U.S. Orders Some Diplomats To Leave Serbia

In a precautionary move the State Department on Friday ordered nonessential diplomats and the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade to leave Serbia, following an attack on the compound.


The move, made at the request of U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Cameron Munter, came as U.S. diplomats across the Balkans went on alert, girding for more anti-American violence after Serb rioters stormed and torched the Belgrade embassy Thursday, causing as-yet undetermined damage and drawing fierce condemnation from Washington.

For once our government is being proactive, and actually taking care of a problem, before someone gets killed!! Good call on Ambassador Munter's part!!


leave

U.S. Embassy Set On Fire

As evidenced by this next story, the United States recognition of Kosovo's independence has led to violence directed at our embassy in Belgrade:

BELGRADE, Serbia - Serb rioters set fire to an office inside the U.S. Embassy Thursday and police clashed with protesters outside other embassy buildings after a large demonstration against Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Masked attackers broke into the U.S. compound, which has been closed this week, and tried to throw furniture from an office. They set fire to the office and flames shot up the side of the building. It took police about 45 minutes to appear at the scene, and firefighters arrived about the same time and put out the blaze. Police secured the U.S. Embassy and surrounding area, blocking off all access.

This is probably just the beginning of attacks against "American" assets overseas, and it will probably spill over onto the European Union countries, that also recognize an independent Kosovo!


kosovo

Kosovo On Independence Eve

This next story takes place in a tiny country, but its' actions will have global repercussions:

Tiny Kosovo, poor, mostly Muslim but feverishly pro-Western, braced itself Saturday for a historic declaration of independence from Serbia, a decade after a war that killed 10,000 people and years of limbo under U.N. rule.


The province's bold bid for statehood, expected Sunday, and its quest for international recognition set up an ominous showdown with Serbia and Russia. Moscow contends the move will set a dangerous precedent for secessionist groups worldwide. Although it is formally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been administered by the U.N. since 1999, when NATO airstrikes ended the late Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's brutal crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

The imminent independence of the territory, roughly the size of Connecticut, threatens to touch off a diplomatic crisis and possible unrest. Russian President Vladimir Putin, arguing that independence without U.N. approval would set a dangerous precedent for "frozen conflicts" across the former Soviet Union and around the world, pressured the Security Council to intervene.

This independence, while "good" for Kosovo, will surely incite new violence, and with Russia standing against them, will surely put one more chink, in our already strained relationship with Putin, and the newly "aggressive" Russia. Dangerous times ahead for all concerned! Good Luck to the Kosovites, as they are going to need it!!



independence