The Red Pill

Kosovo. Remember the war in Kosovo?

I guess all we participated in was air bombing (no boots on the ground?) so all the anti-war, not-in-my-name activists give it a pass.

Or maybe they give it a pass because the sitting President at the time had a (D) rather than an (R) next to his name.

Or could it be that since the U.N. was involved it was a justified war? We must try and let the U.N. take the lead on these matters, or so I've heard.

Let's see, that was 1999. Hmm, that would be 5 years ago. And the violence is still there. And the U.N. is still there. And the people of Kosovo do not yet have their own government.

But let's forget all that. We must criticize the U.S. and what it has and has not done in Iraq in just 1 years time.

Yea, right.

From the Economist

Up to 150 American troops and 80 Italian police were dispatched to Kosovo on Thursday. France, Germany and Britain are also each sending hundreds of extra troops.

Kosovo has been under United Nations control since 1999, ... Kosovo now has around 18,500 NATO-led troops and 9,000 UN and local police keeping the peace.

Though the UN has been resolutely insisting that things are getting better in Kosovo, and has devolved some of its powers to a multi-ethnic government of Albanians and a few Serbs, progress has been extremely slow. Now, says Daut Dauti, a Kosovo analyst, “it’s back to the old days.” According to Mr Dauti, the rage that has exploded in Kosovo has been building because, since 1999, “nothing has really happened.” Kosovo has not become independent, which is what the Albanians want. And its economy is dire, with unemployment as high as 70%.