"Kosovo Serbs, Balkan Palestinians”

"Albanians feel emboldened to press anew for a 'Greater Albania' uniting in a single state a nation currently scattered among four."

The critical word here is ANEW. In other words, it's clear to any objective, impartial observer that what the Albanians HAVE been trying to do is create a greater Albania. It's now in the public arena to a greater extent than ever that the war with Serbia was never about repression, but a well thought out plan to exact naked aggression upon Serbia to grab land for a greater Albania, conveniently using Milosevic as a pretext for all out war - after initiating that war with increasing levels of terrorism.

No Albanian can deny it now. This alleged victimisation was a well orcehestrated ruse, propaganda to tug at the heart strings of the general population in the westwho had no idea about Kosovo or it's history.

I've got to admit. it was a good plan. Milosevic fell for it hook, line and sinker.

This is an utterly wrong analogy. Kosovo Serbs are expelled from their own land, from their own country where their ancestors lived for centuries. This is not the case with Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine, of whom many moved there after the 1920's. Yaser Arafat is a prime example.

Palestinian Arab population swelled while Serb population dwindled.

I can see the vile PR at work here. First it was to compare Bosnian Muslims and Albanians with Jews, now they compare Serbs to "Palestinians".

Stinks to the high heaven.

The fate of Serbs of Kosovo is comparable to Jews in Arab lands and Greeks after the fall of Ottoman Empire, or any other Christian ethic group in the mercy of Islamic majority.

Shame on you, WSJ !

The piece by Matthew Kaminski was one of the most arrogant, idiotic and ill-informed pieces I have ever read on Kosovo. However, it was nothing less than I would expect from the Wall Street Journal, which has been acting as a cheerleader for Kosovo's independence for a number of years now. Truly and utterly appalling!

I am glad for one thing at least, instead of referring to 'Kosovo Independence', albanians and western media alike are starting to refer to this idea for what it is - 'greater albania'. This is in fact what the US is trying to create, and the albanians won't stop with Kosovo, they will do the same with Macedonia, Montenegro, and even Greece. It seems that wherever albanians live, they can't seem to integrate and get along with their host country. Coincidence? I think not.

Nehat,

"if Kosova is sliced this will bring up all sorts of issues which will not be in anyone's favour. especially the serbs within Kosova"

- when what is yours is being stolen from you completely and totally I guess you are left with all to gain by asserting your rights - thus on the contrary Serbia has all to gain!

PB & Jack both spot on!

Ignorant. Arrogant. Tosh! Nothing more need be said of this Post article. Any poster on this site could write a better article.

Teni - I think it is you, not I who is either naive or disingenuous. The word ANEW is significant because for the first time in ages, it publicly states what everyone secretly knows and discusses behind closed doors and events on the ground back up the conclusion. Albanians stir up trouble in Macedonia and Montenegro. Why specifically those states?

As for your quip about Republika Srpska, unlike Croatia or Slovenia,Bosnia never was a country in it's own right, only an administrative region. The Serbs in RS therefore have every right to break away from a manufactured country and join Serbia.

And why do you and other Albanian posters think it is OK for an Albanina minority in Serbia to gain independence, yet deny Serbs in RS a right to independence when they are a much larger minority in Bosnia. Funny how no Albanian commentators want to allow them independence!! If the Albanians were more even handed, maybe they would see a softening of many Serbs hardline stance.

"...."This province was part of Yugoslavia, a state that no longer exists"

The province IS a part of SERBIA, a state that still exists.

I can’t really believe my eyes what I’m reading! Serbs = Palestinians? Who ever wrote this article has no knowledge of history, geography and politics. Question is: who is the most powerful (meaning in military aspect) country in the middle east that misuses his power to occupy someone’s else territories, RIGHT it is Israel (to whom the slobo regime was close), another question is: who is the most powerful (again meaning in military aspect) country in the Balkans that also misused its power to fight all neighbors, not just in ’90 but since 1912/13 onward in order to create a dream called “great Serbia”? Serbia of course. Who suffered from Israelis in the region? Palestiniens, Lebanon, Egypt etc… Who suffered from Serb invasions: Slovenians, Croatians, Bosnia, Albanians etc. etc. Now, Princip, Kate, who is like what here. Serbs like Palestinians or like Israelis (even though have nothing against)?

"Instead, Belgrade should be given a stark choice: a future in league with Russia, or the EU and NATO. Kosovo is the test,” the Wall Street Journal writes."

What a stupid analogy! Why must Serbia join either camp? Why shouldn't Serbia strive to be like Switzerland -- wealthy and SOVEREIGN? Perhaps with special ties to an increasingly wealthy Russia. But certainly not a subservient relationship like what you see in Nato.

This US newspaper presumptously implied that Nato membership is the gold standard. What will Nato really mean for Serbia? It really means that her military will become a mere lackey of the US, to be used to fight the US's endless battles in Iraq and Afghanistan so that body bags will be returning to Belgrade instead of Washington! A privilege? I would beg to differ.

As an addendum to my previous post i'd like to clarify a matter for the albanian supporters here. The WSJ claims that Kosovo should not be broken up (surprise, surprise), yet claim that Serbia lost Kosovo due to it's action in Kosovo in 1999. These are two contradictory statements - let me explain. Serbia "lost" Kosovo as under UN law, NATO/USA had the right to intervene as a minority were being "persecuted" (we can argue all day about how this came about so i won't elaborate). In intervening, the USA holds out UN law as the reason for the intervention. What it "conveniently" fails to consider is that technically speaking, northern Kosovo which is Serb dominated does not fall under said UN law as why would the Serbs persecute other Serbs. In other words, northern Kosovo has a moral AND legal right to stay within Serbia and it's borders even if the rest of Kosovo broke away. It would be an illegal act by the US/NATO if they tried to declare this also belonged to the Albanians such as the southern half of Kosovo. If the Albanians declare independence, fine, Serbia realistically cannot do anything about that fact on the ground, but if the ALbanians also try to take northern Kosovo, Serbia should stand it's ground it has a moral and legal obligation to do so.

PB,

I dont think that we are smart enough to fool the entire international community on our inentions.

It is in fact generally agreed throuought the Balkans that it is in fact the Serbs that are professionals at bending the truth and excelent at propaganda.

Our intentions have always been:

1. To survive in a Slavic Balkans.

2. To live free and without any kind of interference from neighbouring countries.

Survival and freedom are two things that have kept us alive throughout the centuries.

No conqueror has ever been able to subdue these two basic instincts and Serbia is no different.

Well guys, this article tells us that Kosova population future is not so bright. I think that we(Albanians, Serbs and others)should make it clear at least for ourselves what future do we want and press ahead with our claim.
This article brings to mind that nothing Great in Balkans functions, no Great Serbia, no Great Albania.

People right this sort of articles because we give feed them. So let us stop feeding the journalist and we will have a better life.

Let’s apologize to our neighbors’ for damage and pain caused.
Let us use the proper books of history after all we are going to live together again what ever the future status is. No Serb or Albanians will leave Kosova since it is our home.
No K-Albanian or Serb will find home anywhere else but Kosova. Forget messages of Princip, PB , Cvele … since they have secure future. It is us that are going to bare the consequences the future status

I am quite satisfied! if the WSJ is printing articles of such a weak level in regard to the Kosovo-issue...that´s a quite good sign.

not only are they referring to obviously false premises ( serbian occupation of serbian territory? =) ) but also those quite naive looking attempts to create a virtual take-it-or-leave-it situation for Serbia, that is far from reality though!

once again for all those who are not capable of thinking for themselves: Serbia will
join the EU anyway (not because they love Serbia, but because it´s in the mere interest of the EU )
so, the author either doesn´t know what he´s writing about or it is a rather miscarried try to emphasize american influence in an international issue.

thanks for posting, B92, as long as the WSJ is printing articles of this kind, it´s good for Kosovo!

The article and the stupid, stupid hatred that B92 lets on it's pages is just an example of one more disinterested party on to the bandwagon of sowing hate between people that lived side by side for centuries doing the bidding of it's rulers and today's politicians.

Why should I hate a Muslims from Serbia or for that matter any Muslim from any other country. Fundamentally I would have no reason if that to hate or even dislike that individual for any other reason other than direct attack by that individual upon myself and others who are innocent population caught up in a situation of political scheming by politicians and want-to-be rulers of others.

So therefor I, would want the same of Muslims living in Serbia or anywhere else to have the same respect for me.

Having said that leads me to a conclusion that it does not matter where I live as long as those fundamental rights are protected by the general population and that those rights are embedded into the constitution and are protected by a strong judiciary and police force.

Serbia has a strong constitution for it's citizens whatever religion they follow. The wars that were set of by faulty constitutions in Croatia, by it's two tier system for Serbs and Croatians and in Bosnia by it's own two tier system for Serbs and Muslims. Special rights always lead to dissatisfaction and that created an opportunity for those politicians and hangers on to create a feeling of hate.

I believe if Muslims stop and think and realize that Serbia was a country that they ESCAPED TO from Albania, they would realize that someone of their own religion or ethnic identification is leading them to hardships and not prosperity.

The Albanian will not create to states, the only solution we have is to create a great region with Kosova as an independent stat without any boarders being chopped off. As you read in the article if Kosova is sliced this will bring up all sorts of issues which will not be in anyone's favour. especially the serbs within Kosova.

CIA propoganda at its finest!!!

What exactly are Moscow's "provocations"? Not bowing to Washington's need for another Muslim state in Europe? Or, its need to meet demand for more poppy seed products and human traffic? Or how about Russians allowing international law to impede Washington's crooked politicians from proceeding as demanded by foreign mafia masters?

"When NATO agreed to put [Kosovo's] status in limbo at the end of the 1999 war and sent in a U.N. government, no one could know that a future President Vladimir Putin would turn Kosovo into a proxy for his larger fight with the West, along with missile defense and Iran.”

Translation: When the Americans voted for Resolution 1244 at the end of the 1999 Kosovo war they did so in bad faith. They told Serbia that its territorial integrity was guaranteed inorder to get Milosevic to sign the Kumanovo agreement, but they never expected the Russians to hold them to that.

...."This province was part of Yugoslavia, a state that no longer exists; Serbia effectively lost its claim in the 1990s..."

no comment

Nick - Another fact that is generally agreed about the blakans is that the KLA and other Albanian units effectively started the war in Kosovo by targeting the administration in the region, i.e. the police, army, etc.

Why would they do this? 2 reasons. 1) to create a new albanian country or a greater albania 2)by doing this they secure the West's energy pipelines.

So this simplistic idea about wanting to just live in peace and harmony is just tosh.

Nobody has subdued the Albanians? What abuot the Turks?

"This province was part of Yugoslavia, a state that no longer exists; Serbia effectively lost its claim in the 1990s. The EU plays softly-softly with Belgrade, even recently restarting talks toward eventual membership. Instead, Belgrade should be given a stark choice: a future in league with Russia, or the EU and NATO. Kosovo is the test,” the Wall Street Journal writes.

I could not have said it better.
Guys the train is almost at the last stop and once there te fireworks will start along with marching bands and toast with shots of home maid brandy.
You know what I mean.

Damn PB,you caught us red handed. Yes we confess that has been our strategy all along and we can't deny it any longer. If only that damn article or the word ANEW had not been published and we would have been able to deny it forever. I guess you do realize how ridiculous that all sounds. So I would advise you to hold your horses because it is rather naive to read one word in an article and to expect it to reveal the Albanian national strategy, don't you think? If that were the case God knows what implications that would have for Serbia. The words Republica Srpksa, Greater Serbia, ethnic cleansing, genocide etc etc spring to mind.
So before you draw such colnclusions I would ask you to tell me of one single Albanian party (in the Republic of Albania or Kosovo for that matter)that has ever contemplated such an outcome. Only fringe parties that are not even represented in the respective parliaments have. But I do remember Serb politicians making all sorts of declarations about the fifteen craddles of Serb civilisation that seem to spring into existence whenever you guys decide to go to war. We are more than happy to have an independent Kosovo Republic existing side by side with Albania. There will be no borders between us and we will be the same people, but with two states. If you stop to think it is actually much better for us to have it this way. We'll get more EU funds because each of us will receive its own and if we join the EU we'll have two Albanian votes or maybe three if you count Macedonia. But I guess since the Serbs seem to be so bent on making their country "greater" you simply cannot understand that not everybody in the Balkans shares your vision.

THIS IS A LINK TO THE FULL ARTICLE IN WALL STREET JOURNAL:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118652656827990962.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

For those who like to read it.

I cant belive the WSJ published this. WOW.
How can this be?

ha ha, seems we have one more self-declared balkan-expert to add to the 2 mio. balkan-experts in south serbia.

actually, i don´t know what the fuss is all about with this "indiependence" talk.

america and eu had acknowledged former bosnia for whole 3 years and then came the 2 post-bosnian states and the correction to realpolitics in dayton.

i guess you must be albanian for having a good sleep because of a western signature.

I just want this one question asnwered.
Why does serbia need kosovo so much? you lived fine like kings even you ignored your people never visited the so called precious churches in kosovo. But suddenly you want it. Like a baby with a toy it dosent want. take it away and it will want it back. Please tell me why you need kosovo

One of the worst peices of 'journalism' re Kosovo i have read thus far. It smacks of complete ignorance and arrogance. It seems that the cheerleaders of an independent Kosovo are not too happy, obviously due to recent events, and this article is living proof. The author could barely contain his anger. Good good. All good signs for Serbia

PB first of all as far as I am concerned I don't care at all about Republica Srpska and I do think that Serbia has a right to it. But that's your problem not that of the Albanians and I guess since you are such devout believers in international law you will never be able to do anything about it.
Secondly if you are suggesting that the mere fact that an article mentions something makes that thing true, what then I ask have you to say about all the articlers on Serb crimes and genocide and warmongering and...well the list is a bit long.
The fact that you don't recognize Bosnia as a state is somewhat worrying to say the least. I would advise you to read a history book once in a while. Bosnia was one of the republics in case you forgot.
As for the rest of your comment: the Albanians in Montenegro are not causing any trouble and neither are the Albanians of Macedonia. They had a war but now they are working together. End of story. And I am surprised that you even ask why the Albanian "stir up trouble" - I call it fighting for their rights - in those countries. Well the answer is really simple and so that you don't miss it again I'll write it in capitals: WE LIVE IN THOSE COUNTRIES AND THAT IS OUR LAND. Should we go and fight in Sweden for the independence of Kosovo or more rights in Macedonia? It's the same as if I were to ask you why the Serbs stir up trouble specifically in Croatia and Bosnia.

kosovo is Serbian land end of story i read books and know the resolution 1244 so no contest its Serbian land. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Serb_lands04.png here's a link how Serbia was and will be sooner are later.serbia was bigger and should be again i am tired at how people are against the poor Serbs i have many Serb friends and they are pleasant people.And one more thing we all know the greater albania plan which is not going to work are happen of other peoples land expense.

I think that the writer of this article is an expert of Balkan issues. Especially, expert of last issues happened last decades. The Serbians never want the peace, the just ask for occupation, using violence, they do not know to think about integration into the world organization or European Organization. They are all focused in Kosovo. The Kosovars, already have accepted the AHTISARI plan, served by internationals. The world is bigger and stronger than Russia and Serbia. This is a generally known fact. But they just are trying to convince the Serbians that this is the last chance for them and this is on their good. i.e. as the doctor try to convince a baby that an injection is good for him, even if that injections will cause pains.

Go with Russia, Serbians! You deserve them. One day the mighty bear one day will want back something!

To our poster Lazer-

You are invited to post a link to the article which was copy pasted to your original message.

We take this opportunity to ask all our posters to refrain from copy pasting long or copyrighted material, but instead provide links.

We thank you for your contribution.

B92

I've got to admit. it was a good plan. Milosevic fell for it hook, line and sinker.
(PB, 8. August 2007 13:21)

History in the making, right here, let's elect PB for the next president of serbia.

Bruce.L
So you want that land back?
Wich would mean colonisation all over again! Anyway Since your Bulgaria is marked twice were Albania is now and Kosovo is not even under Serbia You can have that Serbia back.
And realise one thing mate: Albania 2seas, Serbia NONE!!!
I hope you know that with that link you proved the serbian claim of KOSOVO a myth??

> The Truth about Kosovo Today: in response to an article by Julia
> Gorin in American Legion Magazine
> Liberty Zone, 20 July 2007
>
> The following blog post is mirrored at The Liberty Zone and Brad's
> Place and was written by Nicki Fellenzer and Brad Staggs together
> as a response to an article in the July 2007 issue of American
> Legion Magazine. The interviews included therein were conducted by
> Nicki and Brad at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo.
>

Here we go with the truths again. Isn't it the truth that Belgrade was an Hungarian fortress when captured by the Turks? In fact it had been in Hungarian hands for far longer than it had been Serb although Raso will probably deny it. Isn't it the truth that most of what is now Republica Srpska was not Serb land until after the Middle Ages? And does it matter at all? No, because both these places are now inhabited by a majority Serb population who doesn't feel anything for Bosnia or Hungary. Well the same goes for Kosovo. I actually do believe that there have always been Albanians there, although I cannot claim to know how many or whether they were the majority or what not and nobody really can prove anything one way or the other. But you guys decided to leave in your Velika Seoba so you can hardly blame us for staying put. So the fact is that Kosovo ceased being a Serb land a long time ago although it remained within Yugoslavia. A land inhabited for 90% by Albanians can hardly be Serb and it should not surprise you guys that you are viewed as occupiers. So personally I wish that Serbia would get a part of Northern Kosovo as it would be a good ridance as far as an independent Kosovo is concerned. In the proccess however you guys would have to forget Gracanica and all the other -icas that you claim to hold so dear and maybe Presevo too. Who knows.

And PB: maybe it is as you claim and the Turks subdued us - althoug the Turks themselves thought otherwise -but in the proccess we got to rule the rest of you guys in the Balkans. (Just read Andric, Batakovic etc) A fair trade one might say. But keep your hopes up: you might get to play the same role within the Russian empire shortly.

All I can say is; long live Israel. They went there and had their own country after long time it was taken away from them from Arabs.
Israel is pretty much like Kosovo. Israel is bordered with Arabic people so is Kosovo bordered mostly with Slavic people.
I think Kosovo should follow Israeli's steps toward new and strong country. We (Albanians) should learn from them (Israelis) how to build a country.
I know a lots of Serbs in here are going to say that Albanians are closer to Arabs, but I can say that is not true at all.
Pro Israel forever!

To B92 why did you report this story at all.Trying to lay blame on Russia is utter nonsense we know well who started this mess and who it benefits to have an unstable Balkans and that is the power across the sea in Washington that must keep a foothold in Eurasia to hold global power.How utterly IGNORANT Americans are to the US governments actions.This is a government that cares about one thing and one thing only holding and maintaing power and Serbs along with Albanians are fed into the meat grinder and anyone that gets in the way.Sowing instability and then stepping in under false pretense has been a popular CIA/USA tactic for generations.

An article published by WSJ, should be handled with extreme caution. Their notion can never be that of a true journalism, but to furthermore deepen the gap.

It is clear to Serbia and Russia that Kosova will be independent. Their intention is its partition, which is proved by the pressure on the Albanians in Northern Kosova to sell their houses and other property to the Serbs. Belgrade is spending a lot of money to buy Albanians' property at very high prices in the area. Will partition open the Pandora Box in the Balkans? In such a scenario, will the situation be created for the Albanians in the Balkans to join forces and create one unified state despite the sacrifices they have to make?
Can anyone guess what will happen in the Balkans? Peace, reconciliation or a new war in which the USA will be involved vigorously to resolve the Balkan question by solving the Albanian issue,the core of the Balkan question, once and for all? Will Russia dare face up to the Americans and most of Europe?
Can anyone in the right mind guess who will be the losers?

"Albanians feel emboldened to press anew for a 'Greater Albania' uniting in a single state a nation currently scattered among four."

The critical word here is ANEW. In other words, it's clear to any objective, impartial observer that what the Albanians HAVE been trying to do is create a greater Albania. It's now in the public arena to a greater extent than ever that the war with Serbia was never about repression, but a well thought out plan to exact naked aggression upon Serbia to grab land for a greater Albania, conveniently using Milosevic as a pretext for all out war - after initiating that war with increasing levels of terrorism.

No Albanian can deny it now. This alleged victimisation was a well orcehestrated ruse, propaganda to tug at the heart strings of the general population in the westwho had no idea about Kosovo or it's history.

I've got to admit. it was a good plan. Milosevic fell for it hook, line and sinker.

I can’t really believe my eyes what I’m reading! Serbs = Palestinians? Who ever wrote this article has no knowledge of history, geography and politics. Question is: who is the most powerful (meaning in military aspect) country in the middle east that misuses his power to occupy someone’s else territories, RIGHT it is Israel (to whom the slobo regime was close), another question is: who is the most powerful (again meaning in military aspect) country in the Balkans that also misused its power to fight all neighbors, not just in ’90 but since 1912/13 onward in order to create a dream called “great Serbia”? Serbia of course. Who suffered from Israelis in the region? Palestiniens, Lebanon, Egypt etc… Who suffered from Serb invasions: Slovenians, Croatians, Bosnia, Albanians etc. etc. Now, Princip, Kate, who is like what here. Serbs like Palestinians or like Israelis (even though have nothing against)?

The Albanian will not create to states, the only solution we have is to create a great region with Kosova as an independent stat without any boarders being chopped off. As you read in the article if Kosova is sliced this will bring up all sorts of issues which will not be in anyone's favour. especially the serbs within Kosova.

I think that the writer of this article is an expert of Balkan issues. Especially, expert of last issues happened last decades. The Serbians never want the peace, the just ask for occupation, using violence, they do not know to think about integration into the world organization or European Organization. They are all focused in Kosovo. The Kosovars, already have accepted the AHTISARI plan, served by internationals. The world is bigger and stronger than Russia and Serbia. This is a generally known fact. But they just are trying to convince the Serbians that this is the last chance for them and this is on their good. i.e. as the doctor try to convince a baby that an injection is good for him, even if that injections will cause pains.

"This province was part of Yugoslavia, a state that no longer exists; Serbia effectively lost its claim in the 1990s. The EU plays softly-softly with Belgrade, even recently restarting talks toward eventual membership. Instead, Belgrade should be given a stark choice: a future in league with Russia, or the EU and NATO. Kosovo is the test,” the Wall Street Journal writes.

I could not have said it better.
Guys the train is almost at the last stop and once there te fireworks will start along with marching bands and toast with shots of home maid brandy.
You know what I mean.

kosovo is Serbian land end of story i read books and know the resolution 1244 so no contest its Serbian land. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Serb_lands04.png here's a link how Serbia was and will be sooner are later.serbia was bigger and should be again i am tired at how people are against the poor Serbs i have many Serb friends and they are pleasant people.And one more thing we all know the greater albania plan which is not going to work are happen of other peoples land expense.

Damn PB,you caught us red handed. Yes we confess that has been our strategy all along and we can't deny it any longer. If only that damn article or the word ANEW had not been published and we would have been able to deny it forever. I guess you do realize how ridiculous that all sounds. So I would advise you to hold your horses because it is rather naive to read one word in an article and to expect it to reveal the Albanian national strategy, don't you think? If that were the case God knows what implications that would have for Serbia. The words Republica Srpksa, Greater Serbia, ethnic cleansing, genocide etc etc spring to mind.
So before you draw such colnclusions I would ask you to tell me of one single Albanian party (in the Republic of Albania or Kosovo for that matter)that has ever contemplated such an outcome. Only fringe parties that are not even represented in the respective parliaments have. But I do remember Serb politicians making all sorts of declarations about the fifteen craddles of Serb civilisation that seem to spring into existence whenever you guys decide to go to war. We are more than happy to have an independent Kosovo Republic existing side by side with Albania. There will be no borders between us and we will be the same people, but with two states. If you stop to think it is actually much better for us to have it this way. We'll get more EU funds because each of us will receive its own and if we join the EU we'll have two Albanian votes or maybe three if you count Macedonia. But I guess since the Serbs seem to be so bent on making their country "greater" you simply cannot understand that not everybody in the Balkans shares your vision.

...."This province was part of Yugoslavia, a state that no longer exists; Serbia effectively lost its claim in the 1990s..."

no comment

Go with Russia, Serbians! You deserve them. One day the mighty bear one day will want back something!

Bruce.L
So you want that land back?
Wich would mean colonisation all over again! Anyway Since your Bulgaria is marked twice were Albania is now and Kosovo is not even under Serbia You can have that Serbia back.
And realise one thing mate: Albania 2seas, Serbia NONE!!!
I hope you know that with that link you proved the serbian claim of KOSOVO a myth??

THIS IS A LINK TO THE FULL ARTICLE IN WALL STREET JOURNAL:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118652656827990962.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

For those who like to read it.

I cant belive the WSJ published this. WOW.
How can this be?

PB first of all as far as I am concerned I don't care at all about Republica Srpska and I do think that Serbia has a right to it. But that's your problem not that of the Albanians and I guess since you are such devout believers in international law you will never be able to do anything about it.
Secondly if you are suggesting that the mere fact that an article mentions something makes that thing true, what then I ask have you to say about all the articlers on Serb crimes and genocide and warmongering and...well the list is a bit long.
The fact that you don't recognize Bosnia as a state is somewhat worrying to say the least. I would advise you to read a history book once in a while. Bosnia was one of the republics in case you forgot.
As for the rest of your comment: the Albanians in Montenegro are not causing any trouble and neither are the Albanians of Macedonia. They had a war but now they are working together. End of story. And I am surprised that you even ask why the Albanian "stir up trouble" - I call it fighting for their rights - in those countries. Well the answer is really simple and so that you don't miss it again I'll write it in capitals: WE LIVE IN THOSE COUNTRIES AND THAT IS OUR LAND. Should we go and fight in Sweden for the independence of Kosovo or more rights in Macedonia? It's the same as if I were to ask you why the Serbs stir up trouble specifically in Croatia and Bosnia.

> The Truth about Kosovo Today: in response to an article by Julia
> Gorin in American Legion Magazine
> Liberty Zone, 20 July 2007
>
> The following blog post is mirrored at The Liberty Zone and Brad's
> Place and was written by Nicki Fellenzer and Brad Staggs together
> as a response to an article in the July 2007 issue of American
> Legion Magazine. The interviews included therein were conducted by
> Nicki and Brad at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo.
>

"Instead, Belgrade should be given a stark choice: a future in league with Russia, or the EU and NATO. Kosovo is the test,” the Wall Street Journal writes."

What a stupid analogy! Why must Serbia join either camp? Why shouldn't Serbia strive to be like Switzerland -- wealthy and SOVEREIGN? Perhaps with special ties to an increasingly wealthy Russia. But certainly not a subservient relationship like what you see in Nato.

This US newspaper presumptously implied that Nato membership is the gold standard. What will Nato really mean for Serbia? It really means that her military will become a mere lackey of the US, to be used to fight the US's endless battles in Iraq and Afghanistan so that body bags will be returning to Belgrade instead of Washington! A privilege? I would beg to differ.

Teni - I think it is you, not I who is either naive or disingenuous. The word ANEW is significant because for the first time in ages, it publicly states what everyone secretly knows and discusses behind closed doors and events on the ground back up the conclusion. Albanians stir up trouble in Macedonia and Montenegro. Why specifically those states?

As for your quip about Republika Srpska, unlike Croatia or Slovenia,Bosnia never was a country in it's own right, only an administrative region. The Serbs in RS therefore have every right to break away from a manufactured country and join Serbia.

And why do you and other Albanian posters think it is OK for an Albanina minority in Serbia to gain independence, yet deny Serbs in RS a right to independence when they are a much larger minority in Bosnia. Funny how no Albanian commentators want to allow them independence!! If the Albanians were more even handed, maybe they would see a softening of many Serbs hardline stance.

PB,

I dont think that we are smart enough to fool the entire international community on our inentions.

It is in fact generally agreed throuought the Balkans that it is in fact the Serbs that are professionals at bending the truth and excelent at propaganda.

Our intentions have always been:

1. To survive in a Slavic Balkans.

2. To live free and without any kind of interference from neighbouring countries.

Survival and freedom are two things that have kept us alive throughout the centuries.

No conqueror has ever been able to subdue these two basic instincts and Serbia is no different.

Nick - Another fact that is generally agreed about the blakans is that the KLA and other Albanian units effectively started the war in Kosovo by targeting the administration in the region, i.e. the police, army, etc.

Why would they do this? 2 reasons. 1) to create a new albanian country or a greater albania 2)by doing this they secure the West's energy pipelines.

So this simplistic idea about wanting to just live in peace and harmony is just tosh.

Nobody has subdued the Albanians? What abuot the Turks?

Well guys, this article tells us that Kosova population future is not so bright. I think that we(Albanians, Serbs and others)should make it clear at least for ourselves what future do we want and press ahead with our claim.
This article brings to mind that nothing Great in Balkans functions, no Great Serbia, no Great Albania.

People right this sort of articles because we give feed them. So let us stop feeding the journalist and we will have a better life.

Let’s apologize to our neighbors’ for damage and pain caused.
Let us use the proper books of history after all we are going to live together again what ever the future status is. No Serb or Albanians will leave Kosova since it is our home.
No K-Albanian or Serb will find home anywhere else but Kosova. Forget messages of Princip, PB , Cvele … since they have secure future. It is us that are going to bare the consequences the future status

The article and the stupid, stupid hatred that B92 lets on it's pages is just an example of one more disinterested party on to the bandwagon of sowing hate between people that lived side by side for centuries doing the bidding of it's rulers and today's politicians.

Why should I hate a Muslims from Serbia or for that matter any Muslim from any other country. Fundamentally I would have no reason if that to hate or even dislike that individual for any other reason other than direct attack by that individual upon myself and others who are innocent population caught up in a situation of political scheming by politicians and want-to-be rulers of others.

So therefor I, would want the same of Muslims living in Serbia or anywhere else to have the same respect for me.

Having said that leads me to a conclusion that it does not matter where I live as long as those fundamental rights are protected by the general population and that those rights are embedded into the constitution and are protected by a strong judiciary and police force.

Serbia has a strong constitution for it's citizens whatever religion they follow. The wars that were set of by faulty constitutions in Croatia, by it's two tier system for Serbs and Croatians and in Bosnia by it's own two tier system for Serbs and Muslims. Special rights always lead to dissatisfaction and that created an opportunity for those politicians and hangers on to create a feeling of hate.

I believe if Muslims stop and think and realize that Serbia was a country that they ESCAPED TO from Albania, they would realize that someone of their own religion or ethnic identification is leading them to hardships and not prosperity.

Here we go with the truths again. Isn't it the truth that Belgrade was an Hungarian fortress when captured by the Turks? In fact it had been in Hungarian hands for far longer than it had been Serb although Raso will probably deny it. Isn't it the truth that most of what is now Republica Srpska was not Serb land until after the Middle Ages? And does it matter at all? No, because both these places are now inhabited by a majority Serb population who doesn't feel anything for Bosnia or Hungary. Well the same goes for Kosovo. I actually do believe that there have always been Albanians there, although I cannot claim to know how many or whether they were the majority or what not and nobody really can prove anything one way or the other. But you guys decided to leave in your Velika Seoba so you can hardly blame us for staying put. So the fact is that Kosovo ceased being a Serb land a long time ago although it remained within Yugoslavia. A land inhabited for 90% by Albanians can hardly be Serb and it should not surprise you guys that you are viewed as occupiers. So personally I wish that Serbia would get a part of Northern Kosovo as it would be a good ridance as far as an independent Kosovo is concerned. In the proccess however you guys would have to forget Gracanica and all the other -icas that you claim to hold so dear and maybe Presevo too. Who knows.

And PB: maybe it is as you claim and the Turks subdued us - althoug the Turks themselves thought otherwise -but in the proccess we got to rule the rest of you guys in the Balkans. (Just read Andric, Batakovic etc) A fair trade one might say. But keep your hopes up: you might get to play the same role within the Russian empire shortly.

Ignorant. Arrogant. Tosh! Nothing more need be said of this Post article. Any poster on this site could write a better article.

The piece by Matthew Kaminski was one of the most arrogant, idiotic and ill-informed pieces I have ever read on Kosovo. However, it was nothing less than I would expect from the Wall Street Journal, which has been acting as a cheerleader for Kosovo's independence for a number of years now. Truly and utterly appalling!

This is an utterly wrong analogy. Kosovo Serbs are expelled from their own land, from their own country where their ancestors lived for centuries. This is not the case with Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine, of whom many moved there after the 1920's. Yaser Arafat is a prime example.

Palestinian Arab population swelled while Serb population dwindled.

I can see the vile PR at work here. First it was to compare Bosnian Muslims and Albanians with Jews, now they compare Serbs to "Palestinians".

Stinks to the high heaven.

The fate of Serbs of Kosovo is comparable to Jews in Arab lands and Greeks after the fall of Ottoman Empire, or any other Christian ethic group in the mercy of Islamic majority.

Shame on you, WSJ !

Nehat,

"if Kosova is sliced this will bring up all sorts of issues which will not be in anyone's favour. especially the serbs within Kosova"

- when what is yours is being stolen from you completely and totally I guess you are left with all to gain by asserting your rights - thus on the contrary Serbia has all to gain!

PB & Jack both spot on!

I am glad for one thing at least, instead of referring to 'Kosovo Independence', albanians and western media alike are starting to refer to this idea for what it is - 'greater albania'. This is in fact what the US is trying to create, and the albanians won't stop with Kosovo, they will do the same with Macedonia, Montenegro, and even Greece. It seems that wherever albanians live, they can't seem to integrate and get along with their host country. Coincidence? I think not.

As an addendum to my previous post i'd like to clarify a matter for the albanian supporters here. The WSJ claims that Kosovo should not be broken up (surprise, surprise), yet claim that Serbia lost Kosovo due to it's action in Kosovo in 1999. These are two contradictory statements - let me explain. Serbia "lost" Kosovo as under UN law, NATO/USA had the right to intervene as a minority were being "persecuted" (we can argue all day about how this came about so i won't elaborate). In intervening, the USA holds out UN law as the reason for the intervention. What it "conveniently" fails to consider is that technically speaking, northern Kosovo which is Serb dominated does not fall under said UN law as why would the Serbs persecute other Serbs. In other words, northern Kosovo has a moral AND legal right to stay within Serbia and it's borders even if the rest of Kosovo broke away. It would be an illegal act by the US/NATO if they tried to declare this also belonged to the Albanians such as the southern half of Kosovo. If the Albanians declare independence, fine, Serbia realistically cannot do anything about that fact on the ground, but if the ALbanians also try to take northern Kosovo, Serbia should stand it's ground it has a moral and legal obligation to do so.

"...."This province was part of Yugoslavia, a state that no longer exists"

The province IS a part of SERBIA, a state that still exists.

ha ha, seems we have one more self-declared balkan-expert to add to the 2 mio. balkan-experts in south serbia.

actually, i don´t know what the fuss is all about with this "indiependence" talk.

america and eu had acknowledged former bosnia for whole 3 years and then came the 2 post-bosnian states and the correction to realpolitics in dayton.

i guess you must be albanian for having a good sleep because of a western signature.

CIA propoganda at its finest!!!

What exactly are Moscow's "provocations"? Not bowing to Washington's need for another Muslim state in Europe? Or, its need to meet demand for more poppy seed products and human traffic? Or how about Russians allowing international law to impede Washington's crooked politicians from proceeding as demanded by foreign mafia masters?

To our poster Lazer-

You are invited to post a link to the article which was copy pasted to your original message.

We take this opportunity to ask all our posters to refrain from copy pasting long or copyrighted material, but instead provide links.

We thank you for your contribution.

B92

I just want this one question asnwered.
Why does serbia need kosovo so much? you lived fine like kings even you ignored your people never visited the so called precious churches in kosovo. But suddenly you want it. Like a baby with a toy it dosent want. take it away and it will want it back. Please tell me why you need kosovo

I've got to admit. it was a good plan. Milosevic fell for it hook, line and sinker.
(PB, 8. August 2007 13:21)

History in the making, right here, let's elect PB for the next president of serbia.

I am quite satisfied! if the WSJ is printing articles of such a weak level in regard to the Kosovo-issue...that´s a quite good sign.

not only are they referring to obviously false premises ( serbian occupation of serbian territory? =) ) but also those quite naive looking attempts to create a virtual take-it-or-leave-it situation for Serbia, that is far from reality though!

once again for all those who are not capable of thinking for themselves: Serbia will
join the EU anyway (not because they love Serbia, but because it´s in the mere interest of the EU )
so, the author either doesn´t know what he´s writing about or it is a rather miscarried try to emphasize american influence in an international issue.

thanks for posting, B92, as long as the WSJ is printing articles of this kind, it´s good for Kosovo!

"When NATO agreed to put [Kosovo's] status in limbo at the end of the 1999 war and sent in a U.N. government, no one could know that a future President Vladimir Putin would turn Kosovo into a proxy for his larger fight with the West, along with missile defense and Iran.”

Translation: When the Americans voted for Resolution 1244 at the end of the 1999 Kosovo war they did so in bad faith. They told Serbia that its territorial integrity was guaranteed inorder to get Milosevic to sign the Kumanovo agreement, but they never expected the Russians to hold them to that.

All I can say is; long live Israel. They went there and had their own country after long time it was taken away from them from Arabs.
Israel is pretty much like Kosovo. Israel is bordered with Arabic people so is Kosovo bordered mostly with Slavic people.
I think Kosovo should follow Israeli's steps toward new and strong country. We (Albanians) should learn from them (Israelis) how to build a country.
I know a lots of Serbs in here are going to say that Albanians are closer to Arabs, but I can say that is not true at all.
Pro Israel forever!

It is clear to Serbia and Russia that Kosova will be independent. Their intention is its partition, which is proved by the pressure on the Albanians in Northern Kosova to sell their houses and other property to the Serbs. Belgrade is spending a lot of money to buy Albanians' property at very high prices in the area. Will partition open the Pandora Box in the Balkans? In such a scenario, will the situation be created for the Albanians in the Balkans to join forces and create one unified state despite the sacrifices they have to make?
Can anyone guess what will happen in the Balkans? Peace, reconciliation or a new war in which the USA will be involved vigorously to resolve the Balkan question by solving the Albanian issue,the core of the Balkan question, once and for all? Will Russia dare face up to the Americans and most of Europe?
Can anyone in the right mind guess who will be the losers?

To B92 why did you report this story at all.Trying to lay blame on Russia is utter nonsense we know well who started this mess and who it benefits to have an unstable Balkans and that is the power across the sea in Washington that must keep a foothold in Eurasia to hold global power.How utterly IGNORANT Americans are to the US governments actions.This is a government that cares about one thing and one thing only holding and maintaing power and Serbs along with Albanians are fed into the meat grinder and anyone that gets in the way.Sowing instability and then stepping in under false pretense has been a popular CIA/USA tactic for generations.

An article published by WSJ, should be handled with extreme caution. Their notion can never be that of a true journalism, but to furthermore deepen the gap.

One of the worst peices of 'journalism' re Kosovo i have read thus far. It smacks of complete ignorance and arrogance. It seems that the cheerleaders of an independent Kosovo are not too happy, obviously due to recent events, and this article is living proof. The author could barely contain his anger. Good good. All good signs for Serbia