Understand this: Serbia & Russia have been historic allies for hundreds of years.  Yesterday, a small mob amongst thousands of protestors against the announcement of the Independence of Kosovo from Serbia suddenly began rioting in front of the US Embassy.  After little hesitation, the Serbian police conveniently retreated where by our embassy was attacked & set ablaze.  Now enter President Bush warning the Serbian government of holding them responsible for what a mob did in the passion of the moment.  Seems reasonable on the surface but…

Serbia is not happy to see Kosovo declare its independence but the people are distinctly different in Kosovo as opposed to the rest of Serbia.  The majority of Kosovo is of Albanian decent & practice Islam while most Serbians are Christian.  I for one do not understand the continual drive in that part of the world to separate along ethnic and/or religious boundaries - creating smaller & smaller countries.  Can the return of City-States be that far fetched given the direction of so many people in Europe & Asia?

A Greater Mystery to me is, WHY would the USA & NATO support the independence of Kosovo?  The prevailing speculation is that the Kosovo secessionists yearn for consolidation into an expanded Albania.  Obviously, this same basic premise in this same region has caused no fewer that seven wars in history - with this region playing a defining role in the start of the First World War!  So WHY is the USA & NATO SUPPORTING this move for independence?  Is this to cultivate Islamic favor, particularly from the Turks & Arabs?  Is this just NATO toying with their old nemisis Russia?  This just really seems dumb from my point of view, for the USA to be throwing support behind such a strategically Unimportant place such as the powder keg that is Kosovo that is in the middle of the Balkans!  

Look at it this way.  How would most Americans feel if Southern California decided to break away from the USA and the main supporters of the secession made no secret of their intentions of reuniting with Mexico?  Can you imagine our government's indignation if the Russians & the Chinese SUPPORTED such a secessionist movement?  OK, some Americans might actually applaud such a move but I hope you get the point.

This whole scenario seems to be shaping up to be a bit like two guys with their chests poked out, throwing matches at one another while standing knee-deep in the middle of a pool of 98-Octane gasoline.  It just does not seem smart for our government to support such an independence move.  Moreover, before you snipe about Bush, just remember that the Clinton Administration supported many similar events during the continuing breakup of Yugoslavia and sent troops to Kosovo & other parts of old Yugoslavia in the 1990’s ostensibly to stop genocide, which as it turns out, was largely fabricated by all sides.  This has been brewing for decades and in my opinion, we need to step back breath very deeply and contemplate very carefully, what throwing our support to an independent Kosovo may actually entail.