333 days, 21 hours as of 1:00 pm Minneapolis time... will this American Nightmare ever be over?
Oh, I'm sure Condi will be a great help in this little crisis. Maybe she can go on a shoe-shopping expidition as she did when New Orleans was drowning?
Thanks for the heads up.
After Kosovo declared independence, the Serbs decided it was high time to take back the title of "Most Crazy-Ass Hateful Nationalist Tribe on the Globe" after losing it over a decade ago to the Mideast League. Which doubtless means their Balkan League rivals, the Croat and the Muslim nutjobs, are gearing up again to win the regionals.
And here comes Condi to the rescue. It's like sending in a teenage Pop Warner ref to officiate at an NFL grudge match.
This is OT, but not really...
Debate at Digby's, on HER, or Tristero's 19% thread, over the possibility of bush being impeached.
I posted:
"He's not going to be impeached. That implies that the democrats would be willing to risk some political capital to push for it.
They won't.
They'll just look at the gooper congers up for re-election, who are shitting their pants, and say:
"Hey! You want him gone? You do it!"
:o)
He's at the point now that he's becoming worth far more to the GOP as a sacrificial pig to offer to the voters than he is as a retired "stateman".
I'd add this. The whole shittaree is like a giant, bloody, swollen, zit. And no one really knows when it's going to pop. Or what will trigger it.
But the developments in Belgrade will increase the pressure. Bush should never have recognized Kosovo so soon. Let them declare independenc and wave their flags.
That should have been enough, for now. Bush could have quietly warned the Serbs to keep their hands off, and the embassy attack probably would not have happened.
Of course, how much military credibility do we have now, to make threats to anyone?
Interesting point Tanbark... exactly where do the extra needed Consulate guards going to come from if this spreads? It is not like we have a luxury of an "unoccupied" army.
(What groaner of a pun in such a serious situation.)
With their nationalistic, victim reputation, this Serb response to Kosovar independence was predictable.
Still, with the genie of self-determination having long since left the bottle, how to satisfactorily shoe-horn Kossovo's demands into that crazy shitpile known as the Balkans? Bush and Condi were/are obviously not the people capable of coming up with a workable solution.
Bollox; their long suit is STARTING wars...and leaving them for someone else to solve.
Events in Belgrade are just another little spinning plate for bush try to keep from crashing down.
Is there enough money left in the U.S. Treasury to bribe the Serbs to defer their anger for 10 months?
Anyone know where I can get a Bush presidency countdown clock widget for my Mac dashboard?
I could use the frequent reminder.
What are you stoopid or something... (joke)
http://www.bushslastday.com/
or on the Apple Widgets download site at apple.com
That "BYOIIINGGG!" you just heard is Cheney popping wood at the thought of another country he can start a war in before retiring to his underground bunker and letting the next president sort all the mess out.
Hm.
I seem to recall a bunch of Right-wingers yelling loudly and repeatedly over the last several years that thanks to Bush, we haven't been attacked since 9/11.
Now, sovereign US soil (the embassy in Belgrade) is being overrun by a force larger than that which we have occupying Baghdad.
Can we put that whole "We haven't been attacked" shit to bed now?
All's I gotta say is: Them Serbs are damned lucky they don't have huge, untapped reservoirs of oil, or there'd be hell to pay for this!
Knave,
If they were Muslim and/or brown we'd already BE there. And the whole fucking city would be up in smoke and Condi would be calling for "fair and free" elections (of our preferred puppet governor).
something along these lines had beeen in the wind..i got a buddy or ten in a air gaurd security unit. they where moblised for serbia about a month ago...why where we beefing up security in serbia over a month ago? we knew this was comming and told kosovo that we had their back.
It's a good thing Bush is "tanned and rested."
Now he can fly around panickedly and take a nap.
Hellava job, shitbag!
Putin isn't going to be dragged into another US planned Vietnam.
I blame the following Western source for this
‘Kosovo’s freedom is worth clash with Russia’
By Harry de Quetteville in Pristina
Last Updated: 12:13pm GMT 20/02/2008
Confrontation with Russia is a price worth paying for Kosovo’s independence, a senior Western official said yesterday.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/.../
wkosovo120.xml
The US State department seemed to have an idea that this would happen, so they got the hell out of Dodge a week ago.
It makes you think about the State department people on the ground in Iraq, soon to inhabit the billion dollar Vatican-sized embassy built by Kuwaiti contractors using slave labor. The State department employees that Condi Rice is attempting to conscript to go to Iraq have made the point that in any other place in the world in a similar situation, the US embassy would be closed. But propaganda aimed at domestic consumption is far too important to simply toss that imperial palace away.
It came out in the Dutch papers that the ink was dry on the new Kosovo/a constitution 6 months ago, following secret meetings with the US and the EU. While I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for a country that still treats Karadzic and Mladic as heroes, Serbia did at least try to make nice with the EU and got this sleazy deal instead. It was a big "f*ck you" that left Serbia no way to save face and left nobody else a way to save face by reversing it (if that's even possible now).
They should have kept Kosovo at autonomous province status at least for a few more years so Serbia could get used to the idea.
Now it also gives Russia a big green light to midwife Abkhazia and Ingushetia into nationhood (out of US-friendly Georgia) and fast-track their membership in what will pobably be called the Russian Union.
Oy what a clusterfuck....
Yup, another foreign policy victory for the US.
In a situation that demands deftness and tact....
oy...
Good point, Wengler.
Can't fuck with the diplomatic equivalent of "the 5 o'clock follies". :o)
Interesting point Tanbark... exactly where do the extra needed Consulate guards going to come from if this spreads? It is not like we have a luxury of an "unoccupied" army.
This is actually the Serbian's fault not American embassy security. I've worked overseas and have been in and out of various embassies. In every country I'm aware of (except probably Iraq) the host country is responsible for external embassy security and the US Marines are responsible for security inside the embassy grounds. US soldiers should never be in the position of having to put down demonstrators anywhere. That's a recipe for disaster. It is always the responsibility of the host country to provide that security. Just like here in the US the Federal government and local police provide all the external security at foreign embassies and consulates.
I suspect in this particular instance the state department got wind of problems and decided to pull all its staff out, including the marine guards. And it was absolutely the right decision. We don't want marines firing on unarmed protesters to defend some building.
As for Kosovo independence? I don't know enough about the issues to have an opinion. But I would point out that this has been going on since the Clinton Administration. We can blame a lot of shit on Bush but I'm not sure this is one.
In point of fact, Kosovo has been "going on" for centuries. But this mini-debacle happened on W's watch, such as it is. We can blame a lot of shit on Clinton but I'm not sure this is one.
I am glad that the Marine guards weren't forced to fire upon Serbian civilians. That would have compounded the problem, to say the least.
This is beyond Bush or Clinton......... we're talking about 14th Century hate and disgust. Kosovo is where the old Serbian kingdom met its final match with the Ottomans. 9-0 over both legs. Champions League style. Serbs have been pissed ever since.
Of course the Kosovo conflict has been going on for centuries. What I meant was that the direct US involvement started under Clinton.
In any event, for the past decade or so it seems that Kosovo and the Balkans conflict has been the last relic of surrogate battles of the cold war. The west lines up on one side, the Russians on the other. And they play tit-for-tat.
I'm sure whatever was driving Bush's policy at this point had more to do with countering the Russians than it had to do with the merits of Kosovo independence.
Remember when General Wesley Clark damn near bombed the Russians when they snuck into Kosovo and occupied the Pristina Airport at the end of the air war in 1999?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world...rope/
671495.stm
It never ceases to amaze me how far up the ass the heads over here are (most of you)in this neck of the woods. Thanks for being consistent and predictable....Wake the hell up people.
The freepers are actually cheering on the Serbs, seriously, apparently they were "fighting the Muslim hordes" so now its all good for them to go Tehran on our Embassy.
Sean, you see good sense in this?
OK, I'll bite how exactly did the Bush administration lead us in smart, economical and diplomatic ways in this mess? Extra points for manning up about a President who has been in office 7 years, so lack of foreign affairs experience excuses don't cut it. Nor does blaming the other guy from Putin to whatever godforsaken asshole was running the place 500 years ago.
I'm all ears at your explanation of President Bush's wisdom in this matter.
Amuse:
Careful with the baby now...he's got a big 'ol soft spot in his head. 
Well, if Bush can't start a hot war in Iran before checking out, at least he can restart the Cold one.
Like leaving a couple of dead mackerels in the floorboards of the White House before moving out, only, you know, worse.
"Some damn-fool thing in the Balkans."
- Bismarck
Kent,
There never was any plan to "bomb" the Russians.
BJaques; dead mackerals? As you say, "only, worse".
More like a few handgrenades with the pins out.
Amus,
No, you see, you don't GET IT. Sean is saying that we should just be MANLY MEN and send in paratroopers and stuff and put those little heathen darkies in their place...just like in Iraq!
Oh, wait, they're Christian and white. And heavily armed. And have the backing of Russia, the Other White Meat of superpowers.
Oooh, I think someone's pee-pee is shriveling up just about now...
"he other white meat of superpowers"
Too good, Jen. :o)
And the shit hat's coming down in Belgrade, bush can't fold into "the greater war on terrrr".
That is, unless Condi can bribe some of the Serbs who lit up our embassy like it was a homecoming pep rally, to start wearing burnooses and sandals, and to carry big photos of OBL.
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