UN administrators flee “Kristallnacht”

[Vladimir]

http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=27517&order=priority&style=headlines

PRISTINA -- Wednesday – UN administrators have abandoned offices in the Kosovo towns of Gnjilane, Prizren and Pec, fleeing what one UNMIK official described to B92 as “Kristallnacht”.

“Kristallnacht is under way in Kosovo,” the official told B92 on condition of anonymity.

“What is happening in Kosovo must unfortunately be described as a pogrom against Serbs: churches are on fire and people are being attacked for no other reason than their ethnic background,” he added.

Have a read through the rest of the site too... B92 is an independant Serbian news organization famous for its denunciations of Milosevic and documentaries about attrocities commited by Serbs during the 90s... christ if they are reporting this, I can't imagine what is going on down there...

V

[Moderator]

1. I know the articile is short, but you posted the whole thing

Please edit it for copy right compliance.

[Vladimir]

2. done

sorry

V

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

23. (copyright is one word)

:)

[DuctapeFatwa]

3. Apparently some Serbs chased some Albanian kids into a river

where they drowned. The kids were 9 and 12.

The Albanian community is somewhat displeased.

[Vladimir]

4. Yeah, and before that

some Albanians shot a Serb kid dead in a drive-by. What's your point Ductape?

V

[DuctapeFatwa]

9. Ah, that unslakable thirst for Muslim blood...

Are you suggesting that more children should have been drowned?

[Vladimir]

10. Excuse me?

Listen, I don't know where this is coming from. Have I gone around here bleating about Kosovo to you or anyone? How does my well documented stance on Iraq, Afganistan etc. square with a thirst for Muslim blood? I would appreciate an apology for your insinuations.

Serbs are by means innocent of what has been going on in Kosovo, but they are also by no means the only guilty party. Some 1000 non -Albanians have died between 1999-2003 in racially motivated murders. I don't condone the disguisting conduct of Milosevic, but neither should you condone the conduct of the Albanian majority who happen to be more or less in charge down there alongside the UN.

V

[DuctapeFatwa]

12. Listen, the money boys wanted a crusade, they got a crusade

Kosovo is just another crusade land, as long as weapons are being sold, profits are being made, everybody's happy, right?

[Vladimir]

13. Crusade by who exactly?

Are the Serbs in Kosovo rabidly religious - for the most part yes. Are Serbs in general racist towards Albanians - again for the most part yes. Is the reverse of my last statement true - yes. Does any of this justify what seems to be going on there tonight - no of course not.

I still don't understand what I am being accused of here.

V

[DuctapeFatwa]

14. Who's accusing you? We can go back to the Field of Blackbirds if you

want, and before that this, and before this, that, back to 1389.

Before there was an AMBO, before there were pipelines...

[Vladimir]

15. Well your statement about

the thirst for Muslim blood seemed aimed pretty directly at me...

we could go back further than 1389 actually... when Serbs and Albanians were part of the same kingdom... but that wasn't my point. I posted this because it looks like things might kick off proper down there again, and because in my view it exposes as a sham the humanitarian nature of the UN presence in Kosovo. And I used to be from a country called SFRJ once you know. I vaguely still give a shit.

V

[DuctapeFatwa]

16. No, I didn't mean to aim it at you. The unslakable thirst is proving to be

quite the little money-maker, from Kosovo to Kurdistan, and I used to be from a planet called earth. I vaguely still give a shit :)

[Vladimir]

19. have a read through this too

PRISTINA -- Wednesday – UNMIK spokesman Derek Chappell said tonight that the survivor of yesterday’s Ibar River drowning has told his parents that he and three friends entered the river alone and were immediately caught up in the heavy current.

http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=27522&order=priority&style=headlines

If this is true, and I stress the if because at the moment only one source is reporting it, it looks like someone has engineered this to set things off. I should probably not be outraged anymore...

V

[DuctapeFatwa]

20. The Scotsman is quoting UN police as blaming it all on the Albanians

A senior international United Nations police official said: "The situation is not under control. This is planned, co-ordinated, one-way violence from the Albanians against the Serbs. It is spreading and has been brewing for the past week.

"Nothing in Kosovo happens spontaneously."

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=312192004


This is suspicious. Somebody wanted some "conflict" there, and they want the Albanians blamed.

[Vladimir]

21. Its a completely confused situation

although I don't see who in the UN would have wanted it blamed on the Kosovo Albanians - that has not been UNMIK's MO in the past.

My best guess is that they needed the original drowning story to inflame the Albanian population, which in turn has predictably enough led to the nationalists in Belgrade retaliating against mosques and the US embassy :eyes:. Some people never learn.

Truth is, I agree with you that the UN statements seem strangely one-sided. But I fail to see what they have to gain from blaming the Albanians. If this is an anti-muslim thing, it would be completely contrary to the last 15 odd years of Western propaganda blaming everything in the former Yugoslavia on the Serbs.

V

[DuctapeFatwa]

22. What is the status of the pipeline? I tried googling, and nothing recent,

the last thing I remember was a piece in Baku Today about a signing for that section of it. I have a notion we will see something about AMBO in the next few days.

If it is a case of bush wanting Yugoslavia to contribute some crusaders, they've already gotten that (see snip below)

Or it could be an effort to head off Kosovo anger at the UN and NATO because years have passed, and the promised independence has yet to materialize...

"Serb paramilitary troops who last saw action in the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo in 1999 are being trained for anti-terrorist duties in Afghanistan beside some of the US forces who helped expel them from the Yugoslav province. The 1000-strong force comprises some former members of the "red berets", a feared military police unit which helped lead the campaign to drive the Albanian majority out of Kosovo and wipe out Kosovo Liberation Army resistance fighters."

http://www.nni-news.com/current/world/news-10.htm

[Vladimir]

27. I've got no idea

I know about the red berets and Afganistan (and Iraq incidentally), you can imagine how I felt when our 'democratic' government decided to contribute troops to that particular escapade. But check this:

BELGRADE -- Thursday – Serbia-Montenegro’s defence minister has said that the army is ready, with the agreement of the NATO-led peacekeepers force in Kosovo (KFOR), to participate in the protection of Serbs in the province, after violent clashes erupted leaving 18 people dead.

http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?order=priority

I expect this is a pipe dream. But... I gotta tell you, I still can't see who is gaining what from this. The Albanians certainly could have done without the kind of press they are now going to get. And the Serbian government is now in disarray - remember the ultra nationalists are being kept out of government by a minority coalition - its being quite rightly accussed of not protecting its own. The only winner seems to me someone who wants the ultra-nationalists in power in Belgrade and a war. So either:

1) A war in the Balkans is useful because it diverts attention from Iraq

2) The KLA have decided to fuck waiting and force the situation

I really don't know.

V

[DuctapeFatwa]

29. To divert attention from Iraq, or to sell Kosovo as yet another

theatre in the spreading "war on terra?" Especially since "Old Europe" seems to have some doubts.

I wonder if "Al Qaeda" will write a letter on the subject, and clear up the mystery for us ;)

[Vladimir]

30. Oh I hope so!

Dear Mr Usama,

I have been wondering, why is there violence in Kosovo? Is this another jihad by you against the Western crusaders? If so, I would like to point out to you that we are the Eastern crusaders, so would you kindly stop attacking us and resume bombing the Satan America.

Yours from the Eastside,

Draza Mihajlovic & co.

[DuctapeFatwa]

32. Dear Mr. Mihajlovic,

Unfortunately, we do not have a convenient letter pick-up window in your area at this time.

However, as you are aware, our new "lackey" letter series has been so successful that we are efforting to expand our Old Europe division to include several very attractive kiosks for the New Europe territory, and we do not anticipate any problem with the Kosovo zoning regulations regarding this.

We understand the urgency of your need for a letter, however, and it is not out of the question that a couple of dozen of those cool "Sorry 'bout your plane, we didn't know it was invisible" T-shirts (size 2XLong, please, and all cotton, if you have any left) could prove the determining factor in how swiftly we are able to serve your region.

Sincerely,

Abu-Hafs al-Masri

Regional Sales Manager

[SquireJons]

25. This may sound crazy...

...but what about this?

A central part of the RNC's political strategy is to discredit the most recent Democratic Administration so as to blame everything in the world on them. Despite the continuing problems, I'd have to say that the military campaign in Yugoslavia and Albania have succeeded for the most part. Open warfare ended after what, ten years? Thanks, almost exclusively to the Clinton Administration.

By letting the whole thing flare up again, the Cheney administration seeks to undermine one of the achievements of the Clinton Administration. Remember, the neo-cons think war is a natural and good thing. So what if the entire Balkans go up in flames? I see it as planned neglect.

And, btw, I find nothing in Vlad's posts to disagree with. We all know the Serbs have behaved badly, but not as many people know just how radical and violent the Albanian independence movement really is. Hell, they threatened to shoot down their own plane load of diplomats if they compromised in any way with Albright during the peace negotiations. Cool heads must prevail, which is one more reason to re-unelect shrub.

[NV1962]

26. planned neglect *is* crazy - but it seems not too far-fetched

At least, I don't think so.

And I also agree with your point about not being biased against Serbo Kosovars, and not ignoring or dismissing what is instigated by Albano-Kosovars. What I could find so far points to a coordinated attempt to drive the Serbo Kosovars out of Kosovo.

As far as I know, seventeen people haven been killed today - and the situation is deteriorating by the hour, it seems.

I hope the EU steps in ASAP - to get NATO rapid response reinforcement in fast and avoid total escalation.

(BTW - fresh WaPo article here)

[w4rma]

5. I hope things aren't destablizing there, too. (n/t)

[Dirk39]

17. Sorry to bring you bad news:

they never ever were "stabilized", after the Worldbank, the IMF and Nato started to destabilize it and break it apart and provoke ethnic rivalites in the years preparing the war.
And after Clark, Clinton, Schröder and Fischer they were as "stabilized" as Iraq one year after the liberation.
Go figure.

Hello from Germany,
Dirk

[SOS]

31. Another element of destabilization

is the massive heroin trade through Kosovo. Wherever there are hundreds of millions of drug dollars at stake, as in Columbia, civil war becomes very possible. Here's some info and a link as to where the money to fuel these wars comes from:

"In the early 1990s, as the Kosovar uprising in Yugoslavia grew, ethnic Albanian rebels there faced increased financial needs. The 15 Families responded by boosting drug trafficking and channeling money and weapons to the rebels in their clans. As traffickers started taking bigger risks, drug seizures by police across Europe skyrocketed from a kilo or two in the early 1980s to multimillion-dollar hauls, culminating in the spectacular 1996 arrest at Gradina, Yugoslavia, of two truckers running a load of more than half a ton of heroin worth $50 million.

German Federal Police now say that Kosovar Albanians import 80 percent of Europe's heroin. So dominant is the Kosovar presence in trafficking that many European users refer to illicit drugs in general as "Albanka," or Albanian lady. "

Afghanistan has now surpassed Burma as the main supplier of raw opium to Kosovo.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2000/01/heroin.html

[bobthedrummer]

6. What I find offensive is the Crystal Night allegory.

I will never forget.

[Vladimir]

7. Not my words

I agree with you, the analogy is OTT whatever may be going on. But things have been simmering down there for 5 odd years now, and it looks like tonight it may be coming to a head. I thought it was worth posting.

V

[bobthedrummer]

8. I didn't mean you, you are only a messenger.

For the unaware, here is a Crystal Night link
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERcrystal.htm

[keithyboy]

11. Meanwhile, the world is focused on Iraq and Bushtalnacht!

Wake me in 2050.

[everythingsxen]

18. And so the ancient battle begins anew..

war.. the only constant in the history of man.

[burrowowl]

24. With Bu$h in power

I fear things are going to get a hell of lot worse. I hope, if Kery is elected (and appointed by the SCOTUS) that WWIII is averted.

[ze_dscherman]

28. Why has nobody blamed Al Qaeda yet?

There are many accusations that Al Quada is present in the Kosovo. If ture, wouldn't it be a clever move for them to incite violence, in order to keep troops busy?