McCain: It's up to Serbians to decide on NATO membership

Asked to what extent "the alliance of Serbia and the United States in two world wars may help cooperation" Vucic said that Serbia "remembers the friendship from these wars - which was then lost in 1999."

I get the impression that McCain and Vucic are about to kiss, anyone else? This is what I mean by corrupt, spineless, ass-kissing Serbian politicians. Anyway, I hope that Vucic will also "remember" the brutal campaign of the mightiest countries in the world against a small nation. I hope that he "remembers" the stripping of Serbia's territory. I hope he'll "remember" the humiliation that the US is putting us through, I hope that he "remembers"................

I would love to see a referendum with the following option;

Do you wish for
1. Closer Nato Alignment
2. Military Neutrality
3 No alliance at all with NATO

I Quote -

McCain: It's up to Serbians to decide on NATO membership

Comment -

And its up to God to say No to such a Membeship - and God will do that !
Serbia will never ever be a member of NATO or the EU.

God bless the Serbian People Forever and Ever.

Further - I Quote -

"I could be showing muscles and utter a bad word because of 1999, but I wonder what would be the result, will more investors come, will more people get jobs...," Vucic said, responding to questions from reporters, in an apparent reference to NATO's 1999 air strikes against Serbia.

Comment - as a Serbian King once uttered -
"Only in Oneself and Once own Horse trust" !.

CCCC.

Arn.Sweden.

This was an important visit and meeting and it clearly puts to rest the idea that Serbia must join NATO if it wants to join the EU.

Next, it shows that US hawks are moving in support of Serbia.

It shows that Belgrade wanting good relations with both Washington and Moscow is indeed possible.

It shows that American businesses are getting even closer to investing in a significant way.

Ivan, I understand the sentiment below, but Belgrade made their own problems in the 90's. They allowed themselves to get cornered. And they allowed themselves to lose the PR battle. And they allowed immoral units within the population to define everyone else. It is possible for a leader to be tough, smart, and upstanding at the same time. Allowing the USA relationship to fall apart was a big mistake. Milosevic had plenty of opportunities from Washington in the late 80's and early 90's.

That said, slowly but surely things are looking up. Much promise is up ahead.

Having the USA on Serbia's side is very significant.

The USA is Serbia's friend, not enemy (especially post-Obama when new leadership comes in and the Clinton's and all their former political appointees are swept away/ retire once and for all).

Don't forget that the U.S. Congress and the American people never voted to bomb Serbia. It was Clinton and his State Department.

Serbia is important to Washington in the global battle against radical Islamic terrorism.

Of course NATO membership is partially a matter for Serbia but it is also a matter for all existing members. Even if Vucic tried to lead Serbia into this alliance, there is no guarantee that they would join. Personally I see no problem with neutrality. The US is going to do whatever it wants regardless of the views of others so whether Serbia joins NATO or not will make little difference. They are hardly likely to be threatened by Russia so from whom would they need protecting by the alliance?

The first place Senator McCain should have been taken to with his delegation of American Senators is the memorial to rescued American airmen from WWII in Pranjanje. As a pilot who was shot down and captured in the Vietnam War, McCain would have appreciated the immense sacrifice and bravery of the Serbian people and Draza Mihailovich's noble Chetniks who saved hundreds of airmen. Nothing unites American's more than honouring their veterans, and to have made a special commemoration of this historic event could only benefit Serbia. As usual, the Serbs ignored this gift right under their noses and did not even mention this amazing historic event to McCain.

To factman,
I know you live in the USA,but it is only in the interest of Serbia to use USA to their interest, not the other way around, like the way USA use's countries and then spit's them out.
I live in Serbia,and the feeling is not to join EU ,USA(NATO) or Russia,by alot of the population. Staying neutral ,and allowing the business and infrastructure to grow ,by any country that want's to invest .
You do not live in Serbia,or travel thru Serbia frequently to speak to the population, particular the Serb's love to be heard.People on this forum ,give their opion about what should be done in the Balkans ,without even living here.
P'S to the Croat's and Albanian's, too much hate on this forum. It's not like that when you travel thru the Balkans.,for all races.

Vucic is desperate to join NATO and so is Serbia. If Serbia didnt want to join NATO wouldn't the IPAP be controversial? There is no normalization with Kosovo until Serbia formally romoves Kosovo from its constitution. that is why vucic told Wall Street journal he is planning a referendum on Kosovo removal. Can't have normalization with Serbia claiming Kosovo.

Don't forget that the U.S. Congress and the American people never voted to bomb Serbia. It was Clinton and his State Department.
(factman, 13 February 2016 05:33)

And who voted Clinton? The alients?! lol

Sasa, I don't have to live there to understand

It's a normal human way to feel after what they have gone through

But it is not the best political way to feel

Administrations come and go. Clinton era is over. Clinton bombed with 68% of the American people against. Without even seeking Congressional vote (by not declaring a war but making it a "police action"

S people think the USA is one philosophical bloc of thinking. That is simplistic thinking. Ignorance

Reality) is a moving picture (many photos strung together over time), not a single photograph of one point in time

One of the main enemies of S is self-created: actions chosen out of "righteous" anger & contrariness (inat). Saving graces in time of immediate threat, they are traits to be controlled by enlightened leaders otherwise

Theyy lead to fractiousness - the main enemy of S in its entire history (look at your own flag if you doubt that)

The 90's could have been avoided with more sophisticated thinking. If Milosevic were smarter he could have turned everything against the main instigators who paved the way for civil war

Serbia will prosper when it finds its "philosopher king" and the last of the godless Communists die (soon)

Variance is allowed to accommodate local "personality", but make no mistake. He who holds the capital controls the situation & it wants 2 things (return; control).

To alleviate that somewhat make yourself very, very useful in the war against global terrorism

John McCain did not visit Belgrade bearing economic gifts. Of course the US is concerned that Serbia may stray towards Russian influence and will do everything to maintain a regime subservient to the European Union and nothing else. If Serbia was ever to join the EU, it must at least maintain control of its currency and money supply, this has punished Greece extensively with a rapid rise in the price of consumable goods. Serbia is far better building economic free trade pacts within Asia and other international trading agreements where it has some competitive advantages. It now is trying to grow it's economy by debt financing which is nearing 80 percent of GDP. It also continues to carry large public debt with inefficient large amount of public employees who do nothing to grow the economy. Djindjic had the right idea to grow the economy, unfortunately he was corrupt just like many of Serbia's leaders. It will be interesting to watch how the new PM Oreskovic will do in Croatia, an accomplished business man in the middle of a right wing party coalition with HDZ. Will they let him do the job needed to grow the faltering Croatian economy. He is already being criticized as an outsider as he spent most of his career outside of Croatia in Canada and Europe.

(Jugoslavija, 15 February 2016 05:16)

The real purpose of appointing Oreskovic has very little to do with revitalising the Croatian economy. The Croat economy is too small to attract outside investment unless Croats work for free. Jadranka Kosor once said all administrations had gone to great lengths but outside investors were not interested. Now it would be impossible as Zagreb is bordering on fascism.
Oreskovic’s task is to sell off all government-owned enterprises to private industry (outside Croatia) at fire-sale prices. Croatia’s main source of income is tourism, but the country needs money coming in for the entire year not just 3 months and since aid from Brussels is not forthcoming then borrowings is the only option left (Brussels recently approved). So subsidised industry has to go. There will be more pain than joy, but Oreskovic will sugar coat the plan with promises of great investments from all over the word which will never eventuate.
They are screwed

SJ: I cannot comment on most of your post as you know these issues better than me, but I am fairly certain that the Croatian tourist season is longer than 3 months. It pretty much runs from Easter to the end of October.

Factman and ICJ: The Kosovo bombing campaign was a NATO operation based on UN Resolution 1199. The US Congress doesn't decide how and when NATO conducts its operations so your spat about whether it was Clinton, Congress or the American people who sought to bomb Kosovo is missing the point. Yes, US planes were part of the NATO mission but so were many others. Whether or not the bombing was justified is a different argument.

Ivan, what is the humiliation. Is it that you don't get to shoot unarmed muslims or rape 'ustasha women' in your free time. And it is good that McCain understands now how Robert Lansing telling american people to pray for serbs was the dumbest thing any politician has ever said. I agree with you that westernization of serbs must stop, Tito era is long gone. You should study by the way what your buddy Dugin said about muslims being integral part of Russia.

i see fact_man is not anymore wild and educated himself better and started to understand how work this world .... is never to late

Michael, what can I say, spot on.

@michaelthompson

I am sure this ignorant man knew about the saving of US forces. He couldn't care less - he just wants to use his power over people and to look good for whoever his boss is at the time.

The first place Senator McCain should have been taken to with his delegation of American Senators is the memorial to rescued American airmen from WWII in Pranjanje. As a pilot who was shot down and captured in the Vietnam War, McCain would have appreciated the immense sacrifice and bravery of the Serbian people and Draza Mihailovich's noble Chetniks who saved hundreds of airmen. Nothing unites American's more than honouring their veterans, and to have made a special commemoration of this historic event could only benefit Serbia. As usual, the Serbs ignored this gift right under their noses and did not even mention this amazing historic event to McCain.
(Michael Thompson, 13 February 2016 19:15)

To Micheal,
Get real ! ,Madeleine Albright, was saved by Serb's during the war,and didn't care about Serb's,let alone McCain,that has nothing to do with 2nd world war .Why would he care, what happen 70 odd years ago!.

@Ned Taylor

The "tourist" season does not start in April, you can't even dip your feet in the Adriatic ocean. It begins somewhere in June as seasonal hotel rates are adjusted for the influx of tourists. However, April is a great time to travel in the Mediterranean to cash in on low hotel rates.

I disagree Ned.

The War powers Resolution is under serious debate in the USA.

In your views, the UN can send American troops to war and not Congress?

Wow. That's even scarier.

See Wikipedia entry and discussion of Clinton's actions.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Resolution

Factman: I wasn't expressing a view or opinion I was explaining what happened. It was a NATO action based on a UN resolution. Nothing can 'compel' any NATO country to participate in any operation but as members it is usual that they do and the US is often a leading player in this. The UN certainly does not force anyone to either take any action or to join their (usually peacekeeping) operations but their resolutions are used as justification by NATO and others. There are occasions when individual countries or groups of countries decide to take action without specific resolutions authorising such action as I am sure you know.

here will be more pain than joy, but Oreskovic will sugar coat the plan with promises of great investments from all over the word which will never eventuate.
They are screwed
(sj, 15 February 2016 11:03)

If Oreskovic can manage to increase productivity, that will be good for Serbian exporters as Croatia is the top 9 exporter for them at 458 Million in volume. Don't forget, Serbia is part of CEFTA free trade zone and should continue to expand trade as part of it. I am not confident because the HDZ is using him as decoy as part of the coalition with the Croatian Democratic Union.

(Jugoslavija, 16 February 2016 17:44)

As I said before Oreskovic’s task of revitalising the Croatian economy is a disguise to the impending sell-off of government subsidised industry.
These subsidised industries are a huge drain on Zagreb’s budget. Brussels recently approved Zagreb’s request to borrow money outside Croatia.
If it were possible Croatia would have improved its economy a long time ago. As Kosor said, foreign investors are not interested. Croatia’s economy is very small and it has very little room to manoeuvre and not enough profit to attract out investment. Why do you think Brussels wants these new countries to work together as if they were still in Yugoslavia. Only Serbia can survive, but the others cannot.
Also, the Croatian economy cannot grow since the rest of the EU is stagnant and Brussels is printing money for the second time.
If I was asked I would not hesitate to state that Karamarko is a foreign government agent. Belgrade could not have planned this debacle in Croatian politics better. Other countries now view Croatia as a fascist place.
These free trade agreements only benefit multinational corporations not small countries like Serbia. Yes they try to sell it as benefitting Serbia but it the opposite.

(ned taylor, 15 February 2016 14:07)

You are right, tourism does goe all year around, but the main cash-flow period is during June, July and August while the rest provides miniscule income.
Relying on tourism as your major source of funding is extremely risky since inclement weather can ruin a season such as in 2014 when the coastal parts of Croatia were in flood and hotels were left vacant during the entire holiday peak. Croatia has nothing else, but tourism. Previously Brussels met any shortfalls in Zagreb’s budget, but not anymore. Its sink or swim time.
Oreskovic has been appointed to revitalise the Croatian economy by selling inefficient industry. Either sell/close that industry or keep borrowing more and more until you have a failed economy.
The theory being that once that industry is sold/closed then Croatia will be in a position to attract foreign investment. If anyone believes this then they also believe in the tooth fairy.

Factman and ICJ: The Kosovo bombing campaign was a NATO operation based on UN Resolution 1199. The US Congress doesn't decide how and when NATO conducts its operations so your spat about whether it was Clinton, Congress or the American people who sought to bomb Kosovo is missing the point. Yes, US planes were part of the NATO mission but so were many others. Whether or not the bombing was justified is a different argument.
(ned taylor, 14 February 2016 19:21)

Hey ned, I'm not sure why you pulled me into the above?! I just asked about who voted Clinton, but I did not express any opinion either for or against what you wrote above...

Hey ned, I'm not sure why you pulled me into the above?! I just asked about who voted Clinton, but I did not express any opinion either for or against what you wrote above...
(icj1, 16 February 2016 15:17)

What happened, somebody put a muzzle in your mouth to take you for a walk?

Thanks Ned.

What I wrote remains.

Clinton circumvented Congress and the will of the American people to begin a war (what some say was a cynical effort to take away attention from Monica-gate)

What I wrote remains.

Clinton circumvented Congress and the will of the American people to begin a war
(factman, 16 February 2016 19:33)

Well, what you wrote was according to you and of course remains just according to you, so it can safely be ignored.

According to the US though, Clinton was empowered by the will of the American people and the US Constitution to decide whatever he decided.

It's understandable why the US was so unhappy with Serbia in 1999. The Republicans hated Serbia for egregiously killing would-be Muslim terrorists, while the Democrats were upset with the way that Serbia deliberately stood in defiance of structural institutional abuses (in this case by NATO).

This was an important visit and meeting and it clearly puts to rest the idea that Serbia must join NATO if it wants to join the EU.

Next, it shows that US hawks are moving in support of Serbia.

It shows that Belgrade wanting good relations with both Washington and Moscow is indeed possible.

It shows that American businesses are getting even closer to investing in a significant way.

Ivan, I understand the sentiment below, but Belgrade made their own problems in the 90's. They allowed themselves to get cornered. And they allowed themselves to lose the PR battle. And they allowed immoral units within the population to define everyone else. It is possible for a leader to be tough, smart, and upstanding at the same time. Allowing the USA relationship to fall apart was a big mistake. Milosevic had plenty of opportunities from Washington in the late 80's and early 90's.

That said, slowly but surely things are looking up. Much promise is up ahead.

Having the USA on Serbia's side is very significant.

The USA is Serbia's friend, not enemy (especially post-Obama when new leadership comes in and the Clinton's and all their former political appointees are swept away/ retire once and for all).

Don't forget that the U.S. Congress and the American people never voted to bomb Serbia. It was Clinton and his State Department.

Serbia is important to Washington in the global battle against radical Islamic terrorism.

Asked to what extent "the alliance of Serbia and the United States in two world wars may help cooperation" Vucic said that Serbia "remembers the friendship from these wars - which was then lost in 1999."

I get the impression that McCain and Vucic are about to kiss, anyone else? This is what I mean by corrupt, spineless, ass-kissing Serbian politicians. Anyway, I hope that Vucic will also "remember" the brutal campaign of the mightiest countries in the world against a small nation. I hope that he "remembers" the stripping of Serbia's territory. I hope he'll "remember" the humiliation that the US is putting us through, I hope that he "remembers"................

I Quote -

McCain: It's up to Serbians to decide on NATO membership

Comment -

And its up to God to say No to such a Membeship - and God will do that !
Serbia will never ever be a member of NATO or the EU.

God bless the Serbian People Forever and Ever.

Further - I Quote -

"I could be showing muscles and utter a bad word because of 1999, but I wonder what would be the result, will more investors come, will more people get jobs...," Vucic said, responding to questions from reporters, in an apparent reference to NATO's 1999 air strikes against Serbia.

Comment - as a Serbian King once uttered -
"Only in Oneself and Once own Horse trust" !.

CCCC.

Arn.Sweden.

I would love to see a referendum with the following option;

Do you wish for
1. Closer Nato Alignment
2. Military Neutrality
3 No alliance at all with NATO

Of course NATO membership is partially a matter for Serbia but it is also a matter for all existing members. Even if Vucic tried to lead Serbia into this alliance, there is no guarantee that they would join. Personally I see no problem with neutrality. The US is going to do whatever it wants regardless of the views of others so whether Serbia joins NATO or not will make little difference. They are hardly likely to be threatened by Russia so from whom would they need protecting by the alliance?

Don't forget that the U.S. Congress and the American people never voted to bomb Serbia. It was Clinton and his State Department.
(factman, 13 February 2016 05:33)

And who voted Clinton? The alients?! lol

Vucic is desperate to join NATO and so is Serbia. If Serbia didnt want to join NATO wouldn't the IPAP be controversial? There is no normalization with Kosovo until Serbia formally romoves Kosovo from its constitution. that is why vucic told Wall Street journal he is planning a referendum on Kosovo removal. Can't have normalization with Serbia claiming Kosovo.

Ivan, what is the humiliation. Is it that you don't get to shoot unarmed muslims or rape 'ustasha women' in your free time. And it is good that McCain understands now how Robert Lansing telling american people to pray for serbs was the dumbest thing any politician has ever said. I agree with you that westernization of serbs must stop, Tito era is long gone. You should study by the way what your buddy Dugin said about muslims being integral part of Russia.

i see fact_man is not anymore wild and educated himself better and started to understand how work this world .... is never to late

To factman,
I know you live in the USA,but it is only in the interest of Serbia to use USA to their interest, not the other way around, like the way USA use's countries and then spit's them out.
I live in Serbia,and the feeling is not to join EU ,USA(NATO) or Russia,by alot of the population. Staying neutral ,and allowing the business and infrastructure to grow ,by any country that want's to invest .
You do not live in Serbia,or travel thru Serbia frequently to speak to the population, particular the Serb's love to be heard.People on this forum ,give their opion about what should be done in the Balkans ,without even living here.
P'S to the Croat's and Albanian's, too much hate on this forum. It's not like that when you travel thru the Balkans.,for all races.

The first place Senator McCain should have been taken to with his delegation of American Senators is the memorial to rescued American airmen from WWII in Pranjanje. As a pilot who was shot down and captured in the Vietnam War, McCain would have appreciated the immense sacrifice and bravery of the Serbian people and Draza Mihailovich's noble Chetniks who saved hundreds of airmen. Nothing unites American's more than honouring their veterans, and to have made a special commemoration of this historic event could only benefit Serbia. As usual, the Serbs ignored this gift right under their noses and did not even mention this amazing historic event to McCain.
(Michael Thompson, 13 February 2016 19:15)

To Micheal,
Get real ! ,Madeleine Albright, was saved by Serb's during the war,and didn't care about Serb's,let alone McCain,that has nothing to do with 2nd world war .Why would he care, what happen 70 odd years ago!.

The first place Senator McCain should have been taken to with his delegation of American Senators is the memorial to rescued American airmen from WWII in Pranjanje. As a pilot who was shot down and captured in the Vietnam War, McCain would have appreciated the immense sacrifice and bravery of the Serbian people and Draza Mihailovich's noble Chetniks who saved hundreds of airmen. Nothing unites American's more than honouring their veterans, and to have made a special commemoration of this historic event could only benefit Serbia. As usual, the Serbs ignored this gift right under their noses and did not even mention this amazing historic event to McCain.

John McCain did not visit Belgrade bearing economic gifts. Of course the US is concerned that Serbia may stray towards Russian influence and will do everything to maintain a regime subservient to the European Union and nothing else. If Serbia was ever to join the EU, it must at least maintain control of its currency and money supply, this has punished Greece extensively with a rapid rise in the price of consumable goods. Serbia is far better building economic free trade pacts within Asia and other international trading agreements where it has some competitive advantages. It now is trying to grow it's economy by debt financing which is nearing 80 percent of GDP. It also continues to carry large public debt with inefficient large amount of public employees who do nothing to grow the economy. Djindjic had the right idea to grow the economy, unfortunately he was corrupt just like many of Serbia's leaders. It will be interesting to watch how the new PM Oreskovic will do in Croatia, an accomplished business man in the middle of a right wing party coalition with HDZ. Will they let him do the job needed to grow the faltering Croatian economy. He is already being criticized as an outsider as he spent most of his career outside of Croatia in Canada and Europe.

@michaelthompson

I am sure this ignorant man knew about the saving of US forces. He couldn't care less - he just wants to use his power over people and to look good for whoever his boss is at the time.

Michael, what can I say, spot on.

(Jugoslavija, 15 February 2016 05:16)

The real purpose of appointing Oreskovic has very little to do with revitalising the Croatian economy. The Croat economy is too small to attract outside investment unless Croats work for free. Jadranka Kosor once said all administrations had gone to great lengths but outside investors were not interested. Now it would be impossible as Zagreb is bordering on fascism.
Oreskovic’s task is to sell off all government-owned enterprises to private industry (outside Croatia) at fire-sale prices. Croatia’s main source of income is tourism, but the country needs money coming in for the entire year not just 3 months and since aid from Brussels is not forthcoming then borrowings is the only option left (Brussels recently approved). So subsidised industry has to go. There will be more pain than joy, but Oreskovic will sugar coat the plan with promises of great investments from all over the word which will never eventuate.
They are screwed

SJ: I cannot comment on most of your post as you know these issues better than me, but I am fairly certain that the Croatian tourist season is longer than 3 months. It pretty much runs from Easter to the end of October.

@Ned Taylor

The "tourist" season does not start in April, you can't even dip your feet in the Adriatic ocean. It begins somewhere in June as seasonal hotel rates are adjusted for the influx of tourists. However, April is a great time to travel in the Mediterranean to cash in on low hotel rates.

I disagree Ned.

The War powers Resolution is under serious debate in the USA.

In your views, the UN can send American troops to war and not Congress?

Wow. That's even scarier.

See Wikipedia entry and discussion of Clinton's actions.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Powers_Resolution

Sasa, I don't have to live there to understand

It's a normal human way to feel after what they have gone through

But it is not the best political way to feel

Administrations come and go. Clinton era is over. Clinton bombed with 68% of the American people against. Without even seeking Congressional vote (by not declaring a war but making it a "police action"

S people think the USA is one philosophical bloc of thinking. That is simplistic thinking. Ignorance

Reality) is a moving picture (many photos strung together over time), not a single photograph of one point in time

One of the main enemies of S is self-created: actions chosen out of "righteous" anger & contrariness (inat). Saving graces in time of immediate threat, they are traits to be controlled by enlightened leaders otherwise

Theyy lead to fractiousness - the main enemy of S in its entire history (look at your own flag if you doubt that)

The 90's could have been avoided with more sophisticated thinking. If Milosevic were smarter he could have turned everything against the main instigators who paved the way for civil war

Serbia will prosper when it finds its "philosopher king" and the last of the godless Communists die (soon)

Variance is allowed to accommodate local "personality", but make no mistake. He who holds the capital controls the situation & it wants 2 things (return; control).

To alleviate that somewhat make yourself very, very useful in the war against global terrorism

Factman and ICJ: The Kosovo bombing campaign was a NATO operation based on UN Resolution 1199. The US Congress doesn't decide how and when NATO conducts its operations so your spat about whether it was Clinton, Congress or the American people who sought to bomb Kosovo is missing the point. Yes, US planes were part of the NATO mission but so were many others. Whether or not the bombing was justified is a different argument.

Factman: I wasn't expressing a view or opinion I was explaining what happened. It was a NATO action based on a UN resolution. Nothing can 'compel' any NATO country to participate in any operation but as members it is usual that they do and the US is often a leading player in this. The UN certainly does not force anyone to either take any action or to join their (usually peacekeeping) operations but their resolutions are used as justification by NATO and others. There are occasions when individual countries or groups of countries decide to take action without specific resolutions authorising such action as I am sure you know.

(ned taylor, 15 February 2016 14:07)

You are right, tourism does goe all year around, but the main cash-flow period is during June, July and August while the rest provides miniscule income.
Relying on tourism as your major source of funding is extremely risky since inclement weather can ruin a season such as in 2014 when the coastal parts of Croatia were in flood and hotels were left vacant during the entire holiday peak. Croatia has nothing else, but tourism. Previously Brussels met any shortfalls in Zagreb’s budget, but not anymore. Its sink or swim time.
Oreskovic has been appointed to revitalise the Croatian economy by selling inefficient industry. Either sell/close that industry or keep borrowing more and more until you have a failed economy.
The theory being that once that industry is sold/closed then Croatia will be in a position to attract foreign investment. If anyone believes this then they also believe in the tooth fairy.

Factman and ICJ: The Kosovo bombing campaign was a NATO operation based on UN Resolution 1199. The US Congress doesn't decide how and when NATO conducts its operations so your spat about whether it was Clinton, Congress or the American people who sought to bomb Kosovo is missing the point. Yes, US planes were part of the NATO mission but so were many others. Whether or not the bombing was justified is a different argument.
(ned taylor, 14 February 2016 19:21)

Hey ned, I'm not sure why you pulled me into the above?! I just asked about who voted Clinton, but I did not express any opinion either for or against what you wrote above...

Hey ned, I'm not sure why you pulled me into the above?! I just asked about who voted Clinton, but I did not express any opinion either for or against what you wrote above...
(icj1, 16 February 2016 15:17)

What happened, somebody put a muzzle in your mouth to take you for a walk?

here will be more pain than joy, but Oreskovic will sugar coat the plan with promises of great investments from all over the word which will never eventuate.
They are screwed
(sj, 15 February 2016 11:03)

If Oreskovic can manage to increase productivity, that will be good for Serbian exporters as Croatia is the top 9 exporter for them at 458 Million in volume. Don't forget, Serbia is part of CEFTA free trade zone and should continue to expand trade as part of it. I am not confident because the HDZ is using him as decoy as part of the coalition with the Croatian Democratic Union.

Thanks Ned.

What I wrote remains.

Clinton circumvented Congress and the will of the American people to begin a war (what some say was a cynical effort to take away attention from Monica-gate)

(Jugoslavija, 16 February 2016 17:44)

As I said before Oreskovic’s task of revitalising the Croatian economy is a disguise to the impending sell-off of government subsidised industry.
These subsidised industries are a huge drain on Zagreb’s budget. Brussels recently approved Zagreb’s request to borrow money outside Croatia.
If it were possible Croatia would have improved its economy a long time ago. As Kosor said, foreign investors are not interested. Croatia’s economy is very small and it has very little room to manoeuvre and not enough profit to attract out investment. Why do you think Brussels wants these new countries to work together as if they were still in Yugoslavia. Only Serbia can survive, but the others cannot.
Also, the Croatian economy cannot grow since the rest of the EU is stagnant and Brussels is printing money for the second time.
If I was asked I would not hesitate to state that Karamarko is a foreign government agent. Belgrade could not have planned this debacle in Croatian politics better. Other countries now view Croatia as a fascist place.
These free trade agreements only benefit multinational corporations not small countries like Serbia. Yes they try to sell it as benefitting Serbia but it the opposite.

What I wrote remains.

Clinton circumvented Congress and the will of the American people to begin a war
(factman, 16 February 2016 19:33)

Well, what you wrote was according to you and of course remains just according to you, so it can safely be ignored.

According to the US though, Clinton was empowered by the will of the American people and the US Constitution to decide whatever he decided.

It's understandable why the US was so unhappy with Serbia in 1999. The Republicans hated Serbia for egregiously killing would-be Muslim terrorists, while the Democrats were upset with the way that Serbia deliberately stood in defiance of structural institutional abuses (in this case by NATO).