what he hopes will be conferral of independence, one shudders to think what disorder would look like. To be sure, Mr. Ceku makes use of the usual dodge that Kosovo's progress is limited by the absence of "clarity on our future status," namely independence. But Taiwan, by contrast, has gone without such clarity for over half a century and is nothing like the disaster over which Mr. Ceku presides.
Instead of falling for his fairy tales about Kosovo's fitness for sovereignty the international community needs to open its eyes to the reality of this corrupt, criminal, and nonviable entity. Granting independence to Kosovo, which would mean handing de jure power to those responsible for this state of affairs, can only turn a disaster into a catastrophe.
James George Jatras
Director
American Council for Kosovo
Washington
2. Kosovo and Israel
By Joseph Farah
World Net Daily – November 20, 2007
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58770
Let's face it: Americans don't care about Kosovo.
So I want to talk about Kosovo today in a way that may help you care.
If for no other reason, you should care because your government is about to shape the destiny of this province in Serbia in a way that is, well, immoral, illegal and counterproductive, to say the least.
For starters, Kosovo is, and always has been, a part of Serbia. Its population is mostly Muslim and ethnically Albanian, in part due to a campaign of anti-Christian persecution that continues even under the watchful eye of the United Nations and NATO since 1999.
Apparently George Bush and Condoleezza Rice believe America can win goodwill with radical Muslims around the world by creating a new state for them in Europe by ripping a province away from the predominantly Christian country of Serbia.
Think about this: Globalists like Bush and Rice are at once promoting mergers and integration of sovereign nations into ever larger superstates and, at the same time, breaking apart tiny states like Serbia and Israel into even smaller pieces based on religious identity and ethnic issues.
Why, on the one hand, does George Bush see no problem in welcoming tens of millions of Spanish-speaking Mexicans into the U.S. without regard to our laws but insists Arabs who recently moved into land controlled by Jewish Israel should have their own independent state?
Is this consistent?
Will Bush turn around at some time in the future and apply the same self-determination rules to his own country, creating an independent Spanish-speaking state?
Supporters of Israel should be especially concerned about what is taking place in Kosovo. This is proving ground for the New World Order. Do you think the U.S. and the Western world should have the power to break apart sovereign nations that pose no threat whatsoever, carving them up and creating new states out of existing ones?
I don't think so.
It's a power grab. And it is wrong. Where does this stop? If the New World Order crowd gets away with it in Kosovo, as soon as next month, will Israel even need to agree to future land grabs by world powers? Serbia doesn't agree.
I want to go on record right now: I object to my government's participation in this fraud, this meddling, this unlawful intrusion into the affairs of a sovereign nation posing no threat to its neighbors.
By the way, this is going to be done over the strong objection of Russia – a long-time, historic ally of Serbia.
I thought Bush was interested in improving relations with his buddy, Vladimir Putin. Why is he sticking his finger in his eye over a piece of real estate that means nothing to the interests of the United States? Why is he siding with radical Islamists against pro-Western Christians in the Balkans?
Let me explain, again, in case the Bush administration has missed my many previous explanations of why this policy will come back to haunt the U.S.
The Islamist world Bush seeks to mollify and appease with this strategy will not recognize this effort as an act of goodwill. It will see it as a retreat by the West. It will see it as a victory for its cause and its tactics – namely terrorism. That's how jihadists see concessions of any kind. Once they have Kosovo, their demands for more territory will increase.
Already, even under NATO-U.N. control, Kosovo resembles a jihadist state. The Saudis are building fabulous new mosques. Ancient churches are being torn down. Armed militias roam the countryside intimidating the minority population of Christians.
If anyone should be able to recognize the danger of U.S. meddling in Kosovo, it is supporters of Israel. What's happening in Europe is a warning shot of what is to come in the Middle East.
I know it's off your radar screen. I know you feel like you have more important things to worry about. I know the fix is in. But it's time for Americans to stand up and scream about what their government has been doing, is doing and is about to do in Serbia with Kosovo.
Time is running out.
3. First Kosovo, and then what?
Boston Globe – November 20, 2007
EUROPE STILL has a Balkans problem. This is the message to take away from the victory of former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci's party in Saturday's parliamentary elections in Kosovo - balloting that was boycotted by the 10 percent of Kosovo's population who are Serbs.
The UN-supervised region is officially part of Serbia. But ever since NATO went to war in 1999 to force Slobodan Milosevic to end his ethnic cleansing of Albanian villages in Kosovo, the region's Albanian majority have set their sights on separation from Serbia. Recently, American, Russian, and European mediators have been trying to craft a formula for autonomy or phased independence that would be acceptable both to Serbia and the Albanian Kosovar government.
The mediators are due to report to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by that date, and Thaci has threatened to declare independence unilaterally if they do not recommend independence for Kosovo. But any such unilateral action could set off instability across the Balkans and beyond.
While 20 of the EU's 27 members favor independence for Kosovo, nearly all dread a unilateral declaration. That prospect conjures up memories of Europe's careless acceptance of declarations of independence from Yugoslavia by Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia in the early 1990s. Those acts ushered in horrific wars and crimes against humanity.
A unilateral lunge for independence by Kosovo could spur Serbs in Bosnia and Herzogovina - half that country's population - to follow suit. And Kremlin warnings against the imposition of any Kosovo formula not acceptable to Serbia raises the specter of Russian backing for independence movements in Georgia, Moldova, and even Ukraine. This would be a prescription for armed conflict around the periphery of Europe.
Some European diplomats also worry about the United Nations carving new countries out of older countries' provinces. They recognize that separatist reflexes persist in regions such as Catalonia and the Basque country. Even the Flemish and Walloon populations of tiny Belgium may want a nationalist divorce.
The Kosovo majority's impatience for independence is understandable, particularly since it has been subjected to a corrupt and inefficient UN tutelage. But the European, American, and Russian mediators should keep Serbia and the Kosovars at the negotiating table as long as it takes to hammer out a resolution to which both sides agree.
This may mean incorporating the Serbian-populated area of Kosovo into Serbia proper, along with Serbian monasteries and holy sites. It may entail minor population transfers. But whatever the eventual solution, it should be accepted by the two peoples and not imposed by outsiders.
4. FORUM: Jihad can't break our Cold War addiction
By Julia Gorin
Washington Times Forum – November 21, 2007
It appears to many American observers that Moscow has been gravitating toward Cold War behavior without any rationale. This would certainly be puzzling behavior, given that, as some astute observers have pointed out, this is a Russia that recalled the Red Army from everywhere outside Russian borders, a Russia that allowed its satellite states to be thrown out of power, a Russia that recently embraced freedom and capitalism and let us show them how to do it
But soon after, the U.S. did something to sabotage, and ultimately reverse, this progress, making Russia legitimately wary of U.S. “interests” and leading it — and other nations — to conclude America is capable of being as mischievous as Russia. We bombed Europe. Specifically Serbia, for the crime of launching a counteroffensive against a terrorist insurgency in Kosovo whose aim was to snatch 15 percent of the country's land. And now the United States supports severing Kosovo from Serbia via a precedent-setting unilateral declaration of independence next month by the province's terrorist masters — over Moscow's logical objections. One of those terrorist masters, Agim Ceku — the province's “prime minister” — made the terrorist case in last week's Wall Street Journal.
To this day, almost no one grasps the significance of the damage the 1999 intervention single-handedly did to American standing and American credibility, when the United States turned NATO into an aggressive body, attacking a sovereign nation fighting none other than Islamic-financed separatists within its borders.
The current puzzlement at Russia's behavior harkens to a job interview I had the following year for a PR-writing position for a group called the Conference of Presidents of Major American-Jewish Organizations. Interviewing me was the executive vice president, a man named Malcolm Hoenlein. After discovering I was from Russia — and even recognizing my family name from the Refusenik lists he and other Jewish activists in the 1970s kept for clandestine visitations behind the Iron Curtain — he told me of a recent trip the and some other giants of organized Jewry took to Moscow. They were on a mission to impress upon the Russian government U.S. concerns about the selling off of Russia's military weaponry to the highest bidder.
Mr. Hoenlein said he and his colleagues were blindsided by the chilly and condescending reception they got from Moscow. “They laughed at us,” he told me. “They said, 'Why should we do what you Americans tell us?' The way we were treated — it was as if it was 20 years ago.”
I thought for a moment, then asked whether he thought it could have something to do with our recent actions in Yugoslavia (which, incidentally, were carried out while telling the Russians to take it easy on their own rebels, the Chechens). Mr. Hoenlein looked at me as if I had two heads: “What does that have to do with anything?” he snapped indignantly. But at that moment the phone rang, and afterward the subject was dropped.
Despite al Qaeda and Iran considering it their greatest recent victory, the Balkans remain the most aggressively ignored region in the context of the war on terror — by media, by the blogosphere that is supposed to police the media, and by our politicians — busily feeding off the spoils of our suicidal machinations there.
It is popularly thought that this forgotten and convoluted region is insignificant. Most people hardly remember the word “Kosovo” and even members of the conservative (and liberal) intelligentsia furrow their brows when someone is odd enough to bring it up.
And yet “insignificant” Kosovo has so far managed to restart the Cold War; to lay the foundation for Europe's next Muslim state; to foist a terrorist neighbor onto Macedonia, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia; to break international law; to set a precedent for secessionist movements the world over; to reverse the American imperative in the War on Terror and the War on Drugs; and to expand al Qaeda's long-sought European base.
In short, it has managed to turn America into a traitor to itself and the Free World it once led.
Had the Right grasped the horror of what Bill Clinton's Balkan wars have achieved, and exposed the mainstream media lies that led to them, the Bush policy could have charted a different course there, one consistent with post-September 11, 2001, thinking, and conservatives would be setting the terms of debate today rather than constantly defending their war in Iraq.
Had even one A-list blog bothered to investigate and shine a light on that debacle — which will yet prove itself to be the nexus of the free world's demise — there never would have been even any talk of a Clinton candidacy for 2008.
5. [Comment] A Baltic solution to a Balkan problem
By Peter Sain ley Berry
EUobserver – November 23, 2007
http://euobserver.com/9/25203/?print=1
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - We are not often given the privilege of seeing into the future. Certainly, if we expect something to turn nasty, we rarely know when that nastiness will begin. Yet we have on the European continent at the present time just such a time bomb with the days and minutes until it goes off quietly ticking away. I wonder that they don't erect a large digital display on the Berlaymont in Brussels; it might help to concentrate minds.
I refer, of course, to Kosovo and the deadline of Monday 10 December by which date a determination of that province's final status has to be determined. At the time of writing, we are a mere 18 days away.
Legally the province is a part of Serbia but has been under United Nations administration since NATO led troops drove out the Yugoslav army almost a decade ago. The population is overwhelmingly Albanian and in last Sunday's general election, boycotted by the few remaining Kosovo Serbs, the largest number of seats were taken by a party pledged to declare independence unilaterally after 10 December, if an agreed solution has not been found beforehand.
Such a unilateral declaration has always been seen as potentially damaging to orderly relations and poses a special problem for the European Union whose members would be split over whether to recognise the new entity in the absence of a UN resolution.
It would also split the USA and Russia whose sympathies lie respectively with the Kosovans and the Serbs; Russia wielding a UN veto over any independence proposal, not approved by its Serbian ally.
So much is known and indeed has been discussed many times as talks over UN envoy Marti Ahtisaari's plans for the province to have supervised independence have ground on.
Now a spectacle far more hideous than a mere diplomatic split threatens to raise its ugly head. It is no exaggeration to say that the spectre of war is again hanging over the Balkans.
The fear is that a unilateral declaration of independence could prompt a new invasion of Kosovo by Serbia with the immediate objective of securing those Serb communities in Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok,and Leposavic on the Kosovo side of the border and leading to a de facto partitioning of the province.
This would be resisted of course, both by the UN's NATO led peacekeeping forces - KFOR - and certainly by the Kosovans. In recent days the UN administration has dispatched KFOR forces to the Kosovo-Serb border, effectually closing it off to possible incursions.
Inexorably we could be dragged into conflict again. And not just in Kosovo. For even a minor skirmish would threaten to destabilise the fragile status quo among the Serb communities in neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina, at least some of whom are still attached to the idea of a greater Serbia and not entirely comfortable in their Bosnian republic.
It would not take much for them to come to the aid of the Kosovo Serbs and perhaps to try a little border alteration of their own between Bosnia and Serbia. Even Macedonia is still not completely stable with recent clashes between police and armed Albanians. By Christmas a swathe of the Balkans could be alight.
That we can even be contemplating such a scenario in the heart of the European continent in the first decade of the twenty-first century and among nations whose future membership of the great European partnership is all but assured, is remarkable to say the least. That we can be contemplating such a scenario without the most strenuous efforts being made to avert the crisis in the capitals of the Union is almost unbelievable.
Far from being at the heart of the European continent, enveloped by the Union itself on three sides and by the sea on the fourth, the Balkans is too often treated as some distant and far away region of which we know little and care less. A problem for the UN, perhaps, or NATO, and one to which we contribute certainly, but not as a major EU problem for which we take the prime responsibility in finding a solution.
Well, that needs to change quickly if we are not to have another red stain on our proud European map.
Of course solutions are being advanced - various kinds of independence along the ‘now you see it now you don't' lines are proposed for Kosovo. The latest is to suggest that the province takes on a similar status to the Baltic Aland Islands, which belong to Finland but are, for all practical purposes, independent, neutral, and demilitarised. Their people speak Swedish to which country they are geographically and socially proximate.
Such solutions might have worked had not the Kosovans been encouraged first by the Ahtisaari plan and then by the United States and certain EU members who let it be known that independence was their preferred solution. Their strong indications to the effect that they would recognise an independent Kosovo, regardless of any UN resolution, have of course led the Kosovans to believe they have nothing to lose by taking a hard line.
Moreover, with a new electoral mandate (albeit on a low turnout of 43 per cent) behind him, Mr Hashim Thaci, the former Kosovo guerilla leader, is unlikely to back down now. Meanwhile the clock ticks away the minutes to potential disaster.
It is difficult to see what can be done, but a start might be for the EU and the USA to declare - as Russia does - that they would not recognise an illegal independence, unilaterally declared by the Kosovans, without a UN resolution. That at least would be a signal that the international community had re-adopted the principle of international law as a means of settling inter-state disputes.
This would send a clear signal to the Kosovans that although they might declare independence, no advantage, indeed considerable disadvantage, would result from such a declaration.
If the Kosovans could be made to understand this, just possibly they could be persuaded to join a Baltic cruise to the Aland Islands and to study ways in which they could enjoy the benefits of self-government without having their own seat at the UN. And just possibly we could continue to be able to say that the last conflict on mainland Europe took place in the 20th century.
The author is editor of EuropaWorld
De-Albanizing Muslim Terrorists: Ft. Dix Redux
by Srdja Trifkovic
(Excerpt) Three of the five men charged with plotting an attack on Fort Dix last spring have asked a judge to move them from a secluded part of their prison as they await trial, a youthful-sounding female NPR reporter told us on Monday night. She added that, in legal filings over the past week, the men complained that in the Special Housing Unit of the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia they are not being given “adequate access” to the government’s evidence in their case. From her two-minute “featurette” and a few dozen similarly worded agency reports in the “Mainstream Media” you’d never guess that those “men” were Albanian Muslims from Kosovo and Macedonia illegally residing in the U.S., or that they were plotting to murder as many American servicemen as they could get into the sights of their automatic weapons.
Welcome to post-modern, self-hating and terrorist-abating American journalism: Your favorite Gannett daily paper/TV news channel/Web site will tell you that “the men, all foreign-born and in their 20s, were charged in May with planning a raid on Fort Dix. They face life in prison if they’re convicted of conspiring to murder military personnel.” It’s a bit—no, it’s totally—like saying that “19 foreign-born men in their 20s died carrying out 9-11 attacks.”.....Chronicles
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Kosovo refugees want to go home, but afraid: report
Reuters
BELGRADE (Reuters) - More than half of some 200,000 Serb, Roma and other minorities who left Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province in the last eight years would like to return, but are afraid or have nowhere to go, a poll showed on Monday.
The poll on the living standards of those "internally displaced persons" showed they were poorer, less healthy and socially isolated compared to their Serb neighbors in the cities and towns where they settled.
"Those over 30 years of age and the rural population are more prone to want to return", said the survey, carried out by Serb authorities with support from international agencies.
"Their main reason for not doing so by now is the fear of violence, and their distrust of Kosovo institutions".
Half of the respondents would like to return to Kosovo despite the difficulties. Although more than 60 percent of them owned property in Kosovo, many houses had meanwhile been taken over by Albanians, making return even harder, the survey added.
Kosovo has been under U.N. rule since 1999, when NATO bombed Serbia to stop its brutal crackdown on separatist rebels.
A final round of talks on the future status of Kosovo began in Austria on Monday, with little hope of compromise. The Albanian majority demands independence, Serbia offers autonomy.
Some analysts have warned that if Kosovo's Albanian leaders proclaim independence and are recognized by the West, many of the province's 100,000 remaining Serbs -- a five percent minority -- will pack up and leave for Serbia proper.
Serbia already has one of the largest refugee populations in Europe, mostly ethnic Serbs who fled during wars in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s.
(Reporting by Ksenija Prodanovic; Editing by Ellie Tzortzi)
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
It's hard to imagine a worse outcome for the Balkans
The prospect of another war and more savage ethnic cleansing shows just what a fine mess we created eight years ago
Simon Jenkins
Wednesday November 21, 2007
The Guardian
This one we can see coming. On December 10 the second round of so far abortive talks on Kosovan independence will expire, bringing to a crisis the unfinished last chapter of the west's 1990s "Balkanisation of the Balkans". In Brussels this week European ministers will make a final effort to forestall the decision of the newly elected Kosovan government to declare unilateral independence of Serbia. Since Serbia is equally determined not to grant it, irresistible force has met immovable object.
Simon Jenkins
Wednesday November 21, 2007
The Guardian
This one we can see coming. On December 10 the second round of so far abortive talks on Kosovan independence will expire, bringing to a crisis the unfinished last chapter of the west's 1990s "Balkanisation of the Balkans". In Brussels this week European ministers will make a final effort to forestall the decision of the newly elected Kosovan government to declare unilateral independence of Serbia. Since Serbia is equally determined not to grant it, irresistible force has met immovable object.
This is not a clash of tinpot dictators but one of democratic outcomes. Kosovo's independence is the clear wish of its electors, just as it is not the wish of Serbia's. The latter have long regarded Kosovo as part of their emotional and historic integrity. The auguries presage a return to conflict.
The instinct of British politicians and media is to declare that something must be done. It is usually then to do nothing and then something messy, and finally to say that something should have been done earlier as it would not have been so messy. This is what happened successively in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. In each case militant separatists were encouraged, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, to seek independence from whatever regime ruled in Belgrade, which they duly obtained with considerable shedding of blood.
Faced not just with the break up of Tito's wider Yugoslavia but with the defection of the core provinces of Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo, Serbs under Milosevic tried to hold them by force. They treated the Kosovans so cruelly that the outside world was moved to intervene. While most countries, including America, tut-tutted and for three months dropped bombs, probably hastening the carnage in Kosovo, Tony Blair rightly divined that only a ground invasion could reverse a humanitarian outrage. In this he was successful.
But what did he expect to happen next? As in Afghanistan and Iraq, Britain is, like the US, inclined to shoot first and plan afterwards. In Kosovo the outcome was to reward "terrorist" separatists with a country of their own, albeit smaller than Wales. Men who, were they Serbs, would be hauled before a war crimes tribunal are now hailed in the west as heroes.
For eight years Kosovo has enjoyed de facto autonomy under the protection of 17,000 Nato troops. These have allowed the regime to "reverse-cleanse" the province of half its Serbs, including virtually all the 40,000 who once lived in the capital, Pristina. There are barely 200,000 left, just 10% of the population. Although the new prime minister, the former guerrilla Hashim Thaci, declares that "Kosovo is ready for independence", he cannot mean it. Kosovo is a Nato protectorate under UN administration, with more aid per head than any state in Asia or Africa. What Thaci wants is not independence but the luxuriant post-intervention dependency enjoyed by Bosnia, Sierra Leone and the embattled regimes in Baghdad and Kabul.
To this the Serbs remain implacably opposed. Even moderate opponents of Milosevic's reign regard the enforced dismemberment of their nation as excessive punishment for the barbarities committed by the Serb army in 1998. Nor will they let it rest. Like the Basque country for Spain and the Falklands for Argentina, Kosovo will always be a cause celebre for Serbia.
Independence for Kosovo clearly accords with current realpolitik, but realpolitik is seldom the end of the matter in the Balkans. Russia says it would veto Kosovo's acceptance into the UN, and to that extent Kosovo would be an illegitimate state.
Nor is Russia's attitude purely due to Slav solidarity. Moscow is understandably averse to western troops coming to the aid of separatist movements wherever there is insurrection or cries of genocide, least of all within bombing distance of the Caucasus. Russia is supported in this view by Spain, Greece and Cyprus, each with separatist problems. And what does Britain, so keen on Balkan partition, say to the Pashtuns or the Kurds when they demand independence?
These are not diplomatic niceties. Already guerrillas of the shadowy Albanian National Army are reportedly roaming the Serbia/Kosovo border, partly financed by a massive heroin trade. Already Serbian militias are arming against them, preparing to defend their compatriots under siege inside Kosovo.
At best, resumed hostilities would mean further savage ethnic cleansing and a repartition of Kosovo. At worst, it would mean a long-running border war, with western troops sucked into defending Kosovan irregulars and Russia into defending Serbia's sovereignty. It is hard to imagine a worse outcome to Britain's glorious "mission accomplished".
Any visitor to the Balkans soon learns that what in Westminster seems a landscape of black and white, goodies and baddies, is in truth all grey. Britain has been party to the military partition of a sovereign European state at the instigation of its separatists, albeit with justice and local majority opinion on their side. Such self-determinations are never straightforward, as the English know in their dealings with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The prospect of war has commentators screaming that "something must be done". I have not read one sensible answer to the question: what? Had Nato negotiated some sort of delegated sovereignty for Kosovo with the post-Milosevic government in Belgrade, Pristina hardliners might have been faced down and Serbia's notional integrity preserved.
That day has passed. It is easy to "hope" that Thaci and the Serbian prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, might see the virtue of compromise and agree to go their separate ways under some sort of UN "sovereignty umbrella" (once proposed for the Falklands). But with Russia behind the Serbs, and Europe and America behind the Kosovans, why should leaders in either Belgrade or Pristina risk the wrath of their electorates by compromising? Once steeped in such dependency, no one feels any pressure to back down.
Kosovo is a western protectorate. There is no pressing need for de facto autonomy to become de jure independence. Pristina has as much autonomy as it can use and should be ordered to tone down its senseless confrontation and leave Serbia a shred of pride - on pain of a genuine independence it would certainly not like. In any resumed war, Kosovo would not be a winner.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Requiem for an American Hero and a Brave Serb, Milo Radulovich
Last night, I received the truly sad news of the passing of Milorad Radulovich. Although many may have only known of Milo's story from the film "Goodnight and Good Luck" or Edward R. Murrow's "The Case Against Lt. Milo Radulovich, A0589839", I was lucky enough to have known Milo personally for many years. I can tell you that he truly was a hero to his family, his friends, his Church and all who knew him, even if he had never played the important part that Milo had in American history -- a history that chose Milo to "fight the good fight", not the other way around. Milo was equally brave in these last months after a stroke, with his loving family by his side as they had been through all his battles. Our sympathies to his family in their great loss. Vjecnaja Pamjat , Milo! We will miss you!Below is an article and interview that I did with Milo which was published in the American Srbobran early last year:
Murrow, McCarthy and
An Interview With
By Melana V. Pejakovich
MP: Have you always gotten this kind of “personal attention” in town or has it been mainly since the film?
Milo: I was lucky in that the whole "production team" were really nice people to work with, and they were very kind to me.
I guess that it truly amazed me that, as they were filming, they wanted to know what I had to say about the look and feel of what they were doing. When I saw David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow, I told him that as far as I was concerned, it really was as though Edward R. Murrow had been “resurrected” in another body – it was actually a little eerie. You know, David Strathairn isn’t even American – he’s Welsh – and to get Ed Murrow’s voice so perfectly was a stunning feat.
MP: OK. I have to ask – what was it like to work with George Clooney?
Milo: I have to be honest – when George Clooney first called me, I had no idea who “George Clooney” was. I am not a television-watcher and I never saw ER, so at first, I thought that this was just going to be “some little unnoticed film” – especially when I heard the words “very low budget”, “93 minutes”, “limited release”, all of which it was. But I had no idea the kind of attention that this film was going to get. “Oscar contender” never entered my mind at the time.
But, George Clooney, personally was very kind. I remember when my daughter and I were flown in for the premiere. And George Clooney was there with his parents – I smiled “hello” from a distance because he looked very busy with all the people around him, and I started to move on. The next thing I know, I hear him calling, “Milo Radulovich, come here and meet my parents!” He gave me this big hug and triple kiss (I told him that we were going to make “a Serb” out of him yet! He said that this triple kiss was also Italian & he has a house in
MP: Yes, he was. Edward R. Murrow set the standard for television news reporting. Yet of all the stories that Murrow did in his life, he considered your story to be one of his “proudest moments”.
Milo: (
MP: So fifty years later, are you enjoying all of the public attention that you are getting again now?
Milo: Sure. But I can’t take all of this too seriously. Life is what it is – and it can turn on a dime. Your family are the ones who really matter --I think that this is one of those things that is very “Serb” – a sense of family that transcends all reason and distance.
Next week I am going to
MP: You are a Montenegrin Serb American, correct?
Milo: Yes, and I like the way that you said that -- “Montenegrin Serb”. That is exactly what I am “Montenegrin Serb” American. There are so many Montenegrins today who say that we aren’t Serbs at all, we are just “Montenegrins”, a different people. I don’t see it that way.
MP: Well, the “Old Serbs” saw themselves through the eyes of Orthodox Christianity and very much in the structure of Orthodoxy. Like you are “Montenegrin”, and he is “Lican” and he is “a Serbianac”, but we are all “Serbs” in much the same way that Orthodoxy has the Greeks, the Russians, the Serbs who are all different parts of the same whole -- all parts of “The Body of Christ” in Orthodoxy. Some are “the hands”, some are “the feet” – different yes, but part of an undivided whole. So you had Serbs with different nationalities, but who all saw themselves as “one”.
But, after so many years of communism, the newer generations don’t always see it that way. They often see only the physical “reality” of politics and geography. Serbian Orthodoxy is just some kind of “optional add-on” to their identities as “Serbs”, instead of the very essence of that identity. These newer generations often identify themselves as “Serbs”, based solely on “language”, “history” and “culture”, instead of on what actually created that history and culture. “There was a time when if you weren’t a steadfast Serbian Orthodox Christian, then you weren’t “a Serb”. Instead you were what your religious identity (and not your family history) said you were. And with people trying to constantly kill you for that religious identity, there wasn’t room for a lot of “fence-sitting”, “I don’t knows” and “does it really matter?” kind of questions that we American Serbs have the luxury of considering.
Milo: Precisely. Convert to Islam? Then you were “a Turk”. Convert to Catholicism? Then you were “a Croat”. Convert from something else to Serbian Orthodoxy? Then you were “a Serb” and no different from any other Serb – an equal to the “purest Serb lineage”. In that way, we were never “racists”. Bloodlines didn’t really matter for anyone other than royalty.
Many of our priests are still like that. God, love them. “Race” is not even a factor – and I have always admired them for that.
Where I grew up in
MP: Yes, I have mentioned before that I knew that they also used to have these Serb “literary clubs” all over.
Milo: My dad actually belonged to one. “The Montenegrin Educational Club of
You know that my father was very bright despite his station in American life. He read and wrote poetry. He knew about ancient Greek civilization. I have no idea where he learned it, but he knew about it.
Some of those men in that educational club were neighbors and were very dear to me. Blazo Kalabich saved my life when I fell into the creek at Dusan Kasom’s farm. I was about four years old and we were at the farm for a picnic. I remember going down into the water and I was bobbing up and down gasping for air. The next thing I know Blazo –a big ex-football player for Carnegie Tech – jumped in and saved me, clothes and all. They put some woman’s scratchy wool bathing suit on me because those were the only dry clothes available in my size and I had to wear that stupid thing for the rest of the day. Funny that I still remember that!
MP: Your parents were from
Milo: My dad, “Jovan” (John), was from a place in “the middle of nowhere” in
My mother was Ikonija Mijatovic from Krna Jela, a few valleys over from where my dad came from, and Dad didn’t even know her before they married. Dad had met her brother who was in the
My mother did not want to come to
My mother had been this beautiful 23-year-old young woman, alone in
Mom & Dad were finally married in
MP: How did your folks get to
Milo: Well, Dad was a really hard worker. He used to say that he had “a back made for a Number 9 shovel” (that was the shovel they used to pick up and load the coal into the bins) But mining was a hard and terrible life, underground all the time, breathing that dust and coming home covered with the stuff everyday. Finally, one day Dad said, “What am I doing here? I am going to
You know our people always got the worst jobs. These jobs were necessary for building and maintaining the growth of the
MP: What was life like for you growing up?
Milo: We were poor as church mice. Dad bought a little house, and we were almost thrown out of it a few times. When the auto industry strike came in the 1930’s, Dad didn’t work for five years – but that strike made it possible for people to earn a basic living with some reasonable living conditions later, so it was a good thing in the long run. But it was really hard back then. Luckily, Dad was pretty inventive, so during those years, he built an icehouse on a vacant lot and sold ice, then he sold candy on the street – anything legal to put food on the table for us. He had an old Model T car that required all the neighborhood kids giving it “a push” in order to start it. The only good part about those years was that it was during the Depression, so we weren’t alone --everyone around us was totally broke, too.
MP: Was your family religious?
Milo: My family was very spiritual, but we didn’t go to church every week -- we couldn’t afford it. The church was a long way away -- several streetcars worth. (Counting) With my mom & dad and four kids, it would have cost about $1.20 roundtrip – that was a huge amount of money per week during the Depression, especially for someone who was unemployed. But we were taught the Ten Commandments, and the value of love, honesty, loyalty and family.
As a little kid, I remember seeing the priest and his deacon coming down the alley on Slava. You know – beards to the waist in the long black mantijas – both of them looking like Rasputin. It used to scare my brothers and me. We’d hide under the bed! And my embarrassed mom would get a prut (switch) and whack us it under the bed until we came out. Then the priest, with his deep voice and a smile on his face, would laughingly say, “Ahhh…. You hide from me? You bad boys!” And that scared us even more! Luckily, we grew out of that fear.
But you know, in spite of how poor we were my mother always was able to create an incredible Slava every year. Hams and cakes, and a Kolach – don’t know how or where she got the money, but we never had a “poor Slava”. For one day a year, we ate like kings. It was always so good, that even when I grew up and went into the Army, I’d still figure out a way to get home for Arandjelovdan almost every year. (I must have listed each member of my family more than once as having been “sick” in order to get a pass!) Half the time, I had to cross a State or two and had no idea how I was getting there, but I made it.
MP: Your mother sounds like an “inventive” woman, too.
Milo: She was. Mom was very intelligent. She was a sort-of “psychologist” of the Serbian community. When other Serbs had a problem, they always came to my mom to settle it or to advise them. And Mom didn’t speak English for a very long time, but when she learned, she became much better at it than Dad ever was. My mother was also the one who disciplined us, Dad never did – he was pretty quiet and too tired when he came home to deal with that.
Truly, Serb women have always been the original “strong, independent females”. They may have lived in a patriarchal society and have been submissive to men in public, but privately they have always had this attitude, “You don’t like it, too bad for you!” They can be pretty tough.
MP: (Teasing) So, is that why you married an American and not a Serb woman?
Milo: No! (Laughing) It was because you couldn’t just date a Serb girl to see if you got along. “One date” and the families would already be planning the wedding! The pressure was too much to risk the rest of you life on “one date”. But I left home at age 17 anyway, to go into the Army – and I never lived with them again – so I wasn’t much around “young Serb women” after that anyway. By the time I moved back to the
But did you know that some of the Montenegrin clans were run by women? With the blood feuds, in some clans all the men would get wiped out, so the women would take over. The clan leaders were always elected. So if a woman was elected as “a clan leader”, she would remain single, dress and behave like a man in public for the rest of her life. And this is how the clan would survive until there were enough adult males again to take over running the clan.
Here in the
MP: From what I had read in the book at least, your sister Margaret, didn’t exactly become “a wallflower”.
Milo: (Laughing) No, she isn’t. She has definite opinions on things. And she was much less conservative than I was back then. But you know, she is a sucker for anyone or anything “in need”, even stray animals. She has a big heart – and a strong mind. She can’t stand to see others suffer without doing all she can for them. I can’t call that “a fault”. Politically, by today’s standards, my sister is considered “a liberal” – but back in 1953, that designation didn’t really exist.
MP: Knowing the background you came from, the allegations leveled at your father and sister regarding the case, this must have hit your family pretty hard.
Milo: Oh, it did. And I wasn’t sure what to do – or what I could do. If I accepted less than a full Honorable Discharge from the Air Force, then I couldn’t work in the profession I was trained for. Meteorology was very much a government-run field back then. But I also knew that if I fought, I’d have to drag my whole family through it all. I did ask my father what he wanted me to do, -- and he told me “Fight this,
MP: From what I have read and understood, Charlie Lockwood didn’t just “save you”. In some ways, your case “saved him”, too – he was pretty depressed about the law and what good he was doing in the world, when your case came along.
Milo: Yes, Mike Ranville (author of “To Strike at a King”) dug that up, but I didn’t know it at the time. I just knew that Charlie knew what he was doing, and he was willing to take the case. This case was not a “slam-dunk” by any means. It was always “a long shot”. The Air Force wasn’t very “open” to having its decisions questioned, and we had no idea at the time that Edward R. Murrow was going to eventual take up my cause. At the time, we just felt lucky that the Detroit News had taken an interest in it.
MP: I can understand why –during that era-- your sister might have been “a target”, given that she did openly protest for some social change and especially for civil rights, which may not have been popular then. But I could not understand why or how they targeted your father.
Milo: I didn’t either. He was no “communist”. He read the Srbobran, along with reading that other Serbian paper. He simply wanted to know as much as he could about the country he came from in a language that he could read. As for being “a leader” or “organizer”, what a joke!
MP: Well, he was “President of the Montenegrin Educational Association (of
Milo: Oh, yeah that made him “a real leader” (chuckle). Truly those guys were all hardworking immigrants trying to make the American Dream work for them and their families – not “subversives” in any way.
As for the union, that wasn’t “communism” – that was the foundation of the United Auto Workers of America”. No one was suggesting that the other members of that union were “subversive”.
MP: Since it has been such a long time ago, did you ever use the Freedom of Information Act to find out who pointed the finger at your father?
Milo: My sister did, but the names of “the informants” were all blacked out. Besides which, it has been so long, I don’t really care who it was, specifically.
Yet there was one thing that has always bugged me a bit – whoever it was referred to me as “Milorad”. And only Serbs knew me as “Milorad” – everyone else knew me as “
Plus, postwar, Dad had mixed feelings about the Tito/Mihailovic issue and said so.
So it is not hard to do the math and come up with the main informant being “another Serb in
MP: Well, “jealousy” and “malicious envy” are certainly not unheard of among Serbs, but ultimately you did have the last laugh – hanging out around the pool in
Milo: I guess when you put it that way – I did. But it was pretty tough for a long time.
MP: It was a very hard long time for you, from what I understand.
Ultimately, you were re-instated by the Air Force, finished your education and were given a full “Honorable Discharge” on paper -- but unofficially you became “blackballed” from working on military contracts to private industry. Your case had embarrassed the military, so they made sure that there was “payback”.
Milo: Yes. And this was harder, because it was all behind closed doors and they wouldn’t admit it. But, what aggravated me most was that I always told them about “the case”, upfront, before they’d offered me the job and they’d say, “No problem”. Then when it came time to actually clear it with the military, the story would change. I’d get an “Ooops! Sorry we hired someone else for it yesterday and forgot!” One time, I actually saw a stamp on my application for the job that said “not eligible for work on military contracts” – the personnel officer got very angry that I had seen that stamp and ripped the application out of my hand.
I’d fought to get an Honorable Discharge”. Officially” I’d gotten a full Honorable Discharge, but “unofficially” I was still paying for standing up for myself and my family.
There was something that my father said to me many years ago that always stuck with me. Dad said, “The hardest thing that you will ever try to do,
Finally, I interviewed with a private weather service. They had contracts with power companies like Pacific Gas & Electric. I interviewed with the company president. As always, I told him about “the case” and part way through my story, he interrupted me. He said, “Yes, I am French – I know all about the stupid idea of ‘guilt by association’, so let’s forget about that. I only have one question for you: Can you do the job?” I said, “Yes, of course I can.” He hired me on the spot and I worked for that company for ten years. Until the National Weather Service finally offered me a job in 1964. It was ten years before my name was “OK” for hire to work with government. I took the offer and I worked for them until I retired in 1994.
MP: In retrospect, how do you regard your experience with “the case”, given that it was the first step in changing the course of American history? Do you see yourself as “an instrument of God” or “a victim of random chance” or what? Why you? Why Milorad Radulovich?
Milo: Have you ever heard the word “synchronicity”? Do you know what it means?
MP: Yes. (In fact, I barely had a clue what “synchronicity” meant until I looked it up at home the next day!)
“Synchronicity”: A term coined by famed psychologist Carl Jung meaning “unrelated coincidences that are perceived as having meaning when viewed through the eyes of human perception”; root word of the term “in synch”.
Milo: Everyone has their own perception as to what the case “meant” -- to history or to any of it. There are a lot of ways in which you could spin the events, but the truth is that they just “happened the way that they did” -- other people made choices, I made choices and this is the way it worked out –“Who” or “what” was behind it is subject to anyone’s guess. I am not “de-emphasizing God”, but I am also not “emphasizing my own importance”. Theoretically, it could have happened to anyone, and they might have made the same or different choices than I did, and it might or might not have come out the same. I was just “in the right place at the right time” or “the wrong place at the wrong time” depending on how you look at it.
MP: Wow. You have obviously thought this through and philosophically come up with an answer that you are comfortable with.
Milo: Yes – and I have had a very long time to do it.
MP: So how is life for you now?
Milo: Pretty good, but busy! The last couple of years have flown by. Between the actual film production of “Goodnight and Good Luck”, then the publicity interviews and the awards ceremonies for the film, I have been traveling and speaking in public quite a lot. I am a little jet-lagged at the moment. I am 79 years old – not a kid anymore, you know!
MP: I am quite a few years your junior and just telling me about your schedule makes me “tired”, so don’t feel bad. But, I know even with all that you have going on; you have still made time to remain active in your church.
Milo: Yes, my grandson Scotty and I built the
And we have a great priest in Jackson – Father Tumbas. He and is wife are very spiritual people and are also very educated. Both he and his wife attended the Sorbonne and also speak French fluently, as well as Serbian and English.
MP: Any Serb or church issues that are on your mind at the moment?
Milo: Yes - the church language issue. Yet, I won’t say anything that many haven’t been saying for the last fifty years.
If we don’t start introducing more English in the church, we are going to lose our young people. We have already lost most of two generations -- including your generation – to the church spilt and the language issue. We can’t afford to lose another generation.
Every group of immigrants who have come here to the
Our people are going through a terrible time in the former
We lost this group of American Serbs, not because “they rejected us”, but rather because “we rejected them”. We basically told them that they were only “welcome” --if they were willing to learn two foreign languages and act like immigrants, --not like “who” and “what” they are. How crazy is that? Especially for “a church”!
MP: It’s very crazy – and very self-defeating.
The Slovenians and Croats never did this. Because they were Catholic, they automatically had an advantage at integrating into American society and in forming coalitions with other Catholics -- not only through their church, but also through Catholic universities.
We, on the other hand, were more “isolated” to begin with and we seem to be isolating ourselves even more now, since the wars. I think that we were so demonized, hurt and humiliated by the media and government in the US, that that we are becoming an “angrier people” than we ever were before – especially at all things “American”, including the English language. And this is a dangerous and slippery slope for us. This is our home.
Milo: We don’t get that so much in
MP: On a lighter note -- what do you do in your spare time?
Milo: I spend way too much time on the computer these days. You know --“where time stands still” – get on and forget where you are or what time it is. There is just so much to learn and to research. I burned some soup in the microwave the other day, because I accidentally set it for too much time and then I got on the computer and completely forgot about it. I came in here (the kitchen) and smoke was pouring out of the front of this thing. I’d actually begin to worry about myself; except that I have seen a lot of young people do exactly the same thing! It’s too easy to get lost in thought.
Speaking of “lost in thought”, I also write poetry.
MP: In English or Serbian?
Milo: In English! Serbian is very hard. I learned Serbian at home, but actually later took some formal courses on it after I was told that my Serbian was “quaint”. Language is a living thing, it changes over time and you have to change with it.
MP: What are you looking forward to next?
Milo: I am looking forward to things slowing down so that I can relax a little. After next weekend (The Oscars and The American Spirit Awards), everything on this film project will be pretty much behind me. And things should start getting back to normal again. I looking forward to some peace and quiet – maybe writing a little poetry again.
MP: I actually heard a rumor that you may not be able to “forget about
Milo: He’s thinking about it. But I don’t know if it will actually happen.
Because “Goodnight and Good Luck” was on such a small budget, they couldn’t afford to buy the film rights to the book, “To Strike at a King”. This book is less about Murrow and McCarthy and more about the personal story of my family, “the case” and me. So Robert Redford is probably looking at it more from that angle – “the personal little picture” story -- which ironically is actually how Edward R. Murrow told a story to illustrate a point.
MP: Anything else you are looking forward to?
Milo: Whatever happens, there is always something to look forward to if you look for it!
Thank you
Kosovo and Israel
Worldnet Daily (Excerpt)
By Joseph Farah
Posted: November 20, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joseph Farah
Posted: November 20, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Let's face it: Americans don't care about Kosovo.
So I want to talk about Kosovo today in a way that may help you care.
If for no other reason, you should care because your government is about to shape the destiny of this province in Serbia in a way that is, well, immoral, illegal and counterproductive, to say the least.
For starters, Kosovo is, and always has been, a part of Serbia. Its population is mostly Muslim and ethnically Albanian, in part due to a campaign of anti-Christian persecution that continues even under the watchful eye of the United Nations and NATO since 1999.
Apparently George Bush and Condoleezza Rice believe America can win goodwill with radical Muslims around the world by creating a new state for them in Europe by ripping a province away from the predominantly Christian country of Serbia.
Think about this: Globalists like Bush and Rice are at once promoting mergers and integration of sovereign nations into ever larger superstates and, at the same time, breaking apart tiny states like Serbia and Israel into even smaller pieces based on religious identity and ethnic issues.
Why, on the one hand, does George Bush see no problem in welcoming tens of millions of Spanish-speaking Mexicans into the U.S. without regard to our laws but insists Arabs who recently moved into land controlled by Jewish Israel should have their own independent state?
Is this consistent? ......Worldnet
Platform For a Terrorist
By Julia Gorin
FrontPageMagazine.com | 11/19/2007
Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an article on Kosovo’s impending unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia. The piece attested to the inevitability and rightness of this independence. It was also penned by a terrorist. Specifically, by the “former” terrorist and current “prime minister” of the province, Agim Ceku.
If Hamas were threatening to declare unilateral Palestinian statehood, would The Journal print an unopposed perspective from the leader of Hamas, or of Hezbollah, for that matter?
To give readers a sense of who Agim Ceku is, he was such a Serb-hunting enthusiast that when the early, Croatian leg of the Balkan wars kicked off, he volunteered to become a colonel in the Croatian Army, leading the 1993 offensive on a Serbian village in Croatia named Medak. As Canadian military journalist Scott Taylor wrote:
FrontPageMagazine.com | 11/19/2007
Last week, the Wall Street Journal published an article on Kosovo’s impending unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia. The piece attested to the inevitability and rightness of this independence. It was also penned by a terrorist. Specifically, by the “former” terrorist and current “prime minister” of the province, Agim Ceku.
If Hamas were threatening to declare unilateral Palestinian statehood, would The Journal print an unopposed perspective from the leader of Hamas, or of Hezbollah, for that matter?
To give readers a sense of who Agim Ceku is, he was such a Serb-hunting enthusiast that when the early, Croatian leg of the Balkan wars kicked off, he volunteered to become a colonel in the Croatian Army, leading the 1993 offensive on a Serbian village in Croatia named Medak. As Canadian military journalist Scott Taylor wrote:
It was here that the men of the 2nd Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry came face to face with the savagery of which [Agim] Ceku was capable. Over 200 Serbian inhabitants of the Medak Pocket were slaughtered in a grotesque manner (the bodies of female rape victims were found after being burned alive). Our traumatized troops who buried the grisly remains were encouraged to collect evidence and were assured that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
Nevertheless in 1995, Ceku, by then trained by U.S. instructors as a general of artillery, was still at large. In fact, he was the officer responsible for shelling the Serbian refugee columns and for targeting the UN-declared "safe" city of Knin during the Croatian offensive known as Operation Storm. Some 500 innocent civilians perished in those merciless barrages, and senior Canadian officers who witnessed the slaughter demanded that Ceku be indicted. Once again, their pleas fell on deaf ears.
"Throughout the [1999] air campaign against Yugoslavia," continues Taylor, Ceku--by then commanding KLA terrorists in driving two-thirds of Kosovo’s remaining Christian Serbs out along with other non-Albanians--"was portrayed as a loyal ally and he was frequently present at NATO briefings with top generals such as Wesley Clark and Michael Jackson."
The Canadian soldiers today suffer physical maladies from the suppression and denial of what they witnessed, and they await justice for Ceku, which the U.S. actively intervenes to prevent every time a move is made in that direction. That this monster is now given a platform in the pages of the Wall Street Journal only adds insult to their injury.
Chris Deliso’s new book The Coming Balkan Caliphate offers a window into how Ceku operates with Kosovo’s Western champions and benefactors:
Embarrassingly for Ceku, two of his KPC (Kosovo Protection Corps) men were involved in an ANA (Albanian National Army) bridge bombing attempt on April 12, 2003, near the northern Kosovo town of Zvecin. For the stated goal of making Kosovo a multiethnic society based on rule of law, having members of the civil police moonlighting as terrorists was not auspicious.
[UN Mission in Kosovo Chief] Harri Holkeri, had infuriated Agim Ceku on December 3 [2004] by ordering the suspension of [the] two KPC generals…over the April bridge bombing debacle. Ceku darkly intoned that “this decision is unacceptable for us.”
In writing about the March, 2004 riots throughout Kosovo by the majority-Muslim Albanians -- riots that injured a thousand people and killed over 30 including six NATO troops, according to UN officials in Kosovo -- Deliso mentions that:
Most embarrassing for the UNMIK authorities, Agim Ceku’s KPC officers actively aided the mobs. The suspicious complicity of leading Kosovo Albanian politicians and KPC commanders was attested to by other internationals, such as the Greek policeman who pondered, “Why did [Hasim] Thaci and [Agim] Ceku not say ’stop’ until three days into the riots?…And why, once they did say ’stop,’ did everything suddenly stop?”
A former German soldier in Kosovo explains that…”the Albanians put women and children in front of our barracks as ‘human shields’ so that our vehicles couldn’t get out.”
While the March 2004 riots were seemingly fueled only by ethnic hatred and general frustrations, evidence indicated an Islamist dimension to the violence. The Albanian Muslim rioters did everything from slashing the throats of Serbian farmers’ pigs…to the dynamiting, burning, or vandalizing of 35 churches…. videotapes glorifying the destruction of such Christian monuments were soon being circulated throughout radical Islamic mosques in Western Europe, for the purpose of jihad fundraising.
The wiretapped conversations between the jihadi leaders had eerie similarities with those captured by the FBI before 9/11: “It was said, for example, that ‘in two or three weeks the party will begin’ and that ‘in Prizren everything is prepared for a hot party;’ then it was asked whether the interlocutor ‘can guarantee it will be a blast in Urosevac?’”
These are just a handful of the countless, uncomfortable Balkan truths that are out there, but one is hard-pressed to find any mention of them in mainstream American news outlets. One Balkan truth that did make it past the censors was the May arrest of four Albanian Muslims plotting to massacre American soldiers at Fort Dix—but The Journal’s editorial and opinion pages ignored this major news story.
In his Journal article, Ceku speaks of cooperating with Serbia in fighting “organized crime.” This comes from the head of a “state” founded on organized crime. Ceku and other Kosovo leaders hold regular meetings to manage their criminal rackets at Pristina’s Grand Hotel, according to German intelligence (BND).
Ceku also gives the usual spiel that independence is “inevitable” and can’t be delayed. Why is that so? He doesn’t say. Perhaps it’s for the same reason that a Hungarian member of the EU parliament bluntly said, “Because we’re afraid of them,” when asked why the U.S. and EU are giving the Kosovo Albanians what they want unconditionally.
Ceku refers to suffering of “all the people of Kosovo in the 1990s”, the oft-used justification for Kosovo to never again be ruled from Belgrade. What many people suffered from—Albanians and Serbs alike—were ceaseless attacks by the KLA even during ceasefires and pullouts by the Serbs as per Western-mediated agreements. And why are sufferings in the 1990s—which the KLA fomented with a terrorist insurgency—more relevant than the “peacetime” suffering post-1999?
Ceku also speaks of "guarantees for 'minority' citizens." Based on post-1999 life in Kosovo for non-Albanians, why should anyone believe those guarantees? If Ceku and his cronies were not the violent criminal types that they are, why would Serbs need guarantees? Do other democratic states in Europe (including Serbia) need guarantees for minorities enforced by outside powers, or are they simply expected to behave according to civilized standards--which Ceku and Co. have shown themselves incapable of?
One is reminded of something that was said of the writer and communist fellow traveler, Lillian Hellman: You can’t believe a word she says. Not even “the” or “and."
It is curious that the Journal would agree to publish a commentary by a KLA leader, especially when one considers that the paper's European edition ran the following piece two months after September 11, 2001:
For the past 10 years, the most senior leaders of al Qaeda have visited the Balkans, including bin Laden himself on three occasions between 1994 and 1996. The Egyptian surgeon turned terrorist leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri has operated terrorist training camps, weapons of mass destruction factories and money-laundering and drug-trading networks throughout Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Bosnia. This has gone on for a decade. Many recruits to the Balkan wars came originally from Chechnya, a jihad in which Al Qaeda has also played a part.
By 1994, major Balkan terrorist training camps included Zenica, and Malisevo and Mitrovica in Kosovo…In Albania, the main training camp included even the property of former Albanian premier Sali Berisha in Tropje, Albania, who was then very close to the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Islamist infiltration of the Kosovo Liberation Army advanced, meanwhile. Bin Laden is said to have visited Albania in 1996 and 1997, according to the murder-trial testimony of an Algerian-born French national, Claude Kader, himself an Afghanistan-trained mujahideen fronting at the Albanian-Arab Islamic Bank. He recruited some Albanians to fight with the KLA in Kosovo, according to the Paris-based Observatoire Geopolitique des Drogues.
Albanian separatism in Kosovo and Metohija was formally characterized as a "jihad" in October 1998 at an annual international Islamic conference in Pakistan. Nonetheless, the 25,000 strong KLA continued to receive official NATO/U.S. arms and training support and, at the talks in Rambouillet, France, then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright shook hands with "freedom fighter" Hashim Thaci, a KLA leader. As this was taking place, Europol (the European Police Organization based in The Hague) was preparing a scathing report on the connection between the KLA and international drug gangs. Even Robert Gelbard, America's special envoy to Bosnia, officially described the KLA as Islamic terrorists.
The Wall Street Journal has defaulted to the Bush administration’s policy on Kosovo, the Bush administration itself having defaulted to the Clinton administration’s policy, being too distracted with bigger battles to bother changing course in the Balkans--even after 9/11 supposedly taught us a few things. And so here we are, with a now institutionalized terror-friendly policy in Kosovo.
Until we start viewing terrorism against Serbs as terrorism, we will continue to be co-targets of the Serbs’ enemies. When we betray our Christian kin, just as when we betray our Israeli kin, in a fanatical but futile attempt to win favor with an incompatible society, we put ourselves at risk.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Balkan Analysis: Kosovo auf Deutsch
11/18/2007 (Balkanalysis.com)
By David Binder
Forget about status negotiations for a moment. The near-term outlook for Kosovo is unalterably grim: an economy stuck in misery; a bursting population of young people with “criminality as the sole career choice;” an insupportably high birthrate; a society imbued with corruption and a state dominated by organized crime figures.
These are the conclusions of “Operationalizing of the Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans,” a 124-page investigation by the Institute for European Policy commissioned by the German Bundeswehr and issued last January. This month the text turned up on a weblog. It is labeled “solely for internal use.” Provided one can plow through the appallingly dense Amtsdeutsch - “German officialese” - that is already evident in the ponderous title, a reader is rewarded with sharp insights about Kosovo.
Occasionally a flicker of human frustration with the intractability of Kosovo’s people appears in the stolid German text. That reminded me of an encounter 44 years ago in the fly-specked cafeteria of Pristina’s Kosovski Bozur Hotel, occupied by a lone guest drinking a beer. He introduced himself as an engineer from
What was he doing here?” I inquired. “Ich verbloede,” he replied - “I am stupefying myself.” - (or, I am making myself stupid).
In this text, the authors make clear that
The institute authors, Mathias Jopp and Sammi Sandawi, spent six months interviewing 70 experts and mining current literature on Kosovo in preparing the study. In their analysis the political unrest and guerrilla fighting of the 1990s led to basic changes which they call a “turnabout in Kosovo-Albanian social structures.” The result is a “civil war society in which those inclined to violence, ill-educated and easily influenced people could make huge social leaps in a rapidly constructed soldateska.”
“It is a Mafia society” based on “capture of the state” by criminal elements. (”State capture” is a term coined in 2000 by a group of World Bank analysts to describe countries where government structures have been seized by corrupt financial oligarchies. This study applied the term to Montenegro’s Milo Djukanovic, by way of his cigarette smuggling and to Slovenia, with the arms smuggling conducted by Janez Jansa). In Kosovo, it says, “There is a need for thorough change of the elite.”
In the authors’ definition, Kosovan organized crime “consists of multimillion-Euro organizations with guerrilla experience and espionage expertise.” They quote a German intelligence service report of “closest ties between leading political decision makers and the dominant criminal class” and name Ramush Haradinaj, HashimThaci and Xhavit Haliti as compromised leaders who are “internally protected by parliamentary immunity and abroad by international law.” They scornfully quote the UNMIK chief from 2004-2006, Soeren Jessen Petersen, calling Haradinaj “a close and personal friend.” UNMIK, they add “is in many respects an element
of the local problem scene.”
They cite its failure to improve Kosovo’s energy supply, and “notable cases of corruption that have led to alienation from Kosovo public and to a hostile picture of a colonialist administration.” They describe both UNMIK and KFOR as infiltrated by agents of organized crime who forewarn their ringleaders of any impending raids. “The majority of criminal incidents do not become public because of fear of reprisals.
Among the negative findings listed are:
The justice system’s 40,000 uncompleted criminal cases;
The paucity of corruption-crime investigations (10-15 annually);
The province’s 400 gas stations (where 150 would suffice), many of which serve as fronts for brothels and money-changing depots;
A Kosovo Police Service “dominated by fear, corruption and incompetence”;
The study sharply criticizes the
In an aside, it quotes one unidentified official as saying of the American who is deputy chief of UNMIK, “The main task of Steve Schook is to get drunk once a week with Ramush Haradinaj.”
Concerning the crime scene the authors conclude that “with resolution of the status issue and the successive withdrawal of international forces the criminal figures will come closer than ever to their goal of total control of Kosovo.”
Among the dismal findings of the German study are those on the economy:
Sinking remission of money from Kosovans working abroad, a primary source of income for many Kosovo families, pegged now at 560 million euros per annum;
Some 88 percent of the land now in private ownership, meaning ever more sub dividing of plots, usually among brothers, leading to less and less efficient agriculture;
Proliferation of NGOs - now numbering 2,400 – the great bulk of which exist for shady purposes;
A hostile climate for foreign investors, frightened by political instability and the power of mafia structures.
A central issue in Kosovo is an “inexhaustible supply of young people without a future and therefore ready for violence,” the study says. The only remedy for dealing with this “youth bulge” is to open northern
In anticipation of a transfer of oversight from the UN to the European Union, the authors warn: “the EU is in danger of following too strongly in the wake of a failed UN and to disintegrate under the inherited burden unless they make an open break with practices and methods of UNMIK.” One of the experts they interviewed put it more bluntly: “the EU is inheriting from UNMIK a fireworks store filled with pyromaniacs.”
In the estimate of the authors neither NATO nor the EU or UN appear capable of self examination, much less self-criticism. The authors draw a picture of self-satisfied incompetents in all international organizations dealing with Kosovo.
However, in their depiction, Kosovans appear equally beholden to legend - in their case of historic exploitation - such that if they finally achieve independence, all will suddenly be well. In the past Kosovans could and did always blame somebody else for their troubles: Ottomans, Yugoslavs, Serbs. Now they have begun to blame UNMIK. But what will happen if they have only themselves to blame?
…………………………
*David Binder (born 1931) was a correspondent for The New York Times from 1961 until 2004. He specialized in coverage of central and eastern Europe, based in
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Nat Interest: "Rapid Reaction - Kosovo Watch"
by Nikolas K. Gvosdev
11.12.2007
When former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and Russian president Vladimir Putin both agree on a critical issue facing the international community, one takes notice.
At the end of October, Bolton told the Voice of America:
"I hope that the United States will not recognize a unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence, although I think that things are currently moving in that direction, and I am afraid that it could cause more damage than it can bring good in the Balkans. Such a decision, which would be taken under threat of violence, would actually represent a way to reward bad behavior. The issue of Kosovo should be solved by two parties at the negotiation table. I understand that strong positions are taken regarding the issue by both sides—Albanian and Serbian. These are and will be tough negotiations in order to reach a solution which would satisfy both parties, but this is much better than to impose a solution on one side or the other, based on a wrong understanding of the situation."
Then, the first head of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia—certainly someone that cannot be accused of acting out of pro-Serbian sentiment—proposed, instead of full independence for the province, a confederal solution. He noted:
"By means of a binding UN Security Council resolution, Kosovo could be granted full and exclusive authority over its citizens and territory, as well as limited capacity for action on the international scene. It could be authorized to enter into trade agreements as well as agreements concerning individuals (for example, admission and circulation of foreigners, or extradition), plus the right to seek admission to the UN (which does not require full sovereignty and independence).
"Kosovo would thus gain some essential trappings of statehood. However, a decision-making body consisting of delegates from Kosovo, Serbia, and the European Union would be given full authority over major foreign policy issues (for example, alliances and relations with international economic institutions), defence, borders (in case Kosovo wished to join with Albania), and the treatment of Kosovo’s Serbian minority. As a result, Kosovo and Serbia would constitute two distinct international subjects, bound by a confederation hinging on a common decision-making body."
Meanwhile, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who in Lisbon came out strongly against any recognition of a unilaterally-declared independent state for Kosovo, repeated his position in Athens at the end of October in a press conference with his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis:
"We need to seek a mutually acceptable, or as far as possible acceptable solution on the problem of Kosovo. You can never sort out problems in the Balkans unilaterally. There has to be some sort of consensus, some sort of agreement and Kosovo is no exception to that particular rule."
Bakoyannis also restated the Greek position on Kosovo—"A viable solution, a solution of stability, exhausting every possibility for negotiations, with a single European stance, without unilateral actions, and with the strongest possible international legitimacy, just as the legitimacy provided by UN Security Council resolutions."
The argument that there can be "no debate" over what to do about Kosovo does not hold water—and there is a whole variety of options at our disposal. There is no need for the United States or any other party to be locked in to one course of action.
Nikolas K. Gvosdev is editor of The National Interest.
11.12.2007
When former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and Russian president Vladimir Putin both agree on a critical issue facing the international community, one takes notice.
At the end of October, Bolton told the Voice of America:
"I hope that the United States will not recognize a unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence, although I think that things are currently moving in that direction, and I am afraid that it could cause more damage than it can bring good in the Balkans. Such a decision, which would be taken under threat of violence, would actually represent a way to reward bad behavior. The issue of Kosovo should be solved by two parties at the negotiation table. I understand that strong positions are taken regarding the issue by both sides—Albanian and Serbian. These are and will be tough negotiations in order to reach a solution which would satisfy both parties, but this is much better than to impose a solution on one side or the other, based on a wrong understanding of the situation."
Then, the first head of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia—certainly someone that cannot be accused of acting out of pro-Serbian sentiment—proposed, instead of full independence for the province, a confederal solution. He noted:
"By means of a binding UN Security Council resolution, Kosovo could be granted full and exclusive authority over its citizens and territory, as well as limited capacity for action on the international scene. It could be authorized to enter into trade agreements as well as agreements concerning individuals (for example, admission and circulation of foreigners, or extradition), plus the right to seek admission to the UN (which does not require full sovereignty and independence).
"Kosovo would thus gain some essential trappings of statehood. However, a decision-making body consisting of delegates from Kosovo, Serbia, and the European Union would be given full authority over major foreign policy issues (for example, alliances and relations with international economic institutions), defence, borders (in case Kosovo wished to join with Albania), and the treatment of Kosovo’s Serbian minority. As a result, Kosovo and Serbia would constitute two distinct international subjects, bound by a confederation hinging on a common decision-making body."
Meanwhile, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who in Lisbon came out strongly against any recognition of a unilaterally-declared independent state for Kosovo, repeated his position in Athens at the end of October in a press conference with his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis:
"We need to seek a mutually acceptable, or as far as possible acceptable solution on the problem of Kosovo. You can never sort out problems in the Balkans unilaterally. There has to be some sort of consensus, some sort of agreement and Kosovo is no exception to that particular rule."
Bakoyannis also restated the Greek position on Kosovo—"A viable solution, a solution of stability, exhausting every possibility for negotiations, with a single European stance, without unilateral actions, and with the strongest possible international legitimacy, just as the legitimacy provided by UN Security Council resolutions."
The argument that there can be "no debate" over what to do about Kosovo does not hold water—and there is a whole variety of options at our disposal. There is no need for the United States or any other party to be locked in to one course of action.
Nikolas K. Gvosdev is editor of The National Interest.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Again and Again the NYT Agitprop
Excerpt from Svetlana Novko's outstanding analysis of the lies and propaganda used to support stealing Kosovo from Serbia:
Just when you think that all the Soros/Abramowitz’s media vampires are finally starting to recede back into the darkness that spawned them, if for nothing else than for the painful lack of arguments, The New York Times Agitprop rears its ugly head again with another bare-assed propaganda iditorial.
All they really want to do is to repeat, once again, the same old meme: that Serbia ought to be dismembered and its southern province of Kosovo amputated. Since they can’t offer any arguments and have nothing to back their pro-dismemberment stance, and being that they can’t simply say the actual objective is to harm the interests of Serbs and Russians and to continue to play gods in the Eastern Europe, they serve their readership a platter of sheer claptrap, making sure the all-important subliminal message — cut 15 percent of Serbia off! — is loud and clear.
That’s why the iditorial was written, mindless repetition being one of the main pillars of propaganda.
One of the problems the central Agitprop agencies like the New York Times have, is that they can’t simply come out and say what they want done. In this case, for instance, they can’t just say “rip Serbia apart, tear another hole to those pesky Russkies, show ‘em who’s the boss, for we rule the world,” so they try to wrap it up in the “op-eds”, philosophical, abstract editorials with no facts, no references and no signature, about the dirty jobs around the world someone has to do. This one is a perfect example of dirty propaganda and how people in the West get brainwashed en masse.
Good Western Prince and Evil Empress Russia
The anonymous NYT Comrade Iditorialist (Idiot, for short) first sets the stage: Balkans, the primitive, dark, gloomy place somewhere in the pits below and beyond the golden gates of enlightened West, where barbarians of all sorts and nationalities have been drinking each others’ blood for centuries. That’s where, this month, another complicated-beyond-words (certainly beyond the Editor’s comprehension) chapter — Kosovo — should’ve been “put to rest”, e.g. severed from Serbia.
“Putting it to rest” is more akin to mercy killing, like putting an old and ailing animal to sleep — an act West was willing to commit out of compassion, since it’s all so... painful and West suffers watching the Balkan Beasts writhe in agony.
But, the iditorial fairytale goes, the meddling of the Evil Empress Russia and its Even More Evil Daughter Serbia have prevented the Chivalrous Western Prince to fulfill its merciful mission in this case (Good Western Prince has dedicated his entire life to such mercy missions, out of pure kindheartednesses and sheer generosity). Comrade Idiot doesn’t really tell us what this “meddling” of the evildoers consists of — perhaps the fact that Serbian officials have taken part in the negotiations over their own province of Kosovo is somehow intrinsically evil in itself. Instead, he quickly moves on to say the Evil Serbs are “threatening to stir new troubles in Bosnia if Kosovo declares independence.” Going through the month of news in both Serbian and English, with the finest tooth comb, will fail to produce any semblance of proof for the claim that Serbs are “threatening to stir new troubles in Bosnia,” but that doesn’t matter one bit — the object of this game is to throw up in the air as many lies, innuendos and allegations as possible, cross your fingers and hope some of it sticks.
Because of all this, NYT’s Comrade Idiot calls for “urgent, creative diplomacy by the major powers”. The “creative diplomacy” in the New York Times lingo is a codeword for the naked force: cut Kosovo from Serbia and, one way or the other, force Russia to sign on the dotted line.
Dismember-Serbia-Because-Russia-Meddles Argument
Comrade Idiot further tells the world that Ahtisaari proposal to sever Kosovo from Serbia was absolutely perfect in every way. To add insult to the injury, he even mentions “a degree of autonomy for ethnic Serbs”, as if Serbs in their own country are indeed a minority that could be thrown few crumbs, a certain degree of cultural, religious and ethnic autonomy, though not too much of it. That’s when the Evildoers (Russia and Serbia) meddled again and managed to screw up a perfect plan in the United Nations which, instead of just imposing a dismemberment of one of its members (Serbia), allowed another disgusting round of awful talks.
The Iditorialist spared no expense and served a whole five-course meal of lies — almost every single sentence contains at least one lie — including the implication that the Security Council itself had set “a deadline” (December 10) for these talks (“But after fierce protests from Russia and Serbia, the Security Council called for more talks, with a deadline of Dec. 10”). The truth of the matter is that December 10 is only a date by which the mediating Troika has to submit its progress report to the UN Secretary General, while the U.S. State Department, UK and France decided on their own that December 10 is the deadline by which all talking has to end.
Reinforcing again the meme in the second passage: December 10 is the date after which the KLosovars will not wait and “neither should the United States and the European Union.” In other words: DO IT, just do it, cut it off!
Dismember-Serbia-Because-Serbs-and-Albanians-are-Both-Bad Argument
The third is my favorite passage. After figuring that too many people are already aware that Suffering KLosovars is a myth which can no longer be sustained, after realizing it is now clear to most that Kosovo Albanian separatists are nothing but thugs, criminals, drug and human traffickers, weapon dealers and terrorists, the NYT Agitprop finally drops the old spent story of poor, oppressed, “beleaguered KLosovars fighting for their freedom.” Now, according to the NYT, Serbs and Albanians are all equally bad: “these are conflicts with no good guys, and very little spirit of compromise”.
Again and again, the Iditorialist fails to explain in what way the current Serbian leadership taking part in this “conflict” (negotiations) are “not good guys”. One may like or dislike them, love them or hate them, but unlike Agim Ceku, Ramush Haradinaj, Hashim Thaci and most of the KLA Kosovo Albanian provisional leadership, none of the present Serbian leaders and state officials were taking part in any of the Yugoslav secession wars, they were not part of the Serbian government during the Albanian terrorist armed insurgency in Kosovo province in 1998-1999, none of them signed any of the previous agreements, none of them have ever crossed paths with any of the Albanians, except at the negotiating table, alongside the Western and Russian mediators. So how can they possibly be as bad as the KLA war criminal Agim Ceku, war criminal Ramush Haradinaj, war criminal Hashim Thaci and the rest of Kosovo Albanian criminals and known mafiosi? I would actually like to have the NYT Iditorialist explain this claim.
Secondly, speaking of a “spirit of compromise” many have argued that the very fact Serbian officials are actually willing to sit down and negotiate with terrorists who were trying to snatch part of their country under arms is a BIG, major compromise in itself. Because I don’t see anyone negotiating with Hamas, I don’t see anyone negotiating anything with ETA, I don’t see Mr. Bush negotiating with Bin Laden... Give me a break! This is not to even mention over a dozen compromises Serbian officials have submitted thus far in the form of detailed proposals to just about everyone on Earth, including the Albanian terrorists, while the war criminals sat there with their hands up their asses and kept repeating one word, ad nauseam: independence-independence-independence-independence... On the contrary, most Serbs will tell you that Serbian officials should have never accepted negotiations in any form with Albanian KLA terrorists...... Byzantine Sacred Art
Thursday, November 15, 2007
"UNMIK must nullify unilateral (Kosovo) independence"
15 November 2007 | 16:53 | Source: Tanjug
VIENNA -- UNMIK should react in the event of a unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence, Serbia's OSCE ambassador says.
Such a move must be made null and void, Ambassador Miroslava Beham told the OSCE Permanent Council this Thursday in Vienna.
"A unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo would constitute a violation of the fundamentals of international law," Beham cautioned following the speech of UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker, who, in response to speeches by OSCE member state representatives reiterated that the Ahtisaari plan, even though not adopted, "was still on the table."
Serbia's ambassador pointed out that UNMIK had not fulfilled its tasks under UN Resolution 1244, and that the task of the UN administration was to make possible the autonomy of Kosovo inside the then FRY, and now Serbia, rather than "make a state within a state."
According to her, UNMIK should cooperate with institutions in Belgrade in the process of privatization of state and social ownership, as well as in other sectors.
"What happened was the opposite and that deepened the gap between Serbs and ethnic Albanians which is the reason why their positions are so far apart," Beham assessed, and added that the situation could be changed, as well as that "there was a need for a democratic process to resolve the issue of Kosovo with a democratically agreed solution."
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the extension of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, which expires late this year, might pose a problem.
The United States and the European Union urge for an extension of its mandate for another year.
But, Russia and Serbia are opposed, because they believe that an outcome of the talks on the future status of Kosovo under the mediation of the Troika should come first.
Russia has proposed the mission's mandate to be extended each month for the next 30 days, for as long as the future of Kosovo is unclear, Tanjug learned from its diplomatic sources.
Serbia supports this stand in principle and believes that Security Council Resolution 1244, on which the mandate of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo is based, will cease to be in effect if the Kosovo Albanians unilaterally declare independence and if at least one state recognizes it.
The fate of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo is a particularly sensitive issue also since it is the OSCE's biggest and most expensive mission. If it is terminated, many employees will lose their jobs.
At the recently held meeting of the Preparatory Committee, Western countries that support an extension of the mandate for another 12 months have tried to adopt such a proposal but it was rejected by Russia and Serbia.
The issue will certainly be included in the agenda of the forthcoming OSCE summit in Madrid later this month, but the Vienna-based OSCE Permanent Council will make the final decision.
VIENNA -- UNMIK should react in the event of a unilateral declaration of Kosovo's independence, Serbia's OSCE ambassador says.
Such a move must be made null and void, Ambassador Miroslava Beham told the OSCE Permanent Council this Thursday in Vienna.
"A unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo would constitute a violation of the fundamentals of international law," Beham cautioned following the speech of UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker, who, in response to speeches by OSCE member state representatives reiterated that the Ahtisaari plan, even though not adopted, "was still on the table."
Serbia's ambassador pointed out that UNMIK had not fulfilled its tasks under UN Resolution 1244, and that the task of the UN administration was to make possible the autonomy of Kosovo inside the then FRY, and now Serbia, rather than "make a state within a state."
According to her, UNMIK should cooperate with institutions in Belgrade in the process of privatization of state and social ownership, as well as in other sectors.
"What happened was the opposite and that deepened the gap between Serbs and ethnic Albanians which is the reason why their positions are so far apart," Beham assessed, and added that the situation could be changed, as well as that "there was a need for a democratic process to resolve the issue of Kosovo with a democratically agreed solution."
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the extension of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, which expires late this year, might pose a problem.
The United States and the European Union urge for an extension of its mandate for another year.
But, Russia and Serbia are opposed, because they believe that an outcome of the talks on the future status of Kosovo under the mediation of the Troika should come first.
Russia has proposed the mission's mandate to be extended each month for the next 30 days, for as long as the future of Kosovo is unclear, Tanjug learned from its diplomatic sources.
Serbia supports this stand in principle and believes that Security Council Resolution 1244, on which the mandate of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo is based, will cease to be in effect if the Kosovo Albanians unilaterally declare independence and if at least one state recognizes it.
The fate of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo is a particularly sensitive issue also since it is the OSCE's biggest and most expensive mission. If it is terminated, many employees will lose their jobs.
At the recently held meeting of the Preparatory Committee, Western countries that support an extension of the mandate for another 12 months have tried to adopt such a proposal but it was rejected by Russia and Serbia.
The issue will certainly be included in the agenda of the forthcoming OSCE summit in Madrid later this month, but the Vienna-based OSCE Permanent Council will make the final decision.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
JP: Our World, Islam and the nation-state
Throughout the world, one of the most prevalent causes of war, terrorism and political instability is the ongoing weakening of the nation-state system. There are several reasons that the nation-state as a political unit of sovereignty is under threat. One of the most basic causes of this continuous erosion of national power throughout the world is the transformation of minority-dominated enclaves within nation-states into ungovernable areas where state power is either not applied or applied in a haphazard and generally unconstructive manner.
While domestic strife between majority and minority populations has been an enduring feature of democratic and indeed all societies throughout history, the current turbulence constitutes a unique challenge to the nation-state system. This is because much of the internal strife between minority and majority populations within states today is financed and often directed from outside the country.
Traditionally, minorities used various local means to engage the majority population in a bid to influence the political direction or cultural norms of the nation state. The classic examples of this traditional minority-majority engagement are the black civil rights movement in the US in the 1960s and the labor movements in the West throughout the 20th century. By and large, these movements were domestic protests informed by national sensibilities even when they enjoyed the support of foreign governments.
Today while similar movements continue to flourish, they are now being superseded by a new type of minority challenge to national majorities.
This challenge is not primarily the result of domestic injustice but the consequence of foreign agitation. The roots of these minority challenges are found outside the borders of the targeted states. And their goals are not limited to a call for the reform of national institutions and politics. Rather they set their sights on weakening national institutions and eroding national sovereignty.
MUSLIM MINORITIES throughout the world are being financed and ideologically trained in Saudi and UAE funded mosques and Islamic centers. These minorities act in strikingly similar manners in the countries where they are situated throughout the world. On the one hand, their local political leaders demand extraordinary communal rights, rights accorded neither to the national majority nor to other minority populations. On the other hand, Muslim neighborhoods, particularly in Europe, but also in Israel, the Philippines and Australia, are rendered increasingly ungovernable as arms of the state like the police and tax authorities come under attack when they attempt to assert state power in these Muslim communities.
Logic would have it that targeted states would respond to the threat to their authority through a dual strategy. On the one hand, they would firmly assert their authority by enforcing their laws against both individual lawbreakers and against subversive, foreign financed institutions that incite the overthrow of their governments and their replacement with Islamic governments. On the other hand, they would seek out and empower local Muslims who accept the authority and legitimacy of their states and their rule of law.
Unfortunately, with the notable exception of the Howard government in Australia, in country after country, governments respond to this challenge by attempting to appease Muslim irredentists and their state sponsors. The British responded to the July 7, 2005 bombings by giving representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood an official role in crafting and carrying out counter-terror policies.
In 2003, then French president Jacques Chirac sent then interior minister Nicholas Sarkozy to Egypt to seek the permission of Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi of the Islamist al-Azhar mosque for the French parliament's plan to outlaw hijabs in French schools.
In the US, in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the FBI asked the terror-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations to conduct sensitivity training for FBI agents.
In Holland last year, the Dutch government effectively expelled anti-Islamist politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the interest of currying favor with Holland's restive Muslim minority.
THE FOREIGN policy aspect of the rush to appease is twofold. First, targeted states refuse to support one another when individual governments attempt to use the tools of law enforcement to handle their domestic jihad threat. For instance, European states have harshly criticized the US Patriot Act while the US criticized the French decision to prohibit the hijab in public schools.
More acutely, targeted states lead the charge in calling for the establishment of Muslim-only states. Today the US and the EU are leading the charge towards the establishment of a Palestinian state and the creation of an independent state of Kosovo.
In two weeks, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host the Annapolis conference where together with her European and Arab counterparts, she will exert enormous pressure on the Olmert government to agree to the establishment of a jihadist Palestinian state in Israel's heartland with its capital in Jerusalem and its sovereignty extending over Judaism's most sacred site, the Temple Mount.
The establishment of the sought-for Palestinian state presupposes the ethnic cleansing of at a minimum 80,000 Israelis from their homes and communities simply because they are Jews. Jews of course will be prohibited from living in Palestine.
FOR ITS part, the Palestinian leadership to which Israel will be expected to communicate its acceptance of the establishment of Palestine, is one part criminal, and two parts jihadist. As Fatah leader and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his colleagues have made clear, while they are willing to accept Israel's concessions, they are not willing to accept Israel. This is why they refuse to acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.
A rare consensus exists today in Israel. From the far-left to the far-right, from IDF Military Intelligence to the Mossad, all agree that the Annapolis conference will fail to bring a peace accord. Since Rice's approach to reaching just such an accord has been to apply unrelenting pressure on Israel, it is fairly clear that she will blame Israel for the conference's preordained failure and cause a further deterioration in US-Israeli relations.
While Israel is supposed to accept a Jew-free Palestine, it goes without saying that its own 20 percent Arab minority will continue to enjoy the full rights of Israeli citizenship. Yet one of the direct consequences of the establishment of a Jew-free, pro-jihadist State of Palestine will be the further radicalization of Israeli Arabs. They will intensify their current rejection of Israel's national identity.
With Palestinian and outside support, they will intensify their irredentist activities and so exert an even more devastating attack on Israel's sovereignty and right to national self-determination.
SHORTLY AFTER the Annapolis conference fails, and no doubt in a bid to buck up its standing with the Arab world, the US may well stand by its stated intention to recognize the independence of Kosovo.
On December 10, the UN-sponsored troika from the US, Russia and Germany is due to present their report on the ongoing UN-sponsored negotiations between the Kosovo Muslims and the Serbian government regarding the future of the restive province of Serbia. Since the Kosovo Muslims insist on full sovereignty and Serbia's government refuses to accept Kosovo's independence, those talks are deadlocked. Since Russia refuses to support Kosovo's removal from Serbia, there is no chance that the UN Security Council will pass a resolution calling for Kosovar independence.
The push for Kosovar independence was begun by the Clinton administration. It was the natural consequence of the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. Yet the basic assumptions of that bombing campaign have been turned on their head in recent years. In 1999, Serbia was run by a murderous dictator Slobodan Milosovic. He stood accused of ethnically cleansing Kosovo of its Muslim population which was perceived as innocent. Today, led by Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, Serbia is taking bold steps towards becoming a liberal democracy which abjures ethnic cleansing and political violence. On the other hand, the Saudi-financed Kosovo Muslims have destroyed more than 150 churches over the past several years, and have terrorized Kosovar Christians and so led to their mass exodus from the province.
As Julia Gorin documented in a recent article in Jewish World Review, Kosovo's connections with Albanian criminal syndicates and global jihadists are legion. Moreover, Kosovar independence would likely spur irredentist movements among the Muslim minorities in all Balkan states. In Macedonia for instance, a quarter of the population is Muslim. These irredentist movements in turn would increase Muslim irredentism throughout Europe just as Palestinian statehood will foment an intensification of the Islamization of Israel's Arab minority.
The Kosovo government announced last month that given the diplomatic impasse, it plans to declare its independence next month. Currently, the Bush administration is signaling its willingness to recognize an independent Kosovo even though doing so will threaten US-Russian relations.
In a bid both to prevent the Bush administration from turning on Israel in the aftermath of the failure of the Annapolis conference and to make clear Israel's own rejection of the notion that a "solution" to the Palestinian conflict with Israel can be imposed by foreign powers, the Olmert government should immediately and loudly restate its opposition to the imposition of Kosovar independence on Serbia.
In the interest of defending the nation-state system, on which American sovereignty and foreign policy is based, the US should reassess the logic of its support for the establishment of Muslim-only states. It should similarly revisit its refusal to openly support the right of non-Islamic states like Israel, Serbia and even France, to assert their rights to defend their sovereignty, national security and national character from outside-sponsored domestic Islamic subversion.Monday, November 12, 2007
The Church: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?
Assyrian International News Agency
By Fjordman
11/11/07
By Fjordman
11/11/07
Although not a religious person myself, I am usually in favor of a revitalization of Christianity in Europe. However, I sometimes have my doubts when I see how many, too many, church leaders consistently end up on the wrong side of issues related to Islam and Muslim immigration.
Bat Ye'or claims that dhimmitude in the Middle East has often progressed because Christian leaders have sold out their own people, either for short-term personal gains or in the mistaken belief that they have a "shared religious heritage" with Muslims. It is also frequently Christian leaders and bishops in the West who are calling for open borders for poor, destitute Muslims because "it is the Christian thing to do."
The Protestant Lutheran Church in the German city of Hannover organized an exhibition to acquaint the Germans with Islam. The exhibition, entitled "The Faces of Islam," was the work of the female students of the Protestant Studies Institute in Aachen. On Palm Sunday in 2006, a Protestant church in Bochum, Germany celebrated Muhammad's birthday and invited the local Turkish community to attend the service. A Turkish music band played Sufi music during the service, in which Protestants and Muslims joined together in honor of Muhammad.
In the UK, church leaders wanted to invite the families of the London suicide bombers to a national memorial service in honor of the victims. Two senior Church of England bishops believed that extending the invitation to the bombers' families would acknowledge their own loss and send a powerful message of reconciliation to the Muslim community. Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, urged the nation to unite and turn would-be suicide bombers into friends by building "an inclusive circle of love."
The same Archbishop has also said that British Christians should see Muslims as allies in the struggle against secularism. A number of Christian, and some Jewish, leaders shared this point of view both during the death threats against Salman Rushdie and during the Danish cartoon Jihad.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, about 10,000 Christians have been killed between 1998 and 2003 and about 1,000 churches have been burnt down by Muslim mobs. The radicals want Indonesia to be the foundation of a Southeast Asian caliphate that will launch Jihad against other nations such as Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Australia until they submit to Islam. In the Indonesian province Aceh, where sharia law officially prevails, Muslim mobs razed a church in response to a forged (by a Muslim) advertisement inviting Muslims to a Christian revival service. Witnesses said there were over 100 Muslim men present, many of them carrying swords. They poured gasoline over the building and set fire to it.
Why this aggressive reaction? According to Islamic law, Christians and Jews (not other religious groups) can live in an area dominated by Muslims, but only if they accept their status as second-rate citizens, dhimmis. This implies many restrictions, such as never trying to convert or preach to Muslims, never to have a relationship with a Muslim woman and never to say anything insulting about Islam or Muhammad. If even one single person breaches any of these conditions, the entire dhimmi community will be punished, and Jihad resumes. Notice that while Muslims, following each case of Islamic terrorism, are quick to say that not all Muslims should be punished for the actions of a few, this is precisely what sharia prescribes for non-Muslims.
What's worse is that in practice, as in this case from Indonesia, attacks on non-Muslims can be triggered by unconfirmed rumors, personal grudges by Muslims or outright lies. In reality, this means that all non-Muslims will live with a constant, internalized fear of saying or doing anything that could insult Muslims, which would immediately set off physical attacks against them and their children. This state of constant fear is called dhimmitude. Many Middle Eastern, Pakistani and Indonesian Christians know that as a matter of survival, they must say one thing in public and another in private. They are held hostage in their own countries.
In Egypt, a film depiction of someone converting to Islam and then becoming disillusioned with his new religion was enough to bring more than 5,000 protestors to the church, get a nun stabbed and three people killed. Muslims interpreted it as a breach of the traditional Islamic law mandating death for anyone who leaves Islam, and of the old dhimmi laws forbidding non-Muslims to proselytize.
Bishop Armia of the Coptic Church in Egypt, which predates the 7th century Arab invasion and preserves the last remainder of the language of the ancient pharaohs, assured that "Copts would never tolerate anyone insulting Islam." Coptic Pope Shenouda III, knowing fully well that any provocation could mean mayhem and murder for his fellow Copts, has reiterated that "any remarks which offend Islam and Muslims are against the teachings of Christ."
Several recent incidents have demonstrated that Muslims are now trying to apply these dhimmi rules to the entire Western world. The most important one was the burning of churches and embassies triggered by the Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad. This was, down to the last comma, exactly the way Muslims would treat the persecuted non-Muslims in their own countries. The cartoon Jihad indicated that Muslims now felt strong enough to apply sharia rules to Denmark, and by extension NATO. Hardly anybody in the mainstream Western media made any attempts to explain this to the public.
In another case, angry protests raged across the Muslim world over a Newsweek magazine report that interrogators at the U.S. military prison Guantanamo Bay had put the Koran on toilets, and in at least one case flushing it down. The escalating violence prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to urge Muslims to resist calls for violence. "Disrespect for the Holy Koran is abhorrent to us all," she said. Newsweek later retracted their original article, which was found to be baseless.
In November 2002, days before the Miss World pageant in Nigeria, a Nigerian newspaper published an article in which the writer suggested that Islam's prophet, Muhammad, would have approved the pageant and would have chosen a wife amongst the contestants. The article sparked a Jihad riot in which over 200 people were killed and thousands injured. The next day, the newspaper published an apology. The president of Nigeria went on national television and condemned the newspaper. He said, "It could happen anytime irresponsible journalism is committed against Islam."
As one African observer later noted about the Newsweek story, the reaction of the White House in the United States was largely similar to that a Third World president gave when faced with the same challenge. For Muslims, the world's only remaining superpower appeared to play the role of dhimmis.
Bishop Artemije, the spiritual leader of Kosovo's beleaguered Serbs, has warned against Western support for an independent state in the province, where Muslim Albanians greatly outnumber Christian Serbs and have destroyed many churches and monasteries under the auspices of NATO soldiers. The Bishop warns that independence would reward ethnic cleansing of non-Muslims. Since 9-11, he said, "the United States has been engaged in a global struggle against jihad terrorism, which threatens not just America but peaceful people of all faiths and nationalities. That is why we who live in the Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija find it difficult to understand why so many voices of influence in Washington support a course of action that would hand to the terrorists a significant victory in Europe."
While Muslims responded with deadly outrage to the now-retracted report by Newsweek of alleged Koran desecration, there was little outcry when Islamic gunmen in 2002 holed up in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, assumed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, used the Bible as toilet paper. About 30 priests, monks and nuns, and more than 150 Palestinian civilians, who hid inside to escape a gun battle between Israelis and Palestinians, remained inside the church with the armed militants for more than five weeks. Some of the Palestinian fighters, who belonged to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, part of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization, were received as heroes when they later returned to Gaza.
During the so-called Oslo peace process from the mid 1990s, while Palestinian authorities received financial support from Western nations, Arafat increased the boundaries of Bethlehem to include nearby Muslim villages, and encouraged Muslims to settle in the city. As a result, the percentage of Christians rapidly declined.
The Islamic gunmen were also responsible for the rape and murder of two Christian teenage sisters. The assailants claimed that the sisters had been murdered because they were "prostitutes" and had been "collaborating" with Israeli security forces. "The gangsters murdered the two sisters so that they would not tell anyone about the rape," said a family member. "Many Christian families have sent their daughters abroad for fear they would come under attack by Muslim men." "Some of the murderers were later killed by the Israeli army, but others are now living in Europe after they had sought refuge in the Church of Nativity. It's absurd that Muslim men who rape and murder Christian girls are given political asylum in Christian countries like Ireland, Spain and Italy."
The irony is that the same sexual harassment and rape of non-Muslim women, part and parcel of Jihad, is now spreading to cities in Western Europe with many Muslim immigrants.
Professor Weiner, Scholar in Residence at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, provides an in-depth look into the nearly uninterrupted persecution of Christians throughout the decade since the Oslo peace process began. The Christians have shrunk to less than 1.7 percent of the population in the Palestinian areas. "Tens of thousands have abandoned their holy sites and ancestral properties to live abroad, while those who remain do so as a beleaguered and dwindling minority," Weiner said. "Their plight is, in part, attributable to the adoption of Muslim religious law (sharia) in the constitution of the Palestinian Authority. Moreover, the Christians have been abandoned by their religious leaders who, instead of protecting them, have chosen to curry favor with the Palestinian leadership."
More than 500 Muslim men, chanting Allahu akbar, attacked the Christian village of Taiba east of Ramallah. "They poured kerosene on many buildings and set them on fire. Many of the attackers broke into houses and stole furniture, jewelry and electrical appliances," said one resident. The attack was triggered by the murder of a Muslim woman from the nearby village of Deir Jarir. Her family forced her to drink poison for having had a romance with a Christian man from Taiba. Muslim men can marry Christian women, but Islamic law forbids Muslim women from marrying Christian men. The Christian community was thus collectively punished because it was rumored that one of their members had breached the rules of dhimmitude.
In a meeting attended by Robert Spencer, former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky noted that Israel had again and again aided Christians -- at their own request -- against Islamic violence and injustice, most notably when the Church of the Nativity was occupied by Jihadists in 2002. Yet international Christian leaders, he said, have not responded with similar gestures toward Israel. He is right. While Christians are persecuted on a daily basis in Muslim nations and may soon be wiped out in the Holy Land, Christian organizations in the West are too frequently engaged in "dialogue" with Muslims and demonization of Israel. Christians need to realize that they have much more in common with other non-Muslims, not just Jews, but Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Atheists, than they will ever have with Muslims. Jussi Halla-Aho, running for parliament in Finland as an independent candidate, has come to some of the same conclusions as I have regarding the Leftist-Islamic cooperation in many Western nations: The Left milks the working natives to maintain a predominantly idle immigrant population, who thankfully vote for the Left. The welfare state society thus has to support two parasites, each living in a symbiotic relationship with the other. This will eventually cause the system to collapse. Why would anyone support a policy that leads to certain destruction? Well, because a career politician never sets his sights 20, 50 or 100 years to the future but instead focuses on the next election. The short-term focus of our democratic system can thus, combined with Muslim immigration, turn into a fatal flaw.
But Halla-Aho asks an even more important question: "Why do the voters let all this happen? It is because Westerners like to be 'good' people and believe that their fellow men are equally good people. It is because they have humane values." "It is because the moral and ethical values of Western man have made him helpless in the face of wickedness and immorality."
Our Western "moral and ethical values" are profoundly influenced by Judeo-Christian thinking. Will our openness to outsiders, our democratic system and our Christian compassion, precisely the values that we cherish the most, render the West incapable of withstanding Jihad? A good Christian has to turn the other cheek and love his enemies. How are we to reconcile this with the reality that Muslims regard this as a sign of weakness? And how can we fight sharia when bishops and church leaders are the first to call for a "compassionate" immigration policy that allows masses of Muslims to settle here? Christians argue that Europe's problem is a cultural vacuum created by the retreat of church attendance and Christianity as a religion, which has paved the way for Islam to enter. They have a point, as I have shown before. But some Christian groups are opening the West to Islam, too, and the secular state doesn't have to be insipid and toothless. Far from it, it was secular states that fought and defeated the Fascist regimes during WW2 and risked the destruction of the planet in the Cold War. The non-religious authorities in China are far more ruthless in crushing any Islamic aggression than most Christian countries are. Of course, the downside is that they are far more ruthless in crushing anything deemed to be a potential challenge to their power.
Luckily, not all Christian leaders are appeasers of Islam. One of the intelligent ones comes from Australia, a country that has been fairly resistant to Political Correctness. They have taken serious steps towards actually enforcing their own borders, despite the predictable outcries from various NGOs and anti-racists, and Prime Minister John Howard has repeatedly proven to be one of the most sensible leaders in the Western world. George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, tells of how September 11 was a wake-up call for him personally:
"I recognised that I had to know more about Islam." "In my own reading of the Koran, I began to note down invocations to violence. There are so many of them, however, that I abandoned this exercise after 50 or 60 or 70 pages." "The predominant grammatical form in which jihad is used in the Koran carries the sense of fighting or waging war." "Considered strictly on its own terms, Islam is not a tolerant religion and its capacity for fear-reaching renovation is severely limited." "I'd also say that Islam is a much more war-like culture than Christianity." "I've had it asserted to me is that in the relationship between the Islamic and non-Islamic world, the normal thing is a situation of tension if not war, or outright hostility."
Pope Benedict XVI, nicknamed "God's rottweiler" as a cardinal, seems to embody elements of both the sensible and the silly Christian ways of dealing with the Islamic threat. Although Benedict has stressed the need for "reciprocity" in Christian-Muslim relations and urged Islamic countries to ensure religious rights for Christian migrants, he has also said that Christians should continue welcoming Muslim immigrants with open arms.
It caused an uproar in the Islamic world when Benedict XVI, as a part of a longer dissertation, quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor's hostile view of Islam's founder: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." Benedict later said he was "deeply sorry" for the reaction to his comments on Islam and that the quote he used from the medieval text about holy wars did not reflect his personal thoughts. Although this technically constitutes a non-apology apology and was deemed "unsatisfactory" by Muslims, many anti-Jihadists would have preferred the Pope to use the opportunity to make a clearer stand against Islamic aggression.
Still, his comments raised public debate about the issue, and certainly marked progress compared to his predecessor Pope John Paul II, who kissed the Koran in public in an effort to reach our to Muslims.
I have described examples of incredible stupidity and appeasement from Christians in the West, but also of courage and clarity of mind in standing up to Islamic aggression and defending Western civilization and the world from sharia. The ideological civil war within the West is not just between secularists and religious people; it runs straight through the Church itself.
Christians need to understand that there can be no peace or understanding with the Islamic world. They want to subdue us, pure and simple. Church leaders of all denominations, Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, must stop stabbing Israel in the back and campaigning for a de facto open borders policy while Muslims are threatening to swamp our lands. Yes, Christianity teaches compassion, but it also teaches identifying evil and standing up to it. At the end of the day, the Church must decide whether, in the defense of civilization, it wants to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution.
Fjordman is a noted Norwegian blogger who has written for many conservative web sites. He used to have his own Fjordman Blog in the past, but it is no longer active.Saturday, November 10, 2007
The SerbBlog Winners Circle!
Tina Hone
It gives me great pleasure to tell you that Tina Hone won her seat on the Fairfax (Virginia) County School Board by a very large margin! There were three School Board positions available for for the three top vote-getters in the election, and Tina did better than just get a seat, she was #1 in a field of six candidates, garnering 92,612 votes (19% of the vote). Way to go, Tina! We know that you will do a fabulous job!
Neil ClarkAnd Neil Clark's blog won as "Best UK Blog" in the Weblog Awards, coming in first by a large margin of over 400 votes. Neil is a rare breed -- a journalist with brains, guts and integrity who didn't just jump on the "hate the Serbs" bandwagon and buy the wartime propaganda for his reporting. Neil researched and did what journalists are supposed to do, see both sides of the story and not just get sucked into a media feeding frenzy. We are very happy to congratulate Neil on his big victory!
You
And to all of you who supported the success of both of these fine people with your votes, congratulations goes to you for helping the good guys win this time!
Friday, November 09, 2007
US Ambassador Honors Heroic WWII Serbs
Photo of plaque dedicated at 2004 visit of WWII surviving American airmen rescued by the Halyard Mission.
November 8 , 2007
Embassy of the United States of America
Belgrade
Ambassador Munter Honors Serbian Families in Pranjani
U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Cameron Munter will visit Pranjani on November 9, 2007 to honor Serbian families who saved the lives of hundreds of U.S. airmen shot down by Nazi forces during World War II. The Ambassador will present an official proclamation from the Governor of the State of Ohio, thanking the people of Pranjani on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the Halyard rescue mission. The State of Ohio is proud to be an active partner with Serbia in the State Partnership Program.
The Ambassador has chosen this day to visit Pranjani in honor of the American holiday of Veteran’s Day, which is celebrated on November 11 to commemorate those who have served in the American armed forces.
Operation Halyard: During the summer of 1944 approximately 1, 000 U.S. airmen bailed out over German-occupied Yugoslavia, a significant number of them landing in Serbia. In a series of daylight and night airlifts, a team made up of troops of General Mihailovic's Royal Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) evacuated over 300 U.S. airmen from the village of Pranjani. The rescue of the U.S. airmen involved small unit actions against German troops and put at risk entire Serb villages that sheltered the U.S. personnel. U.S. airmen bear testimony to the significant sacrifices of local Serb villagers who fed, cared for and protected them, in some cases up to six months. The Halyard Mission is considered one of the greatest rescues of American airmen from behind enemy lines in the history of warfare.
For more information, please contact the Embassy Press Section at trickovicb@state.gov or sokovicm@state.gov.
SerbBlog: And for the fascinating and accurate account of the WWII Halyard Mission, where Serbs gave their lives to protect and rescue over 500 American Airmen who had been shot down behind German lines, read "The Forgotten 500" by Gregory A. Freeman.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
BESA: "U.S. Kosovo Policy Is Bad for Israel"
Excerpt:
....While most Israelis may assume their country has no stake in the outcome of the Kosovo question, Washington’s proceeding with its current course would in fact adversely affect Israel’s interests in a number of ways:
....While most Israelis may assume their country has no stake in the outcome of the Kosovo question, Washington’s proceeding with its current course would in fact adversely affect Israel’s interests in a number of ways:
1. It would set the precedent that a solution to an intractable political and territorial quarrel can and should be imposed by outside countries, even if one of the parties rejects the proposed solution as contrary to its vital national interests. While the question of how Israel should come to an accommodation with Palestinian aspirations for self-rule has resisted efforts to find a negotiated settlement, no one suggests a solution imposed from outside would likely be in Israel’s interest.
2. The theory that outside powers can award part of a state’s sovereign territory to a violent ethnic or religious minority would put in question not only Judaea and Samaria – which, in any event, are not formally part of Israel – but even such areas as the southern Galilee and parts of the Negev, where non-Jews have, or may eventually acquire, local majorities. Israel’s Muslim population is now just above 20 percent, roughly the same as Serbia’s if Kosovo is included. If Albanian Muslims can demand separation from Serbia today, and citing alleged past mistreatment, why cannot Israel’s Arabs do the same tomorrow?
3. Washington’s plan to circumvent the Security Council to avoid Moscow’s veto would amount to a devaluing of Russia’s veto in the Security Council. Such an action is likely to devalue the power of the veto as such, at least as concerns a Permanent Member’s protection of smaller states. In light of how many times anti-Israel UNSC Resolutions have been thwarted by a US veto, damaging the power of the veto per se is detrimental to Israel in the future.....
(Excerpt) Read more at biu.ac.il ...
EU's Kosovo report scathing on graft, justice
BRUSSELS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Serbia's United Nations-run Kosovo province is plagued by graft, human rights abuses and cronyism because of weakness in the province's authorities, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
The EU executive's annual progress report concluded there was little progress in the province and institutions were weak, mainly due to widespread corruption at all levels.
"Due to a lack of clear political will to fight corruption, and to insufficient legislative and implementing measures, corruption is still widespread," the report said.
There was little control on how politicians and officials got their wealth and "civil servants are still vulnerable to political interference, corrupt practices and nepotism."
"Kosovo's public administration remains weak and inefficient," the report added.
In a reference to a widespread perception in Kosovo of cronyism, the report said that "the composition of the government anti-corruption council does not sufficiently guarantee its impartiality."
"Some but uneven progress can be reported in combating money laundering," and "little progress can be reported in the area of organised crime and combating of trafficking in human beings."
The report is an indictment for the U.N. bureaucrats running the province since 1999, and for the province's ethnic Albanian leaders, who are seeking independence from Serbia, political analysts said......Reuters
The EU executive's annual progress report concluded there was little progress in the province and institutions were weak, mainly due to widespread corruption at all levels.
"Due to a lack of clear political will to fight corruption, and to insufficient legislative and implementing measures, corruption is still widespread," the report said.
There was little control on how politicians and officials got their wealth and "civil servants are still vulnerable to political interference, corrupt practices and nepotism."
"Kosovo's public administration remains weak and inefficient," the report added.
In a reference to a widespread perception in Kosovo of cronyism, the report said that "the composition of the government anti-corruption council does not sufficiently guarantee its impartiality."
"Some but uneven progress can be reported in combating money laundering," and "little progress can be reported in the area of organised crime and combating of trafficking in human beings."
The report is an indictment for the U.N. bureaucrats running the province since 1999, and for the province's ethnic Albanian leaders, who are seeking independence from Serbia, political analysts said......Reuters
Monday, November 05, 2007
BSA: Vote for Decency and Honesty in Journalism by Voting for Neil Clark’s Blog
If you came to conclusion that all the British political commentators and journalists are liars and warmongers, cynical to the point of utter ugliness and hideousness, morally depraved hateful gnomes who thrive on mockery, mass media pogroms, globalism as the new form of fascism, collective lynchings of the enemy-of-the-day and filthy smear campaigns; if you decided that those wretched sold souls couldn’t shake off their Nazi mindsets even if they weren’t paid to pollute the media, simply because they feed on the global garbage depots and prefer a smelly plate of greasy lies, gossip, distortions and filth to any half-decent sustenance, then you aren’t alone and you certainly can’t be blamed — that particular breed of political commentators has been consciously and intentionally nurtured and raised in the Western mainstream for the purpose of brainwashing the masses and reselling wrong for right in order to keep the world in self-styled Elite’s perpetual shackles. Our Man, Neil
Our Man, Neil
But then you haven’t heard of Neil Clark, a representative of the whole other kind of British journalists, those whose honesty, decency, ethics and sincere humanism have not been compromised even when standing tall and straight was the hardest thing to do, when the roaring avalanches of filth orchestrated through the Western mainstream media were burying the entire Serbian nation and all the anti-globalism regimes remaining in the world, signaling the era of new naked aggressions, illegal wars, mass war crimes hidden under the “collateral damage” slur and invasions — the new form of fascism.
Apart from being a regular contributor to The Guardian, The Australian, The First Post, Morning Star, New Statesman, The Spectator, R.F.O. and Daily Express, Neil’s work has also been published in The Fleet Street Letter, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, The Times, The American Conservative, Pravda and The Racing Post.
You can read his superbly written, brilliantly insightful, reality-based articles throughout the web, including his exceptional portrait of George Soros, his powerful response to the brutal drive to dismember Serbia, and a flawless history lesson to the Aryan Warmongers about Balkans.
He also runs his own blog and if you get the chance to flip through it, you are bound to have a wonderful time: Neil’s blog is not only a resolute statement against the illegal aggressions and the mindless butchering and devouring of the world, but also a place where multiculturalism and exchange of cultural values gets its essential positive, humane dimension: from Belgrade, Budapest and Prague, to London, Munich and Brussels, this kind GentleMan reminds us to enjoy each other’s uniqueness, to seek the colorful, diverse, multidimensional, flavorful world instead of the imposed uniform monstrosity of the Big Brother.
Vote for Honesty and Ethical Approach to Journalism
We now have the rare opportunity to vote for decency and ethical approach to journalism, by voting for Neil Clark’s blog, nominated in the ‘Best UK Blog’ category in the 2007 Weblog Awards. Please cast your vote here. You can vote once every 24 hours. (And voting ends on November 9th.) And please ask your friends to vote too!
Fairfax County Virginia Voters -- Vote for Tina Hone!!!
Just a quick reminder to all of you registered to vote in Fairfax County Virginia, to get out & vote for our Tina Hone as Member at Large for the Fairfax County School Board.
Tina has done a tremendous lot of work for American Serbs over the years. Now it's our turn to do what we can to help Tina, by giving her your vote and also calling anyone else you might know in Fairfax County and telling them to vote for Tina!
Elections are Tuesday, November 6, 2007, so make sure to vote and to call your friends & family in Fairfax County today to vote for Tina, too! Zivila Tina!
Sunday, November 04, 2007
PI: Divac chooses charity
When we last checked in with our old friend Vlade Divac, he was being named an executive for Real Madrid, continuing his post-NBA career in team management. Divac had been president of his old team, KK Partizan, for many years, and had been a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers since ending his playing days in 2005.
But Divac, 39, has awoken to a different calling. He has given up working day-to-day in basketball in order to help both his countrymen and refugees in Africa rebuild their lives by having a place to live.
Divac's "You Can Too" campaign is attempting to raise 8 million euros (about $11.6 million) to restore abandoned homes throughout Serbia and Africa, providing shelter for 2,000 people.
A three-day charity event last month in his hometown of Prijepolje - where Divac's former teammates Chris Webber, Scot Pollard and Glen Rice, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who is of Serbian and Croatian descent, attended - raised almost 1 million euros. Lakers forward Vladmir Radmonovic, whose father was in the Serbian army and whose family was left homeless after the United Nations-led bombing of that country in 1994, donated $100,000.
"It's too much work," Divac said last week from Spain. "I decided to go and just do the humanitarian work. Doing an everyday job, you don't have time to do these things. This makes me feel real good."
Divac opened a museum in Prijepolje as part of the charity event but wants to do more. His group is planning a charity fashion show next month and trying to organize a fund-raiser in the United States next year. His wife (Ana) will run the campaign in coordination with the U.N.
"What I tried to do was use my name to raise money," Divac said. "Those people are going to do the work on the field. I'm trying to be involved because I want to make sure that the money goes to the right people. . . . We came up with the idea. Let's use this for a positive cause. Serbia has the most refugees in Europe, and Africa has the most refugees in the world."
Divac also wants to bring positive attention to his native country after years of dealing with negative publicity from the former regime of Slobodan Milosevic.
"I want to go around the world to meet with Serbian people everywhere," Divac said. "That's why I want to use Serbian people, because we've gotten a lot of bad press the last few years. We've got a good side, too. . . . I want to show what we really are. I think this is a good way to do it."
CSM: "If you give separatists an inch..."
An independent Kosovo will spur other separatists to fight harder.
By David Youngfrom the November 5, 2007 edition
Arlington, VA. - The NATO intervention in the Serbian province of Kosovo in 1999, the UN protectorate that followed, and the symbiotic push for Kosovo's development and independence have left many analysts and politicians scrambling either to bemoan or trivialize the impact that Kosovo's final status could have on the global order.
With the looming Dec. 10 deadline for the latest round of negotiations, it seems exceedingly unlikely that Washington will be able to persuade Moscow to endorse Kosovo's independence at the UN Security Council. Yet Kosovo's frustrated Albanians, who make up more than 90 percent of the province's population, have hinted that they are on the brink of declaring independence unilaterally, even if it means renewed conflict with Belgrade.
Ultimately, in our international system, a nation's "independence" is little more than the rest of the world's willingness to recognize it as independent. So, even if Moscow vetoes Kosovo's bid for independence, Kosovo can still enjoy some of the benefits of being an independent country. These benefits become more substantial with every state that recognizes Kosovo. Similarly, the likelihood of renewed violence would decrease if other countries viewed Kosovo's self-defense as legitimate......CSM
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