Nikola Ristich Hendon - Born 09-25-2008

To Belgrade: With Love from US to YU

As an American, there may be some useful advice I can offer my dear Serbian friends. Serbia has much to offer the United States and the world in general. Being myself from Seattle, and fresh back from my 6th trip to the Serbian capital, Belgrade, I’ll elaborate.

The most valuable lesson I think Serbia can offer to the United States is how to behave like a more civilized member of the world community and reenter the world of civilized nations, to come to grips with US war crimes and war criminality, and to embrace our American nationalist identity in a way that is at peace with the other nations of the world.

If America can somehow learn this lesson, a new civilization may just emerge that, barring some kind of armageddon, could endure beyond the coming ages of ages.

Future history will remember Serbia and the United States as traditional and long-time allies, who fought together through the centuries against religious and political fascism and imperialism.

Serbia helped the United States many times (not just by providing the NBA some great basketball players), and now stands in the entry of the US-EU dominated global corporate market empire, with one foot already in the now open door, watched with trepidation and anticipation, glancing about and prepared to warily step inside.

Sure they were Communist for a while, but Tito's Yugoslavia, with Belgrade at its heart, was always independent. YU was always outside the Iron Curtain; Allies with the USSR and US against the Nazis during WWII; separate afterwards.

Tito said no to Stalin. YU prepared for attack from either NATO (The US-EU military wing) or the Warsaw Pact (The USSR military wing), and with very good reason.

Yugoslav independence was useful to US-USSR interests, but this independence was wounded by Tito's death, and no longer needed after the Iron Curtain fell; much like NATO- which was supposed to exist to defend against a Soviet invasion.

The US-EU used this wounded independence- and Milosevic’s ego- creating a monster to rationalize the post Cold War existence of NATO. This monster was the Yugoslav Civil War and the brutality of the 1990s, the slaying of which resulted in the NATO occupation of much of the former Yugoslavia.

Tito's Yugoslavia liberated itself from the Axis. YU was open to the West- there was no Berlin Wall. People traveled to and fro between YU and US all of the time during the Cold War, even though it was not part of NATO. Then Tito died, the international order came to bear and Tito's Yugoslavia was destroyed.

YU is now gone- left in some hearts and minds. A fading oval sticker on a VW Golf parked on Emile Zola street in Cerak. A vestigial remnant; like the American Middle Class after another 10 or 20 years, perhaps? Zing.

I think there is a good case to be made that, even though the last few decades have been... complicated, and there is still a long way left to go, there is a good chance that the US will learn that lesson and help usher in a new civilization truly rooted of international peace and concord.

Or something else will happen.

This lesson, however, is not one for me to teach. It’s for me to learn. What I can do is offer some observations from my latest visit to Belgrade…

Belgrade Calling

So we have been in Serbia for a week now- well over jet lag and settled into our apartment. It's nice to have a place in a foreign country- we know that if we ever need to we can come here a stay as long as we want and not have to pay rent.

Everything costs about the same here as it does at home. Gas is about $2 a liter. Slice of pizza and a Sprite is a couple bucks too. A case of beer is about 15 dollars. All of the most important necessities.

There is still a lot of unemployment around, but luckily our family members of working age are now all gainfully employed with very good jobs- the first time this has been true in many years.

The city is beautiful. There is a lot of new construction and lots of visitors. Belgrade is hosting the 52nd annual Eurovision song contest. It's kind of like American Idol but with performers from 40 or 50 countries competing. Serbia won last year so that is why Belgrade is hosting. There are about 50,000 people visiting for the competition, and the final is tomorrow. There will be huge crowds downtown, probably a few hundred thousand people on the streets. It will be a lot of fun. It's a huge deal over here, and one which almost noone in the US is aware of. Big surprise.

Ana and I got remarried yesterday. It's our 15th anniversary this year and of course she is pregnant. I haven't posted in a while but we are having a boy! Nikola Ristich Hendon. We were never married in a church, and we had wanted to for a long time, so we finally did yesterday and it was a very beautiful ceremony.

We have another week to go with our vacation, time is moving fast. Soon it will be back to me managing my department and Ana managing her region. Mama is just coming in with a bunch of food, I am hungry, so it is time to eat. I will post some pics next time around and give you a taste of this place which is our home away from home.

Hmm... OK.

President George W. Bush authorized Wednesday supplying Kosovo with weapons...

"I hereby find that the furnishing of defense articles and defense services to Kosovo will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace."

900+ Years of History is Hard to Let Go

I might not write much more on this subject for a while- there are certainly bigger and more important issues in the world. But nonetheless, the 'nationalist hardliner' Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, in true despotic fashion (sarcasm), dissolved the Serbian government and called for new elections.

The people of Serbia will choose a new government, but have been given a terrible choice. Give up Kosovo, or give up the EU. Literally the choice between their past and their future.

It's akin to asking Muslims to give up Mecca or Medina, Catholics to give up the Vatican, Jews to give up Jerusalem. Okay maybe not give them up, but entrust their most holy places to a state dominated by members of another religion that had a habit of burning and destroying those same holy places, or face a penalty that includes a future of economic isolation.

Well, they should just 'let it go' and embrace the future right?

I believe in self determination of people but I also don't believe that we should break countries down to their smallest demographic bits. And it is traditionally not the way things have been done. Sure empires crumble and new states emerge. And I am totally biased in this situation and would not pretend otherwise.

I love Serbia and the Serbian people, and will never apologize for that. I love their spirit and stubbornness, I love the fact that they will stand up for themselves against overwhelming odds as they have done though the centuries. To the Ottomans, then the Austro-Hungarians, then the Nazis, and now us Americans.

Are we Nazis? No more than we are Turks or Hapsburgs. Are we imposing a new form of imperialism? Absolutely. Traditional divide and conquer has been the hallmark of the disintegration of Yugoslavia, and now Serbia, and if you think it has not been orchestrated by the United States, well, having studied it for the better part of the last 15 years, I would beg to differ.

But that is another story. I found this quote from Kostunica about Kosovo which I think is great. Serbia will now have lections where they will choose candidates that represent the basic choice between Kosovo and the EU, the past and the future. For the sake of the people I care about I hope they choose the EU, but it is a terrible choice and I think many cynics expect they will choose Kosovo, as it would setup more room for conflict and rationale for continued NATO occupation of the Balkans. And those cynics may well be right.

This is from Wikipedia:

On February 21, 2008, Kostunica made an emotional speech in Belgrade following Kosovo's declaration of independence: "“Dear citizens of Serbia, Serbia! What is Kosovo? Where is Kosovo? Whose is Kosovo? Is there anyone among us who is not from Kosovo? Is there anyone among us who thinks that Kosovo does not belong to us? Kosovo – that’s Serbia’s first name. Kosovo belongs to Serbia. Kosovo belongs to the Serbian people. That’s how it has been for ever. That’s how it’s going to be for ever. There is no force, no threat, and no punishment big and hideous enough for any Serb, at any time, to say anything different but, Kosovo is Serbia! Never will anyone hear from us that the Patriarchate of Pec does not belong to us, that Visoki Decani and Gracanica are not ours! That the place where we were born is not ours; we and our state and our church and everything that makes us what we are today! If we as Serbs renounce Serbianhood, our origin, our Kosovo, our ancestors and our history – then, who are we Serbs? What is our name then?"

Word from Serbia

I tried to explain my thoughts on Kosovo but a friend of mine from Serbia summed it up rather succinctly, from his point of view, after reading what I had to say. I think it is fair to say that most Serbs agree.

'American embassy in Belgrade was demolished. Of course, it is not good. But, how would Americans feels if Osama Bin Laden is prime minister in the state on your own land? It is exacly the same situation with Kosovo and its independence.'

The Serbs fought their own 'War on Terror' against Albanian separatists and the KLA led by Hashim Thaqi for years prior to the NATO bombing of 1999. Kosovo was autonomous in Yugoslavia for decades but that autonomy was largely revoked in 1990 by Milosevic.

The typical KLA attack would be an ambush on a police patrol, or bombing a police station, then the Serb government would respond in kind. Often civilians would get caught in the middle, and the cycle of violence would continue.

After years of this fighting NATO, looking for a reason to exist after the fall of the Soviet Union, seized on this opportunity to prove its relevance, bombed Serbia until it agreed to withdraw troops from Kosovo, with the agreement that Kosovo would remain in Serbia but would be granted autonomy and administered by the UN.

But the Albanians never gave up their desire for 'independence' and it is not entirely clear to me why the US and our allies decided to fully support this movement. Not just support it but really advocate, orchestrate, and demand it.

Probably most disturbing for the Serb people is that Hashim Thaqi, the leader of the disbanded KLA, is Prime Minister of Kosovo.

The KLA and Thaqi are roughly equivalent to Al Quaeda and Bin Laden in the Serb 'War on Terror.'

The key here really is what US interests are involved because if not for the US push for Kosovo independence it is doubtful that there would have been any kind of serious move by Thaqi to declare independence. And without some real US interests being involved there would have been no push by the US for Kosovo independence.

So when the Serbs hold the US responsible for Kosovo 'independence,' there is pretty good reason for that, since it was the US that encouraged the Albanian separatists with the rhetoric in the runup to the 1999 NATO bombing, not to mention the bombing itself, the NATO passivity while 250,000 non-Albanians were driven out of Kosovo, and finally the casting aside of UN 1244 which guaranteed Kosovo would remain part of Serbia by pushing for and recognizing the 'independence' of Kosovo.

Kosovo - What Can I Say?

Kosovo is now independent, as long as your definition of 'independence' is 'not independent.'

Kosovo is almost entirely dependent on its Western masters, who, for their own selfish reasons, have taken up the cause of the Albanians. Kosovo would not have declared its 'independence' without careful planning and coordination with the US and EU.

Kosovo is trading UN protection for an OSCE guard. Kosovo's new government, under the OSCE accords will be submissive to OSCE appointees for trade, banking, etc...

The fact that Kosovo is actually part of Serbia is just an inconvenient detail, since international law only applies when the powerful masters of the planet want it to. Otherwise, it is just pointless.

When a representative of the Serbian government pointed out that recognizing an independent Kosovo was blatantly against international law without UN authorization, our old Secretary of State Holbrooke could only say 'that position will get you nowhere' to Serbia. And it is true, Serbia cannot win in this case.

They protest, it gets them nowhere, and they lose 20% of their country. They acquiesce, they lose 20% of their country. They try to prevent the secession by force, we will bomb them into submission because violence is wrong. And they lose 20% of their country.

90% of Kosovo is indeed Albanian, where 10 years ago it was 80%. But after NATO bombed Serbia to give up Kosovo in 1999, and NATO moved in, a few hundred thousand Serbs were driven from their homes by the Albanians while NATO stood by and watched. Ergo a 20% minority became a 10% minority.

Now the fact that Serbia, with Kosovo included, is 80% Serbian, does not seem to matter in terms of territorial integrity of the country as a whole, because all we hear is that Kosovo is 90% Albanian, therefore Kosovo should be for Albanians. The fact that Serbia is overwhelmingly Serbian does not seem to matter.

Nor does the fact that almost all of the Serbs left in Kosovo are concentrated in Northern Kosovo, where they make up 90% of the local population, matter, when the idea of keeping this part of Kosovo in Serbia was proposed during the final status negotiations that preceeded the declaration of independence.

No, partitioning was not on the table, because it is wrong to divide up territory like this based on ethnic demographics. All of Kosovo for the Albanians was the only acceptable outcome of the negotations as far as the West was concerned, which makes the idea of negotiations seem pretty ridiculous. Some of Kosovo for Serbia was just not conceivable and therefore could not be put on the table.

UN Resolution 1244, which ended the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999 and was the legal framework for the NATO occupation of Kosovo guaranteed the territorial integrity of Serbia, and recognized that Kosovo was in fact Serbia. This detail has been thrown aside, since UN Resolutions are meaningless when they say what we don't want to hear, but are so important when they support our interests.

Take for example the damage to the US Embassy in Belgrade a few days ago. It's a nice embassy. I have been there a few times. Some Serb protestors burned part of the Emabssy to protest the US recognizing Kosovo. The US recognition of Kosovo is again a flagrant violation of international law, resulting in significant damage to Serbia, 'legal violence' as Kostunica calls it. Dismembering the country really. But a bit of the Embassy gets scorched and our officialls are officailly outraged, demanding that Serb authorities deploy forces to adequately protect the US Embassy from harm, because of the sacred sovereignty of embassies under international law.

A few broken windows and some burnt out offices can be easily fixed. What about our 78 day boming of Serbia in 1999 without a UN mandate, a total violation of international law, followed up by a NATO occupation of Kosovo and the ethnic cleasning of 250,000 Serbs from their homes, followed by the recognition of the 'independence' of Kosovo in violation of UN 1244 and the UN Charter itself? Bringing up those details will get one nowhere. We don't care about who is going to fix your country, Serbia. Who is going to fix our Embassy? Have you no respect for international law?

I do wish my friends in Serbia would settle down and stop the rioting- it is a pity that a few hundred people's anger grabs the spotlight and holds it. It only makes Serbia look bad. And I know they are not bad! Serbs are wonderful people.

An article I read today officially declared Kostunica a 'hard-liner.' If you don't know Vojislav Kostunica, he was the reformist candidate for president that ran against Milosevic and won in 2000. Milosevic refused to recognize the elections, and hundreds of thousand of Serbs turned out in force in Belgrade, overthrew the Milosevic regime, and Kostunica took his place as the first democratically elected president of Serbia. Kostunica delivered Milosevic (and a bunch of other fugitives) to the Hague for war crimes charges, risking a civil war in the process. For so long Kostunica was the 'democratic reformer' in our media. But because of his refusal to give up Kosovo, he became a 'nationalist' for a few years, and now, officially, he is a 'hard-liner' because he takes a hard-line against Western desires, and he urges peaceful and legal protest against the destruction of his country. Some nerve, Kostunica.

But Kosovo is independent, meaning not independent, with Camp Bondsteel, the biggest US military base in the world, as I understand, there to protect their independence. The idea that an independent country should be able to protect itself is not an issue. They are independent because they want to depend on the West. This is independence.

They are free because they are occupied by foreign armies.

They are democratic because their laws can be nullified at the whim of viceroys from the OSCE.

They are a country because they are not recognized by the United Nations as a country.

But recognizing Kosovo is so important. Not because people are supposed to govern themselves. Ask the Kurds, Basques, Palestinians, Scots, Chechens, Tamils, Tibetans, or whomever about this. They think independent Kosovo sets a precedent, which it does not, because none of those people are in Europe. Except for the Scots, but that does not count because UK recognized Kosovo, therefore Scotland can never be independent, right?

Oh and the Basques, well, that does not count because Spain refused to recognize Kosovo, therefore the Basques can never be independent.

It doesn't make sense, and is not supposed to make sense using ojective reasoning. It makes perfect sense in the subjective sense of imperialism. The rule of law is not absolute, it is a mere tactic employed in the use of force. Kosovo was recognized the day after it declared independence because it was coordinated with the big power brokers in the West. Kurdistan has been trying to get their independence for decades. They can wait. In fact, they can get bombed because of their separatism because of the threat it poses, especially to the territorial integrity of our NATO ally Turkey. Kosovo can't wait, regardless of the threat to Serbia.

Funny that Kosovo's neighbors are all basically opposed to Kosovo independence (except Albania- go figure) including NATO ally Greece. But what do these people know? They are just closest to the action. They all mostly opposed the NATO bombing in 1999 too, so that just shows they are too close to the action to have the proper perspective. Just like Turkey opposing the US invasion of Iraq. Things look so much different an ocean away. If only they could be so rational.

NATO (meaning US) bombed Serbia in 1999, killing thousands of innocent civilians, precipitating a crisis in Kosovo by removing any incentive for the Serbs to cooperate, instigating the worst atrocities of the war in Kosovo and thus creating the huge refugee crisis that was used after the fact as justification for the bombing that preceded it. But the bombing came first! Doesn't matter. The fact that the Serbs began reprisals against the KLA in Kosovo for years of KLA attacks on Serb police who were enforcing the laws of their own country on their own territory only proved that the Serbs deserved to be bombed, even if their worst crimes were committed after the bombs began to fall.

Stop defending yourselves Serbia! Your willingness to defend your country only invites attack. Be more like America. We rarely get attacked, because we mind our own business anywhere we want.

And once the bombs stopped falling, and NATO came into Kosovo, and the KLA started reprisal attacks against Serbs, driving 250,000 people (including Roma, who really had nothing to do with anything) from their homes... well this was just the Albanians letting off some steam for all of the bad things that the Serbs had done. Same excuse when they burned Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries across Kosovo where they had stood for hundreds of years before the founding of the United States of America. But the Albanians were not to blame, and certainly not to be bombed. They are to be protected and then given their own country. Independent Kosovo will guarantee ethnic minority rights, not because they have a history of doing so in fact, but because they have expressed a desire to do so in theory. Good enough for us!

Now let me say that I believe that the vast majority of Albanians, just as the vast majority of Serbs, only want to live lives of peace and comfort and care little for making violence against anyone. This is not sensational but it is true. I am sure most Albanians have never done anything against anyone just as most Serbs have never done anything against anyone.

And the vast majority of Albanians will want to believe that the US and EU are there for selfless reasons, having nothing to do with force projection, tapping Caspian oil resources, or whatever the hell else is going on there. Why dispel the self delusion of independence, freedom, and democracy?

Does any of this sound doubleplusungood?