On Kosovo, for once Bush has done something right.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

Supporting the independence of Kosovo from Serbia will not be an easy decision - it will face opposition from both those in America who believe that because Kosovans are Muslims they are subhuman, and from the governments of Russia, China etc for whom human rights are not an issue - but it's undoubtedly the right thing to have done.

The government of Serbia tried to ethnically cleanse Kosovo of Albanians, using incredibly brutal means to do it. They should not be governing it.

We should give credit where credit is due: Bush has, for once, made the right decision by recognising Kosovo's independence.

[pbca]

1. I disagree

This should not have happened without at least heavy consultation and diplomacy with Serbia - according to the UN Charter no nation can lose territory without it's consent: That was the entire justification for Gulf War I.

I'd say there is a 50/50 chance that this could drag the US into another war

and a 50/50 (maybe better) chance that this could lead to dangerous 'declarations of independence' in other countries.

It's not that I don't have sympathy for the Kosavars - but this was handled with no more intelligence or understanding of international politics than Iraq was.

[Donnachaidh]

3. Bush doesn't give a rats ass for Kosavars

But he does care for his buddies in the military industrial complex.

Soooo, what pipelines are scheduled to be built in the region? Gotta keep bringing democracy to these countries, while we try to clamp down on the oil supplies.

[seemslikeadream]

9. it must blunt the power of the Nord and South Stream pipeline projects

http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.27560/pub_detail.asp

These EU leaders can join the United States in forming a unified policy on Russian energy that would accelerate the development of the Nabucco pipeline and liberalize trade with Russian energy companies. Prohibiting Gazprom from investing in European energy distribution networks until Russia opens up its own domestic network to foreign investment, as a September European Commission proposal urged, would be a good step in this direction.

The West should recognize Moscow's less-than-noble motives in opposing a free Kosovo, and it must blunt the power of the Nord and South Stream pipeline projects. Europe can either accept a grim future under Russia's thrall, or it can begin walking a difficult, if necessary, path.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

5. There *was* heavy consultation and diplomacy with Serbia.

Unfortunately, the Serbs made it clear that they weren't interested in compromising.

There were, unfortunately, two options: "Kosovo continues to be governed by the country that tried to ethnically cleanse it" or "this".

"This" will have all sorts of drawbacks - although I don't agree that it's likely to drag the US into another war. But it was still clearly the right thing to do.

[pbca]

8. As long as you understand

that this provides precident for declarations of independence around the world - Russia, China, India, Iraq, Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, even areas within the U.S. - Parts of the Southwest, or Hawaii could now simply declare independence and be recognized by countries like Russia and China : If this goes ahead it would be perfectly legitimate and ok with the U.N.

[Squatch]

11. Yeah, God forbid that others try to follow Kosovo's lead

and declare their right to liberty as a people.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

12. There were some fairly exceptional circumstances. But, in principle, yes.

I support government by consent. If a sufficient majority of the people in an area want independence, then unless there are strong arguments to the contrary, they should probably get it.

The case is far more clear-cut in this case due to the attempted ethnic cleansing, though. There was no way the Kosovar Albanians could be expected to remain under Serbian rule after that.

[seemslikeadream]

2. 5 million dead in Congo since 1998

[tuckessee]

4. I'm looking forward to seeing the same principle applied to Texas. n/t

[Donald Ian Rankin]

7. If sufficiently many Texans want independence, and the US tries to ethnically cleanse Texas,

then I hope they get it.

If sufficiently many Texans want independence, for a suffiently large value of sufficient, then I hope they get it come what may.

[mojowork_n]

6. Makes no sense. As a reward for the ethnic cleansing since 1999,

having expelled the gorani, roma, turks, jews, 'egyptians', as well as most of the serbs, the albanians get a pat on the back? "Expelled" is a gentle euphemism for what really took place. All the other ethnicities in the province were driven out violently, or with brutal threats of violence.

It's actually dangerous, there, to speak any other language on the street, besides Albanian.

But what sort of local autonomy have the Albanians won? A colonial viceroy, the IRC, will have jurisdiction over the "government" of Kosovo.

Google: counterpunch, george szamuely, and/or diana johnstone for a better informed, detailed examination.

[Eurobabe]

10. I agree, it's the only thing Bush has done right in 7.5 years.

[seemslikeadream]

13. He only does something right if it is in HIS interest

nothing to do with humanity

[Donald Ian Rankin]

14. Whatever his motivation, it was the right thing to do.

Tony Blair supported the invasion of Iraq for - probably - noble motives. That doesn't mean he was right to do so, and it didn't stop people blaming him for it. The flip side of that is that we should give Bush credit for doing the right thing, even if for the wrong reasons.

[seemslikeadream]

I'd give him credit if he would have addressed the 5 MILLION DEAD IN CONGO

Tony Blair never did a noble thing in his life, and neither has bush

[wuushew]

15. Why was the Republic of Serbian Krajina never recognized?

The only difference between Serbia and the rest of what was Yugoslavia is that Serbia has/had two autonomous regions.

[stimbox]

16. Gee, didn't they find a large reserve of gas and oil in Albania recently?

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Isn't Kosovo essentially a western/nato colony with a large u.s military base?

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Kind of makes one go Hmmmmmmmmmm.

I wonder if Bush would support California's independence from the USA?

[Karenina]

19. GOLD? *MIC base?

What's not to like?

[uppityperson]

17. As long as we're playing "what about another group/country", what about Kurdistan?

[High Plains]

18. The Kosovar Albanians SUCCEEDED in ethnically cleansing the Serbs.

By that token, they should not be governing it, either. Not exactly nice folks, the KLA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_War

Aftermath

Within three weeks, over 500,000 Albanian refugees had returned home. By November 1999, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 808,913 out of 848,100 had returned.

However, an estimated 200,000 Serbs fled Kosovo.<52> Gypsies were also driven out after being harassed by Albanians. Since June 12, 1999, as many as 1,000 Serbs and Roma have been murdered or have gone missing as a result of KLA elements and possibly criminal gangs or vengeful individuals.<53><35> The Yugoslav Red Cross had also registered 247,391 mostly Serbian refugees by November. The new exodus was a severe embarrassment to NATO, which had established a peacekeeping force of 45,000 under the auspices of the United Nations Mission In Kosovo (UNMIK).

Returning IDPs from the Republic of Macedonia were kept in a lead polluted refugee camp set up by KFOR / UNMIK in North Mitrovica. The charity, ran by Paul Polansky, claims 27 died from lead poisoning, denied by UNMIK who recognise only one death.

According to Amnesty International, the presence of peacekeepers in Kosovo led to an increase in the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation.<54><55><56>

Eastern Kosovo, most of which was untouched by the war itself, was hard hit paricularly in the first months following Nato's entry in the province. Multiethnic Gnjilane in particular suffered heavily as this was in the American zone, and U.S. forces cooperated completely with the KLA as it burned Serbs and minorities out of the province. This also was the part of Kosovo from which the KLA finally was able to establish itself to launch attacks against central Serbia (2000) and Macedonia (2001). The 2001 Macedonia conflict, which ended with the KLA's effective partition of that country and with Macedonia's Interior Minister being made a prisoner at The Hague, was a direct result of the war in Kosovo.