President Bush Officially Calls Kosovo Independent
 Monday, February 18th, 2008

Yesterday, after the territory of Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia, we published two immediate follow-up videos of reactions from Russia and Belgrade (the capital of Serbia).  The Prime Minister of Serbia, Vojislav Koštunica, issued a televised statement condemning the "false" state's declaration, and blamed the aggressive policies of the United States and its supporting European states.  U.S. President George W. Bush spoke about the declaration today, indeed in support of Kosovo.

"We'll watch to see how the events unfold today," President Bush said on live TV today, broadcasting from Arusha, Tanzania during his current tour of Africa.  "The Kosovans are now independent.  It's something I've advocated along with my government."

Gee whiz, I didn't know Bush owned our entire government.

Kosovo is a territory belonging to Serbia, but Hashim Thaçi, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, has officially decided to break the Albanian-majority region of Kosovo away from Serbia.

Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos of Spain sides with Serbia's Prime Minister, and maintains that Kosovo's declaration of independence is invalid.

"The government of Spain will not recognize the unilateral act proclaimed yesterday by the assembly of Kosovo," Moratinos said.

Unilateral, of course, means decided upon by only one party or side (referring to Kosovo).



Albanian Kosovans generally seem to want independence from Serbia, while most of those with Serbian roots who live there seem not to.  But Kosovo is now a majority of those with Albanian descent.  According the last census, 92% of the population of Kosovo is Albanian, 5.3% is Serbian, and 2.7% make up other ethnicities.

The Kosovo War (or "Kosovo Conflict") which stretched from 1996-1999 was due to conflict between the Serbian and Yugoslav security forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), when the KLA - an Albanian group - attempted to separate Kosovo from Serbia at that time as well.  Current Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, is a former leader of the KLA.

Though Thaçi is a former guerrilla and a convicted terrorist in Serbia, he has met with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica multiple times for the two to attempt a compromise in the situation, but negotiations failed.  Today, Serbia brought forth treason charges against Kosovo's leadership for yesterday's move.

"Kosovo is turning into a multiethnic state," PM Thaci said yesterday at a presentation of Kosovo's Declaration of Independence.  "Wherever you are, Kosovo has already made a decision to declare its independence.  This is a priority for our institutions."

In PM Kostunica's televised response, he said the "unilateral declaration of the fake state of Kosovo represents the final act of a policy initiated in 1999 with NATO aggression," referring to the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) bombings to keep the sides separate in the 90's conflict.

The U.S., he said, is "putting its policies of force before the United Nations Charter" in a "merciless violation of international order."

"America humiliated and forced Europe Union (EU) to discard its basic principles.  Europe bowed before America, and it will be held responsible for all the consequences that will arise form Kosovo's independence."

Oh, great.  Do I need to quote Republican Congressman Ron Paul again on the "we shouldn't be policemen of the world" bit?  It just never ends well.  Not that Bush consulted with any of us before announcing "our" support for the declaration; nor did former President Bill Clinton consult with the public when NATO was ready to attack former Yugoslavia in an effort to keep them from fighting.  But the American people do not deserve to be blamed for a conflict that has been going on in the Balkans for generations.

The American public is struggling with our own problems - everything from the housing market to our health care system, our weighty taxes to our unemployment rate, a heated election season and the continued distancing of the concentration of wealth between the rich and the poor that threatens everyone in between.

Ask the average American John or Jane Doe citizen if they think Kosovo should be a part of Serbia, and they'll probably either look back at you with a glassy, overworked gaze of confusion, or say "I don't know, let them decide."

The best answer - in this writer's opinion - is for us to stay out of it altogether and let the countries involved (perhaps with the UN's assistance)  work it out.  I believe it would be safe to assume that the majority of Americans have no idea what to do about the troubled region, and would prefer us not to be involved?

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