Posted on 02/20/2008 5:13:57 AM PST by SJackson
President Bush Discusses Kosovo
Kilimanjaro Hotel Kempinski
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
|
|
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Sunday, the people of Kosovo declared their independence. They have asked the United States for diplomatic recognition, and yesterday the United States formally recognized Kosovo as a sovereign and independent nation.
In it's declaration of independence Kosovo committed itself to the highest standards of democracy, including freedom and tolerance and justice for citizens of all ethnic backgrounds. These are principles that honor human dignity, they are values America looks for in a friend, and soon we will establish full diplomatic relations with the new nation of Kosovo.
We will work with the leaders of Kosovo to carry out a smooth and peaceful transition to independence. America welcomes Kosovo's pledges to fully implement the plan of United Nations Special Envoy Ahtisaari, and to accept a period of international supervision. We encourage Kosovo's leaders to quickly adopt the provisions of the Ahtisaari plan, especially those designed to safeguard the rights of Kosovo's non-Albanian communities.
The independence of Kosovo is an historic step for the Balkans region. It presents an opportunity to move beyond the conflicts of the past and toward a future of freedom and stability and peace. The United States and the European Union must seize this opportunity to offer all the nations of this region the prospect of integration into the political, economic and security structure of the Euro Atlantic community. In this way, all the people of the Balkans will be able to see the promise of a better life for themselves and for their children.
Thank you. I'll answer a couple of questions. Mark.
Q Mr. President, isn't this a poke in the eye to Vladimir Putin and the others who say you're approving of secession movements everywhere implicitly?
THE PRESIDENT: Actually, we have been working very closely with the Russians, as we have with the Europeans and other nations on the -- on Kosovo's independence, because we believe it's the right thing to do. You know, there's a disagreement, but we believe, as do many other nations, that this is -- history will prove this to be a correct move, to bring peace to the Balkans.
This strategy has been a long time coming. Yesterday, for example, we had a -- worked out with our European allies the sequencing of it, to make sure that there was a concerted and constant voice supporting this move. The United States supports this move because we believe it will bring peace. And now it's up to all of us to work together to help the Kosovars realize that peace. And it's important for us to remind Kosovo -- which I have just done -- that they must honor their commitments to support the rights of non-Albanians, non-Kosovars' rights inside the country.
Q Mr. President --
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Hans.
Q Mr. President, thank you very much. When you talk about the sequencing of events, did you withhold the endorsement, the recognition, and wait until this morning for any particular reasons, or as a favor to the Russians?
THE PRESIDENT: No, Hans, as I told you, we worked with the European nations. We had -- this strategy was well planned. And the endorsement, by the way, wasn't held until this morning, it was issued last night by the State Department, as I mentioned in my remarks.
But it was a way for us to create an effect that showed that the world was -- many in the world were very supportive of the independence of Kosovo. Our position has been very clear all along. At the G8, for example, I expressed -- or in Albania I expressed my position very clearly, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody.
What you may be interested in knowing is that we have been in close consultation with the Russians all along. This wasn't a surprise to Russia. And you know, today's announcement is simply putting an exclamation point onto a series of announcements that have been made over the last 24 hours.
Thank you all very much. See you in Rwanda.
Any way to donate money to the Russian army if the Russians do invade the place?
Kosovo - When giving your own country away just isn’t enough.
Perhaps Bush is looking forward not backward. Here is an interesting viewpoint:
While Kosovo's independence remains imperfect, one thing should be clear: President Bush has done the right thing. Albanians, although Muslim in their majority, are fanatics only about their appreciation for America. Albanian Islam is moderate, and constitutes a bulwark against radicalization of European Muslims. Albanians avoid conflicts over religion and are satisfied to allow each among them to choose how to, or whether to, practice the religion of their choice.
Here is the link: http://www.theweeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/014/763eyrwn.asp
We turned our back on an ally of two world wars in Serbia, bombed them into submission killing ten thousand of them so that the radical elements in one of their provinces could prevail and now we have another Muslim state in Europe with signficant potential for ties to terror.
Sorry, Mr. President, as with the immigration issue, this is one area where myself and my family vehmently disagree withg you and feel that you have taken this country in a horrible direction.
GWB looked lost, and is lost, and he has been lost for a long time now.
Moderate Islam -
yeah, I have yet to hear a “moderate” muslim speak out against the Koran’s requirement for violent jihad to be waged until the whole world is converted or subdued.
Of course, I don’t blame them, because to speak out in such a manner means death.
There are many contrary views on the Balkan threads on FR. I'll include just a reference in one recent thread. See post #15 for a contrasting view: Serbian convoy enters Kosovo amid fears over partition of new state http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973102/posts?page=5
Does anyone besides the Weekly Standard (William Kristol) really believe that radical muslims will allow Kosovo to remain the moderate bulwark it purportedly is now?
You can be sure the radical moles, provocateurs, infiltrators, rabble rousers and fifth columnists are already active in the politics of this newly independent "country". They will use the muslim religion as a weapon and a front to hide behind as they slowly but surely mold the populace into the shape they desire.
One case in point.....in secular muslim Turkey, the powers-that-be are beginning to give into the pressure from the imams regarding womens' attire as dictated by Sharia law.
My God, do you realize that even in our own powerful country with a high standard of living a marxist candidate with a muslim background may be the next president of the United States?
Leni
Three, if you include the now inevitable Aztlan.
Worst president in history, except for the one coming next.
When people say ‘yea but Gore and Kerry would have been worse’, I can still barely justify my votes for W.
You are correct. I am having a hard time trying to understand this whole situation. I haven't really kept up with the whole history of this part of the world. The whole thing seems totally screwed up.
Thanks for the link. Very interesting...it seems like the tribes are warring against each other. How can a mess like that ever be fixed?
The Ghosts of Hitler and his followers are laughing in the background. Their Allies Win!
You can be sure the radical moles, provocateurs, infiltrators, rabble rousers and fifth columnists are already active in the politics of this newly independent "country". They will use the muslim religion as a weapon and a front to hide behind as they slowly but surely mold the populace into the shape they desire.
One case in point.....in secular muslim Turkey, the powers-that-be are beginning to give into the pressure from the imams regarding womens' attire as dictated by Sharia law.
My God, do you realize that even in our own powerful country with a high standard of living a marxist candidate with a muslim background may be the next president of the United States?
Excellent points! I am hoping that the voters will wake up to what Obama is all about.
Basically, the Balkans have been over run by every invader from the East or through Asia Minor for the last two thousand years. For simplicity, you could start with Atilla the Hun as he headed toward Rome.
Ancient peoples really like making slaves of the Slavs who lived there, hence their name.
Ever since the beginning of Islam, Muzzies, especially the Turks, have tried to invade Europe through the Balkans. They’ve gotten as far as Poland and Vienna before.
When the Turks weakened the Euroweenies promptly forgot about them and went back to bickering among themselves and the Balkans became satellites of the Austro-Hungary Empire.
With the collapse of that empire and the big wars of the 20th century over, the Muzzies started trying again, this time infiltrating through the borders and settling more or less peacably within the weakened nations.
Just like our southwest, the trickle became a torrent and soon the locals were outnumbered by the invaders, which alarmed them, and rightly so. Unfortunately, when they tried to expel the Muzzie invaders, Bill Clinton saw a chance to destabilize Europe and the politically correct idiot-liberals of Europe saw a chance to advance the usual agenda of idiot-liberalism, namely suicide.
Now we have the suicidal idiot-liberals of Euroweenia, supported by our own idiot-liberal president, establishing a dreadful precedent that will ripple throughout the world.
This will destabilize everything, and possibly, through a twisted web of alliances and the mental illness of modern idiot-liberalism, lead to a hot global war.
In the best case, the precedent set here will come back to bite almost everyone in the ass.
How are we going to evict the thirty to forty million Aztlaners when our own idiot supported the sawing off of a sovereign nation’s land to be given to recent invaders?
The UN will back the invaders, and Russia and China will offer “peacekeepers” to protect the poor little Aztlaners.
Of the three likely candidates for president, all of them will abide by the UN’s decision.
So the best case will still suck.
The die has been cast.
Pontius Pilot would be proud!
You know what’s ironic?
The current lefties are crying about the U.S. waging an unconstitutional war in Iraq. They also claimed at one point that Iraq was in civil war and we need to get out.
What is the Kosovo operation? As far as I remember, we got involved militarily without the consent of congress (unconstitutional) and it was a freakin’ civil war!!! Who got us involved? The liberal icon William Jefferson Clinton.
And watch for Southeast Turkey attempt to secede and join with Northern Iraq and Northwestern Iran to create Greater Kurdistan.
A very sweet sentiment, but all those free Wahabbi petrodollars from Riyadh have a very insidious way of radicalizing otherwise "peaceful" people.
Know how to get those tribes to stop warring against each other? Give them a common enemy to fight, and infidels make such good targets.
Why in the name of all that is good and holy did we spend so much American treasure and spill so much American blood in Iraq and Afghanistan to kick out Al-Qaida when we are now spending more of our money to put an Islamic bridgehead into the heart of Eastern Europe? This makes no sense.
La Raza Unida has had interest in Islamic techniques for decades. You'll note a delegation meeting with Arafat in Beirut in 1980.
We’ll see UN peacekeepers to “protect” the Aztlaners in our southwest in the near future.
Thanks for the info. Compared to our situation, it all seems very bleak.
Pontius POTUS
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.