I’m a little young to remember much of the history behind this country, but my inclination is to be happy for the Kosovars who’ve been yearning for their freedom.

Reading Stephen Schwartz’s piece really brings to light how this move may help the broader war on terror and help stop (or at least slow down) the bullying Putin.

http://www.serbianna.com/columns/ratkovic/002.shtml

No, it is absolutely NOT in our best interest.

I instinctively support people who want to be free but it’s good to hear varying opinions on it.  It’s never quite so black and white.

It’s only ok to waffle on freedom if you have it.

I married a Serb woman and lived in Serbia for about 5 years starting just after the bombing in 1999.  I feel I have some insight into the Kosovo situation.

(1) Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo was undermined over a number of years by what was in effect an open borders policy between Albania and Kosovo.  Roughly two thirds of Kosovars were undocumented residents of Kosovo who migrated from Albania for a better life

(2) The Albanian Kosovars are a Muslim society and the Serbs are a Christian Orthodox society.  They do not mix and abide by a different set of laws.

(3) The Serbs did not commit genocide against the Kosovars, but they were ruthless in their reprisals against Albanian provocations to Serbian authority.  THe West mischaracterized these ruthless acts as genocide.

(4) The Serbs sealed their doom as far as world opinion against them when they forced hundreds of thousands of Kosovars out of the country when the bombing campaign commenced.

As a practical matter, Kosovo is ungovernable as a Serbian province as 90 percent of the population is Albanian Muslim and will fight the Serbs to the death to gain independence.  The only equitable solution is to partition the Serbian enclaves to their mother country - Serbia.

The Kosovo situation is multi faceted.  To say that there was no genocide must mean that it was halted before genocide could be achieved.  When I was in Kosovo in 2002 I visited most of the countryside.  Nearly every town, city and even the reservoir with the hydro plant where completely shot up.  Craters from bomb blasts and make shift cemeteries line the roadsides.  It is obvious that Serbia can not govern Kosovo.  Kosovo can never govern itself if not given the chance.  The UN is inept at governing anything, including itself.  Support for Kosovo across the world is overwhelming, those against very few.  The employment status is dismal at best.  There will never be investment in a country with no status and no future.  Kosovars don’t have much choice but to grab their own future and guide it as best they can.