House Resolution 244 (Independence of "Kosova")

Dear brothers and sisters, The House is currently considering House Resolution 244 advocating the Independence of "Kosova". We must oppose this based upon the following reasons:

(1) "Bin Laden's Balkan Connections": http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/dec01/hed4473.shtml "Even without this Yugoslav co-operation, Interpol was already tracking the Al-Qaeda´s Balkan activities. On 23 October this year, Interpol released a preliminary report outlining bin Laden´s personal links to the Albanian Mafia. In this report, Interpol alleges that a senior Al-Qaeda lieutenant had been the commander of an elite UCK unit in Kosovo during the fighting in 1999." (Emphasis added)

Bottom Line: Serbia and America have a common enemy in the War on Terror Al-Qaeda and the UCK in Albanian or the Kosovo Liberation Army in English.

(2) Many Serbs in Kosovo continue to be without electricity since mid December. This is inhumane and unacceptable, especially in the middle of winter. This is in addition to the 30 churches destroyed in the March 2004 Pogrom and 140 churches since President Clinton's 1999 bombing. If the Albanians have any desire to join Europe, they must turn the power on and properly treat Serbs and our churches.

(3) Kosovo is centuries old Serbian Holy Land. It is the cradle of our civilization. You know the rest of the story and should articulate it to your Member of Congress.

(4) Drugs and the KLA: http://members.tripod.com/Balkania/resources/terrorism/kla-drugs.html

(5) Sex, Drugs, and Guns: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3071971/ I am certain that many of you have personal stories that you can share with the Committee and your Member of Congress; please feel free to do so.

Suggested Action: (1) Please contact the following members of the House International Relations Committee by copying the following link into a browser and then clicking on their picture http://wwwc.house.gov/international_relations/109/fullmem109.htm

The most important members are Chairman Henry Hyde (R-IL, 6th District) and Ranking Democrat Tom Lantos (D-CA, 12th District) who introduced it. Chairman Hyde's contact information is as follows:

6th District: (630) 832-5950 (Phone) (630) 832-5969 (Fax) http://www.house.gov/hyde/get_address2.htm (E-mail for residents of the 6th District). I can't e-mail him since I live in New York. However, there are lots of Serbs in Chicagoland and we need you now! We Serbs have the vote advantage in Chairman Hyde's district with 1,622 Serbs and 1,889 Yugoslavs to 1,200 Albanians.

As for Congressman Lantos, his contact information is as follows: (202) 225-3531 (DC Phone) (650) 342-0300 (San Mateo Office Phone) (415) 566-5257 (San Francisco Office Phone) (650) 375-8270 (Fax)

Frankly, we haven't had much luck with Congressman Lantos over the years but we also have the vote advantage with 295 Serbs and 1,103 Yugoslavs to 123 Albanians. We need to stop and reverse the Albanian lobby's influence on him. If you live in Congressman Lantos' district, please use the following link to contact him: http://lantos.house.gov/HoR/CA12/Contact+Tom/Contact+Tom.htm

We Serbs and Yugoslavs flexed our muscle in Ohio and re-elected President Bush and turned back Senator Kerry and his colleagues Richard Holbrooke, Jaime Rubin, etc. For instance, please find the following link written by Mr. James Jatras, former Senior policy analyst for the Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate, http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/othercolumns/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1100169013227680.xml We need to flex our muscle again here. If your Member of Congress is on the Committee, please call their district and DC office because their offices keep tabs on votes like this per my experience in my internship in a Buffalo Congressman's office a decade ago. (If you need the Census data for the Serbs, Yugoslavs, and Albanians in your district, please find it attached below.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Text of the resolution being introduced by Rep. Lantos HRES 24 IH 109th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 24 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should declare its support for the independence of Kosova. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 4, 2005 Mr. LANTOS (for himself and Mr. HYDE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should declare its support for the independence of Kosova. Whereas the United States and the international community recognize that a right to self-determination exists as a fundamental right of all people; Whereas Kosova was constitutionally defined as a sovereign territory in the First National Liberation Conference for Kosova on January 2, 1944, and this status was confirmed in the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopted in 1946, and the amended Yugoslav constitution adopted in 1974 preserved the autonomous status of Kosova as a de facto republic; Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, Kosova was a separate political and legal entity with separate and distinct financial institutions, police force, municipal and national government, school system, judicial and legal system, hospitals and other independent organizations; Whereas Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic rose to power in 1987 on a platform of ultranationalism and anti-Albanian racism, advocating violence and hatred against all non-Slavs and specifically targeting the Albanians of Kosova; Whereas Slobodan Milosevic subsequently stripped Kosova of its self-rule, without the consent of the people of Kosova; Whereas the elected Assembly of Kosova, faced with these intolerable acts, adopted a Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1990, proclaimed the Republic of Kosova, and adopted a constitution on September 7, 1990, based on the international legal principles of self-determination, equality, and sovereignty; Whereas in recognition of the de facto dissolution of the Yugoslav federation, the European community established principles for the recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kosova fully satisfied those principles as a de facto republic within the federation; Whereas a popular referendum was held in Kosova from September 26-30, 1991, in which 87 percent of all eligible voters cast ballots and 99.87 percent voted in favor of declaring Kosova independent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; Whereas, from the occupation of Kosova in 1989 until the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military action against the Milosevic regime in 1999, the Albanians of Kosova were subjected to the most brutal treatment in the heart of Europe since the Nazi era, forcing approximately 400,000 Albanians to flee to Western Europe and the United States; Whereas in the spring of 1999 almost 1,000,000 Kosovar Albanians were driven out of Kosova and at least 10,000 were murdered by the Serbian paramilitary and military; Whereas Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal and extradited to The Hague in June 2001 to stand trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Kosova, Bosnia, and Croatia; Whereas the United Nations established Kosova as a protectorate under Resolution 1244, ending the decade long Serbian occupation of Kosova and Milosevic's genocidal war in Kosova; Whereas Kosovar Albanians, together with representatives of the Serb, Turkish, Roma, Bosniak, and Ashkali minorities in Kosova, have held free and fair municipal and general elections in 2000 and 2001 and successfully established a parliament in 2002, which in turn elected a president and prime minister; Whereas 50 percent of the population in Kosova is under the age of 25 and the unemployment rate is currently between 60 and 70 percent, increasing the likelihood of young people entering criminal networks, the source of which lies outside of Kosova, or working abroad in order to survive unless massive job creation is facilitated by guaranteeing the security of foreign investments through an orderly transition to the independence of Kosova; Whereas the Kosova parliament is committed to developing a western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, are granted full human and civil rights and are committed to the return of all noncriminal Serbs who fled Kosova during and after the war; and Whereas there is every reason to believe that independence from Serbia is the only viable option for Kosova, after autonomy has failed time and time again: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should-- (1) recognize the danger that delay in the resolution of Kosova's final status poses for the political and economic viability of Kosova and its neighbors, and consequently for the future of Southeast Europe; (2) publicly support the independence of Kosova within its existing borders as a sovereign and democratic state in which human rights, including the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, and the rule of law are respected as the only way to lasting peace and stability in the Balkans; (3) establish a monitoring body in conjunction with the United Nations, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and other multilateral organizations to ensure that the new state of Kosova achieves the standards set forth by the UN Security Council, including the protection of minority rights and security for all of Kosova's communities, and to facilitate an orderly transition from a UN protectorate to a fully functioning democratic government; (4) work with the Council of Europe to develop and implement anti-racism programs that would be instituted at the level of federal and municipal governments throughout the Balkans; (5) work with the United Nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization to facilitate the return of Albanians to their pre-war homes in northern Mitrovica and its environs and Serbs to theirs in southern Mitrovica and other parts of Kosova; and (6) provide its share of assistance, trade, and other programs to support the government of an independent Kosova and to encourage the further development of democracy, rule of law, and a free market economic system in Kosova and throughout the Balkans."

DTA, the Serbs & the Albanians in Kosovo are both completely convinced of the righteousness of their respective sides. Many have adopted a corollary attitude that any action, however reprehensible, is cleansed by the inherent justice of their cause. For them, moral constraints have no bearing upon their chosen course of action. And it was the ascendancy of those type of people that made the Kosovo conflict what it was.

Dennis, in my time in the Balkans, Middle East and Africa, I've been in no-kidding real-life Muslim societies where Islam is actually practiced, jihad is supported, Christianity is despised, and Americans are the enemy. Kosovo is not one of those places.

All those dynamited Serb Orthodox churches and monasteries in Kosovo are mute testimony to the untruth in your statement. How many are there? 70? The foreign fighters came from Arab lands to make Jihad and they succeeded. Kosovo is now part of Dar al Islam so you should rejoice. Your objective has been achieved, Milosovich is on trial in a UN court, yet you persist in dredging up past events in the Balkans.

>>>>In what kind of Islamic society does that happen?<<<

In Palestinian pseudostate for example. On paper, Palestinians are also multiconfesional, like Albanians. In reality, Christian Palestinians are silently opressed and run away while radical Islamists are getting the iron grip on all aspects of life. Betlehem has faced the same fate as Kosovo communities. Once Christian, it is over 90% Muslim.

All in the name of multifaith cooperation, of course.

dennis, those churches are attacked because they were Serbian, not Christian. That is why Albanian Christian churches are untouched. Attacks on religious structures in the Balkans aren't so much about the religions of either the target or the attacker as they are about the Balkan nationality associated with that religion.

In their war with Croatia, the Serbs destroyed over one thousand Catholic churches, chapels, monasteries, and convents. The scope & scale of the destruction of Christian churches in Croatia is much greater than what the Kosovar Albanians have done in Kosovo. Does that make the Serbs jihadists? (Follow the links here for details, to include a brief description of how each church was destroyed).

dennis, those churches are attacked because they were Serbian, not Christian.

This must be the lamest excuse I've heard from the pro-KLA bunch. Actually, it makes my stomach turn.

Is there a special Jesus Christ Serbs worship? Jesus Christovich from Nish or...? If you destroy a Serbian church, you destroy a House of God.

If I followed your logic, I could excuse any and all crimes against Albanians with the following: "Those killed were not human beings; they were just a bunch of Albanians." Right?

Banat, you missed the point. No one is excusing the destruction of churches. The issue was about why those particular churches were destroyed, but others were left alone. The reason is that the Serb Orthodox Churches are seen as symbols of Serbian nationalism. Obviously, Albanian Christian Churches are not and they are therefore left alone.

Now, Banat, since you seem to have an interest in this subject, why did the Serbs destroy over 1,000 Christian Churches in the war with Croatia? There's a description of the damage for each church here.

"The reason is that the Serb Orthodox Churches are seen as symbols of Serbian nationalism."

Obviously, I am not the one missing the point here. Again, I can excuse all crimes against the Albanian population with "these people were seen as symbols of Islamic fundamentalism and they had to be killed." That's just ridiculous!

Why would anybody in their right mind consider Serbian monasteries as symbols of Serbian nationalism? Albanians are trying too hard to act innocent. They're not. Some of them honestly believe the BS they've been fed all these years.

80% of those monasteries have been there at least 500 years -- long before any single Albanian ever arrived in Kosovo-Metohia, and certainly long before any Albanian lost his/her life at the hands of a Serb.

How come the monasteries are not seen as symbols of friendship and coexistence. How many Albanians have sought refuge and protection within the walls of those monasteries? Countless numbers! Yet, that doesn't seem to mean much to those same Albanians, does it?

Why are Serbian graveyards being vandalized and corpses dug up? Are those cemeteries symbols of Serbian nationalism, too?

What has happened in Kosovo (and is still happening) is a deliberate, calculated, premeditated, long-planned attempt to erase all symbols of Serbian presence there. This ongoing anti-Christian evil cannot be justified.

I will read the link you've provided but I highly doubt the number. Serbia -- twice the size of Croatia both by size and population -- doesn't have that many churches.

Obviously, I am not the one missing the point here ... I can excuse all crimes

Obviously you are. Banat, just as I already told you here, there is no excuse for attacking churches. It is wrong. Explaining why something is done is not the same as justification for that reason. Failure to adhere to moral standards in Kosovo was already discussed above.

You're right all the way except for where you substitute Christian for Serb. As much as Serb propaganda--even under the atheist Milosevic--try to conflate Serbian and Christian, they are not the same.

If the Albanians were anti-Christian, then they would be against Christianity. Albanian Christian churches are not attacked. Albanian Christian priests and nuns and parishioners are as free as any other Albanians. There are Christian missionaries in the country. They have elected a Christian as president. It simply flies in the face of reality to say the Albanians are anti-Christian. They are however, as you started to say earlier before you quickly corrected yourself and jumped back into the well-worn Serbs=Christianity propaganda path, decidedly anti-Serb.

On the flip side, how do you reconcile Serbs as Christians with their behavior at Srebrenica? ethnic cleansing in Kosovo? the destruction of over one thousand Catholic churches in Croatia?

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