In These Times

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• • 25 Jun 08
  • 8:46 am

  "In 1998 during the first phase of the 1998-1999 war, the Yugoslav National Army (JNA), acting against an unarmed civilian population, forced 300,000 ethnic Albanians from their homes." That's one way to look at the situation. However, it should be noted that thousands of Albanians crossed the border into Greece, Macedonia and Serbia (mainly Kosovo) during the 90s. After Milosevic's Kosovo Polje speech the Yugoslav authorities started (far too late) a passport verification programme and began to expel illegal immigrants. We don't describe this as 'ethnic cleansing' when applied to western Europe, so why would we use that term in the …

  Posted to 'The Kosovo Dilemma' goes astray

• • 25 Jun 08
  • 10:40 am

  I don't like spinach either. Though I see no reason to write about it. :o)

  Posted to 'The Kosovo Dilemma' goes astray

• • 25 Jun 08
  • 2:17 pm

  "Well I see people really basing their arguments on their feelings rather than look back at the truth." Very true. Now read your own comment. I feel sorry for those who became the victim of all this, Serbs as well as Albanians. Had the Albanians themselves dealt properly with the KLA instead of fearfully obeying them, there wouldn't have been a reason for a Serbian crackdown on the armed uprising which was performed by a bunch of Albania lobby financed thugs, armed and trained by the US. For some reason the West wanted an end to Serbia's domination in the region. …

  Posted to 'The Kosovo Dilemma' goes astray

• • 25 Jun 08
  • 8:03 pm

  I see. America is a pretty isolated place, isn't it. But there's an Internet now and you're allowed to use it, which I recommend. - The KLA fought the regime. That's why the security forces marched in. Before that the Albanian communities rejected non-Albanians and did their best to get rid of them -- nothing changed since then (remember 2004, pogroms under the eyes of Nato troops). - Bombing the RTS was a war crime, since it was a non-military target. The objective to silence broadcasts failed. - Serbs and other ethnicities suffered from the consequences of the embargo for years, …

  Posted to 'The Kosovo Dilemma' goes astray

• • 25 Jun 08
  • 8:48 pm

  "Can you accept the fact that Milosevic can be compared to Hitler?" You can compare anything with anything. But very often it doesn't hold water because its objective is propagandistic. Milo did what's expected from a president: standing up for the rights of minorities (in this case Serbs in KosMet) and defending the state against foreign aggression (Nato). He was not popular within Serbia like Bush is in the US, which makes one realize that democracies can be manipulated too. Anyway, Hitler was a mass-killer and an agressor. The fact that he crossed the border made him a legal target (you're …

  Posted to 'The Kosovo Dilemma' goes astray