I lived there, speak both Gheg and Tosk fluently, and worked intelligence issues there for 5 years. Still, when there is a Serb/Albanian, Christian/Muslim thread, Freepers are one-sided and will not hear that Albanians care more about other Albanians than about their religions. I agree that extremists live and work there, but like you said most Albanians don’t care about extremist religions and are mostly secular. They will tell you that flatly because they don’t fear retribution from islamists.
The real problem arises when foreign extremists come into the country and get a hold of youth by money bribing. Their conversions have little to do with faith, and can mostly be attributed to the monetary and food assistance their families receive. In fact it is so bad that most Albanians equate religion with temporal welfare, not spiritual salvation!
This is what most Americans haven't figured out:
Most Serbs are idealists and romantics, with quite a few cynical failed romantics, but mostly romantics none the less. Sure, they have their share of psychopaths, but they are the exception, not the norm. Serbs believe in "causes" and "ideals", even when it kills them and gets them and everyone around them nothing in return but misery.
But Albanians are complete pragmatists. During the Ottoman reign, after defat, they willingly converted Islam and became the Ottoman's best henchmen. Albanians will kiss the hand of whoever feeds them that moment and the feet of whatever power gives them what they want at the moment. They'll switch religions for a buck, and if necessary, sell you their kid to be used for organ transplants if it nets them a few more bucks. They have no "universal ideals" or romantic notions, nor any long-term allegiances to anyone or anything, other than to their clan and their tribe. If you aren't an Albanian, you don't matter. And if you are an Albanian, you still don't matter as you may have to be sacrificed for the good of the the clan or the tribe
So when Americans see phony "statues of liberty" and American flags raised by Albanians in Kosovo, it's only because we are the power there at the moment and we got them what they wanted. If tomorrow, someone bigger or more powerful came along and offered them more money and prestige, those "decorations" and symbols of America would come down like those from last night's party in favor of the new power's symbols. They'll even play both ends against the middle just to up the price.
It is for this reason, you get scandals like the 22 yr old ripping off the US government for $300B, in an Albanian arms deal, with the Albanian who blew the whistle on the deal, winding up dead.
Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia are in Transparency International's "top five corrupt countries in the world" list. It is for this very reason I believe that our politicians love doing business with Albanians -- what better a place for our tax dollars to disappear into, and for leaving no witnesses to track the crime back to anyone?