At Large
Kosovo a Year Later
Washington resumes its destabilizing crusade, with Hillary Clinton picking up where her husband, and his successor, left off.
Last February Kosovo declared independence, with Washington’s support, the culmination of America’s war against Serbia a decade ago in a region of no strategic interest to America. The peace has proved to be much tougher than the war, however. The number of recognitions has stalled, despite U.S. pressure on friends and allies. Last October Serbia won a United Nations General Assembly vote to take its case to the World Court, which is now considering the issue. The conflict remains frozen, only with new flashpoints, most notably the status of the Serbian community in Kosovo’s north.
Even more embarrassing, Russia cynically used the Kosovo precedent to justify its war with Georgia in support of South Ossetia. Who was Washington to whine about the violation of Georgia’s territorial integrity?
Unfortunately, with Hillary Clinton at the State Department, little change is expected in U.S. attempts to micromanage Balkan affairs. Indeed, Secretary Clinton is set to meet with Kosovo’s “president” and “prime minister” on Thursday “in order to reassure them of the U.S. promise of friendship and support for Kosovo,” according to the State Department.
U.S. policy desperately needs a change.
After years of repressive local (Albanian) rule from Pristina succeeded by equally abusive national (Serbian) rule from Belgrade, a nasty guerrilla war broke out in Kosovo. Much blame fell on the Milosevic regime, but the Kosovo Liberation Army committed its own atrocities in return. U.S. diplomats even termed the KLA as “terrorist.”
The U.S. should have ignored the conflict, but President Bill Clinton saw the Balkans as an opportunity to turn U.S. foreign policy into a form of international social work, as Michael Mandelbaum of SAIS termed it. Once NATO drove Serbian security forces from Kosovo, the final disposition of the territory was obvious. Although UN Resolution 1244 assumed continued Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo, providing for “a political process designed to determine Kosovo’s future status,” the allies never intended serious negotiations. Rather, ethnic Albanians understood that independence would be the final result. Negotiations were simply for show to disguise Serbia’s expected surrender. Thus, the ethnic Albanians never considered settling for anything short of independence.
They did offer to respect the rights of ethnic Serbs — respect, however, not demonstrated when ethnic Albanians kicked out nearly a quarter of a million Serbs and other minorities, including Roma and Jews, after the war, and destroyed Serb homes, churches, and monasteries in another round of violence five years ago. Nevertheless, the ethnic Albanians expected to rule even in the northern areas heavily populated by Serbs.
The newly elected democratic government in Belgrade responded by offering a number of approaches with largely unrestricted autonomy. Nevertheless, the U.S. and leading European states declared Serbia to be the intransigent party, “obstructing” and “stonewalling” a settlement. In short, the “negotiations” were a sham designed to grant Kosovo independence.
Obviously, there was no perfect solution that would satisfy both sides. The Milosevic government had behaved brutally and the ethnic Albanians saw no reason to again recognize Belgrade’s sovereignty.
But minority Serbs had no more reason to believe Pristina’s promise of protection or the West’s promise to maintain outside oversight. After all, both spasms of ethnic Albanian violence occurred during the allied occupation. In mid-1999, even as tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs were fleeing Kosovo, Secretary Albright was telling the Council of Foreign Relations that the allied occupation force “takes seriously its mandate to protect Kosovars, including Serbs.” The territory seemed no closer to ethnic reconciliation in 2004, when thousands more ethnic Serbs were killed, injured, and displaced. Derek Chappell, spokesman for the UN military force, UNMIK, observed: “some in the Kosovo Albanian leadership believe that by cleansing all remaining Serbs from the area…and destroying Serbian cultural sites, they can present the international community with a fait accompli.”
Kosovo’s record is at best disappointing after years of supposed tutelage in democracy by the “international community.” The ethnic Albanian leadership has been implicated in the explosion of organized crime, including drug dealing, money laundering, and sex trafficking. Some have referred to Kosovo as the “black hole” of Europe.
At a 2006 congressional hearing, Charles English of the State Department stated: “Discrimination remains a serious problem. Access to public services is uneven. Incidents of harassment still occur. Freedom of movement is limited. And too many minorities still feel unsafe in Kosovo.” Similarly, Joseph Grieboski of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy argued that “the present record of rule of law, protection of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities, and the return/resettlement of internally displaced people by the Provisional Authority of Kosovo — all of which are indispensable for democratic governance — have been gravely unsatisfactory.”
In November 2007 the European Commission released a report that concluded “some progress was made in consolidating government,” but “working tools for an efficient government” still had “to be enhanced and fully applied.” Moreover, explained the commission, “Overall, little progress has been made in the promotion and enforcement of human rights. The administration is not able to ensure the full implementation of human rights standards.” Finally, the commission concluded, “Religious freedom is not fully respected.”
Kosovo hardly sounded ready for prime-time.
About the Author
Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author and editor of several books, including The Politics of Plunder: Misgovernment in Washington (Transaction).
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nora| 2.23.09 @ 6:37AM
It doesn't look that you know the truth about Kosovo
jimbo| 2.23.09 @ 6:44AM
he looks like a payed propagandist..
Pingback| 2.23.09 @ 6:50AM
Doug Bandow » Blog Archive » Kosovo’s Botched Independence Bid a Year Later links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Stuart Koehl| 2.23.09 @ 7:11AM
The Congress of Berlin really didn't settle matters, as several Balkan wars and, ultimately, World War I, demonstrated.
Gezim Disha| 2.23.09 @ 8:11AM
Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He is also a fellow at the Institute for Policy Innovation. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire (Xulon Press).
Doug Bandow is a nobody. What he has written is exatly what a serb nationalist would write about Kosovo which is deeply biased und insulting to the truth on the ground.
Thomas| 2.23.09 @ 12:48PM
Nora, Jimbo, Disha, could you provide some enlightenment for the rest of us for the basis of your responses? Unsupported responses such as "Oh, Yeah?" and "You just don't know what you are talking about" are a little vague.
Tini| 11.8.11 @ 1:19PM
Some facts mister Cooper: According the Serbian statistic data, Serbs never made 15 to 29% of population in Kosovo. I worked for UNMIK police also in Missing Persons Unit and i participated in opening many mass graves, such as in Mitrovica (Suho Doll), in Rahovec/Orahovac area more than one etc. At that time in 2002 we still had around 5000 missing persons, around 600 hundred Serbs, today in Kosovo we have more than 1800 missing persons, around 500 hundreds are Serbs including civilians and military personnel.
On Your question : "Can anyone point to a single mass grave? By the time that I left, there was no evidence of any such sites, in spite of the fact that our intervention was specifically in response to Serbian Ethnic Cleansing. Clearly the intelligence during the Clinton administration was faulty", You need to be an ignorant, sorry that i am using this word, just to make this question and to gave such a conclusion. Just a mass grave in Batanjica (Serbia proper) is evidence enough for these one who still believe that no mas graves existed in Kosovo. these 800 hundred dead bodies i don't believe that have killed themselves as you will like to say and walked like zombies to the hart of Belgrade in a grave. there were more than 4 mass graves only in Serbia proper. Are U sure that You spent 7 months in Kosovo? From what U write i doubt.
David Cooper| 2.23.09 @ 3:10PM
I spent 7 months in Kosovo during 2002 as a Civil Affairs Officer assigned to the Strpce area, working with Multi-National Brigade East (MNB(E)), the UN Administrator, the UNMIK Police, and both Serbian and Albanian officials and people. My job was such that I spent 10 or more hours a day, seven days a week, with only two or three other Marines working in the local population to improve the economic, political, and social status of the people. During that time I got to see first hand what this article is stating. As of 2002, fully half of the "missing" Kosovars were ethnic Serbians, in spite of the fact the Serbian population only made up 15%-20% of the Population of Kosovo in 1998.
A second, little known, point is that when I was there in the Spring - Fall of 2002, two members of MNB(E) were injured in a bombing of Serbian houses in an area that they were patrolling. The two US soldiers were awarded the Purple Heart, and award that is ONLY awarded for injuries caused by enemy action. Albanians set the land mines up to blow the houses because the Serbian family had recently returned. Later, in the same area, I had to assist when a Serbian woman set off an anti-tank mine that had been set in her corn field. Again, this was an Albanian action.
On a final note, can anyone name a single instance of mass murder in Kosovo? Can anyone point to a single mass grave? By the time that I left, there was no evidence of any such sites, in spite of the fact that our intervention was specifically in response to Serbian Ethnic Cleansing. Clearly the intelligence during the Clinton administration was faulty.
Mike| 2.23.09 @ 4:35PM
1) ...America's war against Serbia a decade ago in a region of no strategic interest to America. -- Then why did the US build the largest military base outside of the US in Kosovo and not Iraq?
2) There are countless documents even within the Hague that can testify to Albanian brutality and outright lies. The KLF (Terrorist Org.) was captured on film promoting a mass exodus of Albanians then pointing the finger at Serbs.
3 ) The so-called leaders of Kosovo have had world-wide warrants by Interpol for drug trafficing and have even been to jail. Why were they selected to run a so-called government?
4) Before the war, there were upwards of 500,000 Serbs living in Kosovo and 1.5 mil Albanians. How is it that there are a little over 200,000 Serbs now yet 1.5 mil Albanians still? Who did the 'ethnic cleasing'?
5) As David Cooper above mentioned... there were no accounts of mass graves! The Hague didn't find any and several independent groups could not find evidence of this at all!!!
Gezim Disha| 2.23.09 @ 6:15PM
"For instance, if self-determination is the essential principle, then ethnic Serbs in Kosovo have an obvious right to break from the new state and remain with democratic Serbia."
The whole article comes down to this one sentence.
Mr. Nobody goes to lengths and depths disregarding and twisting the reality as he goes along only so the partition of Kosovo will seem to be as the only way out of the present situation. And that is exactly what his beloved (apparently his employer)“democratic” Serbia is aiming at.
In that case, what will Mr. Nobody suggest about the Albanians in the southern Serbia? And while he is at it; should the right of self determination apply to the Albanians in Macedonia and Montenegro as well?
MATT LITVAK| 2.24.09 @ 1:11AM
I'll explain Nora, Jimbo and Gezim's comments on this site. They are "payed propagandist.. " whose job is to constantly scan the web for news stories concerning Kosovo and albania, criticize anything that exposes the corruption of the albanian government and its puppet regime in Kosovo and tell the world how great albania is. Despite the fact that the regime that runs Kosovo could not organize a fire drill in a grade shool much less run a country. Billions in US taxpayer money is being poured into both of these coutries. Yet they remain impoverished. Think of the people who run Detroit, New Orleans, Michigan and other failed states and you might have an idea as to what passes for "democratic government" in Kosovo and albania.
The Serbians and other ethnic minorities who have chosen to live on in their homeland of Kosovo are failed every day by the State Department's . . . you really can't call it a policy because only a madman could have concieved of the practices that have been put in place at the end of a gun in Kosovo.
Its about time the Spectator printed an article like this and it is why I have been a faithful reader and subscriber for over 20 years.
David C, thanks for your service.
tony| 2.24.09 @ 5:42AM
wow what a propaganda, dude im sure ur 100% serb from serbia, dont manipulate the american readers with ur crap propaganda.
Next time when u write a story do a lil research, or visit the place first, n this comes from someone who served in kosovo so stop bullsh..ing.
Kosovo is independent, and thats the way it should be.
axim navra| 2.24.09 @ 2:22PM
I'd like to thank my fellow, tony, gezim, jimbo and nora for thier strong efforts to relay their points. However, my brothers and sisters it is time that we too take a good look at ourselves, not just point the finger elsewhere.
This article, for all of it's aweful sounding statements isn't that far from the truth. Where would be have been had not our KLA done what they did we would have been worse off probably. However, now is the time to start discussing while things are still fairly even.
It has been clear that our fight has been loosing steam and initiative across the international bodies.
It is time to stop blaming everything on Serbs, stop pointing fingers, stop reacting the way that they acted against us. Should we not be the bigger people and turn the other cheek?
Even though I fully appriciate your willingnes to fight for our cause, here on the ground in Kosovo it is harder than it needs to be and people that fight just for the sake of fighting are needed less and less.
Gezim Disha| 2.24.09 @ 3:31PM
Now this is new. I’ve encountered Serbs pretending to be Irish, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, American and even Chinese. First time I see some Serb pretending to be Albanian.
Is it this article that got you into this silly wishful mood? Or is it the “full support” the president of Cyprus pledged to your “cause”?
I understand that you Serbs have lost all credibility with your heinous attitude towards all your neighbors. But your dirty little tricks will hardly foul even your villagers in Serbia.
Go away Serb!
Kosovo is experiencing difficulties at the moment but I think it is still too early for your wishes to become true just yet. Try again in about 500 hundred years. You never know, things might change ‘till than
MATT| 2.24.09 @ 3:34PM
Tony, Axim and the rest of the albanian apologists, and you have alot to apologize for. I'm surprised you could even read Bandow's article since albania lacks an educational system. Stealing cars from france is not an education. As far as trying to conceal the absolute failure of current administration of Kosovo, there is a national talk show host named Michael Savage, has over 8 Million listeners, heard on over 400 stations who routinely educates his listeners about the deliberate destruction of churches and monestaries in Kosovo by albanians and muslims. We know, that as a muslim, you feel inadequate because your society has produced nothing and that your only recourse is to destroy religious sites so that you can pretend it was always you that was there. Savage also talks positively of the the Serbians, that they were on the right side of this war and that for some reason the US decided instead to support albanians whose only industry is drug dealing, counterfeiting of merchandise and sex slave trafficking. Oh, I left out the part about how albania is a place where islamics train to carry out jihad against Western targets.
Michel Foucault| 2.24.09 @ 4:07PM
CATO institute is a pro-Serb organization, which explains everything about the "facts" in this article.
Bandow is ridiculous. There are so many mistakes in this article that I am unwilling to even point them out.
"They did offer to respect the rights of ethnic Serbs -- respect, however, not demonstrated when ethnic Albanians kicked out nearly a quarter of a million Serbs and other minorities, including Roma and Jews"
There were no Jews in Kosova in 1999! You cannot find a single document which states the contrary. I know why you re saying this - you just want to appeal to the Jewish lobby in US. Forget it! Albanians have been pro-Jewish historically and have proved it even during the toughest times during the Second World War. Here's the answer: http://www.adl.org/PresRele/HolNa_52/4963_52.htm...
"If the World Court rules for Belgrade, some nations might even reverse their recognitions of Pristina."
Yeah, right... The World Court is a bureaucratic institution with no executive power... It is too idealistic for the world we are living in... And yes: US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Canada, etc., will definitely succumb to this stupid institution... What a joke!
axim navra| 2.24.09 @ 4:09PM
Gezim,
this is not the first time that I've encountered my brothers' rage towards my moderate stance. I'm sorry that you feel this way, but you really shouldn't be attacking me. I'm sorry that you think that the Serbs are out to get you. My personal relationships straddle a wide variety of nationality and I've not found one to be intrinsically evil. If you choose to fool yourself into thinking this faliciy then by all means do, but please understand that you are simply continuing the disinformation policies that have resulted in this mess. The root of the problem is that there was a disconnect between these two societies and from there everything started to fall apart.
Gezim, I too could lower myself to your levels and throw out rude and insulting accusations, but I will refrain and take the high road. Please join me up there, and call your friends.
If we are ever to gain peacful stabiulity it will not be done through intimidation, use of force, or slanderous remarks. Please think a little for yourself and don't just swallow the tripe that has been placed on your plate by the powers in the elite class.
If you really think about it, and I mean really, you notice that regardless of the level of personal destitituion a countries citizens are in, the elite ruling class live 'high on the hog'. The leaders of our, theirs, everyones are all crooks. They all promise us the world so that they can sit in their fancy chairs, then they easily manage to pull the wool over our eyes, steal from us, misguide us and simply keep us at our low levels. This is done in every single country, in every single city, in every single tribe the world over.
If you feel that you must raise some proverbial banner and yell out to the rafters, then expect that you'll hear an echo from someone else. Both of these voice will resonate and invite others to join in, causing a massive orchestral mess.
Really, Gezim, things could be so much better, and they were promised to be better, but they're not. Ask yourself why that is the case. Ask yourself to find an answer that doesn't involve blaming someone else, and find one where you can do your part to make things better.
For far too long, all I hear is evil Serb, and Milosevic docterine, and our oppresion. The time has come for us to pull ourselves out of are own self impossed, self created missery and graduate to a fully functioning state. We must stop blaming others for our shortcomings and start doing something ourselves.
One day we will all learn to live together, Albanian, Serb, American, Russian, whomever. That day is not today, but the road leading to that day is at foot. Lets take it.
axim navra| 2.24.09 @ 4:20PM
Matt,
attacking my personal character is a very useless approach. Please, refrain from further subtle character defamations. -- "surprised you could even read Bandow's article since albania lacks an educational system".
Further attacking muslims in general is beyond contemptable, but I will refrain from retaliating.
As I tried to impart to Gezim, I am a moderate. I am not appologizing, for I have done nothing wrong. Nor am I appologizing for me peoples because I have not the authority to do so, but as with everywhere else, we too have a few bad apples and I would appriciate it if you took that fact into account before you berate a whole society.
On the whole, I personally an tired of this ridiculous, continuous back and forth nonesense. We all know what is right and what is wrong, and what we've done and had done to us. This is all in the past now. For those that are still aching because of the past, it is time to start healing and move forward. Live in the present, aim to the future. Let us all put down our weapons, stop antagonising eachother and figure out how to coexist. We are fated to live side by side as peoples, so we need to figure it out like adults. No more accusations, no more inuendo, no more verbal attacks, HECK no more phyiscal attacks. No more of this nonesense.
We've all been dupped and we're all enjoying the fruits of our labours: namely no significant progress for us or the Serbs, in both Kosovo and Serbia, for over a decade. We've let our personal problems (I mean our elite's personal problems) to infest our daily dialouge and lives and we've forgetten our own drives for a better life, and more prosperous life a more relaxed comfortable life.
Alas, for far too often I have felt like I've been talking to a stone wall when I talk to anyone "personally" affected. One day we will all see the light and the truth and move forward as partners and not as enemies.
David Jones| 2.24.09 @ 4:26PM
Michel Foucault,
Where have you aquired this information: "CATO institute is a pro-Serb organization"
I took a look at their website and wikipedia out of interest. After reading about CATO I could certainly conclude that it is not an organization that stands "pro-Serb" for idological reasons. If it seems to be "pro-Serb" to you, then maybe there is a deeper reason they are.
No jews in Kosovo in 1999? Really now? Such a blanket statement does invite a response. Really? Is this you stance? The jewish peoples are all over the globe. There are certainly Jews in Kosovo to this day, and there certainly were in 1999.
Gezim Disha| 2.24.09 @ 5:00PM
"Gezim,
this is not the first time that I've encountered my brothers' rage towards my moderate stance.”
This is nice. I just found out I’ve got a brother from a different mother. It feels nice even if I’m certain my father has never been in Serbia.
axim navra| 2.24.09 @ 5:21PM
well, I guess I've been left no choice. I thought I was having a discussiong with adults. i've learned to behave appropriately.
you've got it all wrong. you've got a brother from a different mother.
Not my fault, maybe she swings like that.
Michel Foucault| 2.24.09 @ 5:55PM
For David Jones: Try to read anything about the Kosovo's demography and if you come across the fact that there were Jews living there before 1999, please let me know.
About CATO: An example - is there any information in the Fox News' website that they are pro-Republican? Of course not. But this doesn't mean that they aren't. I have been following the statements of CATO institute representatives and they were 100% pro-Serb. in regarding the issue of Kosovo. They may have their reasons and ideas, but this is true.
Pingback| 2.24.09 @ 9:39PM
The American Spectator : Kosovo a Year Later links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Michele San Pietro| 2.25.09 @ 3:58AM
Kosovo is now rightly an independent State. Albanians, who make up the overwhelming majority of the population, were oppressed and deprived of the most basic human rights for years. I took part in many demonstrations with friends of mine from Kosovo leaving in Italy and I would do it again. American conservatives who sided with the Serbs just because Albanians are mainly Muslims made a terrible and stupid mistake (religious fundamentalism is virtually non-existent among Albanians). Up with free Kosovo!
Liberty or Death| 2.25.09 @ 8:35PM
America had no business inserting itself into Serbia's civil war. Clinton was a fool to step in, as he was a fool in Mogadishu. America cannot solve the world's problems. America's national security was not in jeopardy in either scenario.
Milosevic was a maniac, no doubt. But there were also maniacs in Albania as well-- murdering their own people for world sympathy, a 30 sec. sound bite on the national, nightly news. What we did to the Serbs was nothing short of a disgrace.
The Serbian/Albanian conflict is an old one, much like the Israeli/Palestinian one. Both have deep-seeded religious overtones. One side, the original inhabitants of the land, have a credible claim; the other, continuously chips away at them (crying foul at every turn) and taking what they do not deserve through terrorist acts.
The difference between the two, in Serbia's war, both sides were in the wrong. We chose sides and we shouldn't have.
What does being conservative have to do with anything we are discussing here Michele?
Oh... and I wholeheartedly believe this statement: "religious fundamentalism is virtually non-existent among Albanians." Yeah right, just like it is everywhere Islam and Christianity co-exists. Nice try.
Just because Islam is the majority religion in the region, it doesn't give Muslims the right to murder the other side and take their land... and vice versa.
Ari Rusila | 3.18.09 @ 11:09AM
I just read the article of Mr. Bandow and must say it was very refreshing; it challenges the manipulated picture created earlier in mainstream western media and of course is provocative to those who believed earlier stories.
U.S. selected its side against Serbs in Bosnia mid-90s and later in Kosovo. With trade came the allies of terrorist organisations, war criminas and leaders of organized crime groups. The final result so far is a creature of quasi-state Bosnia-Herzegovina - which now is collapsing (more http://arirusila.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/bosnia-collapsing/) - and a new"captured" or "failed" state experiment Kosovo. As side effects U.S. has helped to establish a safe heaven for radical Islam - which now is conquering influence among earlier secular Bosniaks and Kosovo Albanians, which now is arming themselves to attack towards their Christian neighbors inside their occupied territories and abroad (More e.g. http://arirusila.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/radical-islamists-arming-their-selves-in-balkans/).
High flown ideas about multi-ethnic societies in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo have failed long time ago. (More e.g. in my article"Pogrom with Prize" - http://arirusila.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/kosovo-marchfebruary-17th-pogrom-with-prize/) In Kosovo first idea of international community was to develop standards before status. This slogan was fast turned into "standards and status" and when even this goal was too demanding standards were thrown into garbage bin when the Western powers implemented their precipitate decision to recognize Kosovo.
One comment related to relationship between Jews and Kosovo Albanians. During WWII Kosovo Albanians were creating their SS-division for ethnic cleansing of Serbs and Jews; the Serbs were mainly in Partizan movement which was helping U.S. and British troops to throw Germans out from Balkans.
More about situation in today's West Balkans e.g. in http://arirusila.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/what’s-up-in-west-balkans-2009/
Michele San Pietro| 3.31.09 @ 10:46AM
Dear "Liberty and Death", you simply don't know about the situation in Kosovo. The Albanians were deprived of their most basic human rights and did have to react. The Albanians' excesses simply don't compare with the Serbs' heinous atrocities. And, I repeat, Albanians from Kosovo are not religious fundamentalists at all for the overwhelming majority: I have a lot of Albanian friends from Kosovo, and none of them has even a praying mat. Conservatives do have something to do with the matter: those of them who sided with the Serbs are simply stupid.
jill starr | 5.7.09 @ 7:27PM
Serbia & Montenegro on Anti- Counterfieting LAws & EU Standards When traveling throughout Serbia & Montenegro in August for three weeks vacation.
United States :
Serbia & Montenegro on Anti- Counterfieting LAws & EU Standards
When traveling throughout Serbia & Montenegro in August 1999 for three weeks vacation. I also found Serbia & Montenegro banks to be 100% in accordance with EU anti-counterfeiting laws & guidelines.
In fact, as an American citizen with a United States Passport, I had an extremely difficult time when attempting to walk into any bank to exchange my United States Dollars into either Serbian Dinars and/or Euros. When exchanging money on my vacation, all bills (U.S. Dollars) had to be crisp and dry, without one tear or crease; I was always asked at all banks throughout my travels in Serbia & Montenegro to present them with more than two forms of official photo ID for transactions. When I asked them why, the bank representatives todl me they have to be extremely careful of counterfeit bills.
In fact, I was starving one day with some friends by the Kosovo border and one bank would not even exchange my United States Dollars into Euros at all! We were about 10 meters outside of Kosovo where western media was committing gross lies about hundreds of thousands of refugees being homeless by the borders of ALbanian and Kosovo. I saw noy one person anywhere insofar as refugees and/or homeless people during my trip in mid-August 2002.
Yet here I was, in a small ethnic majority Albanian town...anyway, back to my story...
I had been swimming earlier in the morning and had gotten all my money wet. Yet here I was, an American citizen and even 10 meters outside of Kosovo, not one Montengrin bank would easily exchange my US Dollars into Euros because it was a bit damp.
And I was hungry!
They would not even exchange it when I showed them my United States valid Passport along with additional forms of Identification. Talk about banks being overly cautious!
Since it has become a private joke of sorts between myself and my friends what we had to go back to our hotel rooms often and actually blow-dry our money; almost taking an iron to iron it perfectly dry, before any bank in either Serbia or Montenegro would exchange our currency (no matter how much I whined).
WHEN I EXPLAINED TO THE BANK TELLERS THAT I WAS VERY HUNGRY AND NEEDED TO EXCHANGE MONEYS TO BUY LUNCH, AND, ASKED THEM WHY ALL THIS ATTENTION TO MONEY EXCHANGES OF VERY SMALL AMOUNTS UNDER $50- EVEN, I WAS TOLD BECAUSE OF THEIR COUNTRY’S VERY STRICT ENFORCEMENT OF ANTI-COUNTERFEITING LAWS.
SO WHEREFORE SHOULD NOT SERBIA AT ONCE GAIN ACCEPTANCE IN THE EU?
INSOFAR AS WAR CRIMES, AS A PERSON WHOM IN AUGUST 2002 TRAVERSED FROM THE SERBIAN/CROATIAN ADRIATIC BORDER TO 10 METERS FROM KOSOVO/MONTENEGRIAN BORDER, I DID NOT SEE ANYONE ALBANIAN, SERB AND/OR ROMA NOR ANY REFUGEES IN THE COUNTRY ANYWHERE AT ALL.
EVEN IN THE ETHNIC ALBANIAN TOWN WHERE I BROUGHT MY FRIEND’S WIFE TO AN ALBANIAN DENTIST AS A SERBIAN LADY FOR DENTAL CARE, ALL SCHOOL CHILDREN WERE WELL FED, VERY WELL DRESSED AND THEY WALKED UP TO ME (I TOLD THEM I WAS A US POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENT AND AMERICAN CITIZEN AND THEY DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT SERBS AT ALL.) THEY ONLY ALL TOLD ME THEY WANTED TO STUDY IN NEW YORK ONE DAY. BUT AFTER I TOLD THEM ABOUT MY TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE BEING THROWN OUT OF THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH IN MANHATTAN FOR MY ANTI NATO VIEWS, THEY TOLD ME PERHAPS THEY WERE WRONG ABOUT THINKING THERE WAS TRULY ACADEMIC FREEDOM ON THE USA.
THEN I TOLD THE ETHNIC ALBANIAN STUDENTS NOT TO STUDY IN NEW YORK CITY BECAUSE OF HOW I ALSO WAS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON AND SETON HALL AS WELL ON ACCOUNT OF THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH’S VIOLATING MY DISABILITY RIGHTS.
WE DISCUSSED HOW THE NEW SCHOOL DID NOT LIKE MY STRONGLY VOCALIZING MY ANTI-NATO VIEWS TOO AND HOW FDU WOULD NOT ACCEPT MY MA THESIS WELL.
DURING MY TRIP I DISCOVERED THE AMERICAN AND WESTERN EUROPEAN NEWS MEDIA WAS LYING TO THEIR PUBLIC LISTENERS.
I MYSELF COULD NOT LOCATE ONE REFUGEE ANYWHERE IN EITHER COUNTRY , EVEN 10 METERS OUTSIDE OF KOSOVO ITSELF, I FOUND NOT ONE ETHNIC TENSION AND PEOPLE FROM ALL PARTS OF EUROPE WERE STAYING IN BUDVA MONTENEGRO WITH ME (GERMANY, NETHERLANDS ETC.) WE WERE ALL EQUALLY ENJOYING OUR VACATION. THE MAN AT OUR HOTEL FROM GERMAN PLAYED SOME CHESS WITH ME.
JILL STARR IN NJ
PS: NO ONE RAN UP TO ME FROM ANY ETHNIC NATIONALITY IN ANY ONE PLACE CRYING TO ME ABOUT WAR CRIMES AND RAPE.
SINCE THAT TIME OF MY 2002 VACATION IN SRBIA AND MONTENEGRO, I HAVE PERSONALLY ALSO MET WITH SEVERAL UNITED STATES MARINES STATIONED IN PRISTINA DURING THAT TIME RECENTLY SPENDING TIME IN NEW JERSEY. THEY ALSO TOLD ME “I WAS NOT REALLY LOOKING JILL BUT I DID NOT SEE ONE REFUGEES MYSELF AND I WAS STATIONED IN PRISTINA IN KOSOVO –AND YES THE US AND WESTERN MEDIA MADE UP SOME OF THE LARGEST LIES IN THE WORLD AND LIES AGAINST SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO..” THIS WAS SAID TO ME ABOUT 3 WEEKS AGO BY A SHERIFF’S OFFICER IN PASSAIC COUNTY NEW JERSEY IN 2006.
JLS
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