A Free, Independent Kosova!

After nearly 20 years of Serbian oppression and occupation, the Kosova has finally declared its independence!


The Kosovars are to be congratulated that they have achieved their freedom through peaceful, democratic means in cooperation and under the supervision of NATO and the international community (note to the Palestinians). Meanwhile in Belgrade, Serbian leaders are calling for war and more violence, while trying to a lid on anti-Kosova riots. The contrast couldn't be more stark.


In many of the published pictures in the past few days leading up to this historic day the American flag is seen prominently with the Albanian flag. Through the brave and tireless service of our US military, particularly those who served in KFOR, we have won an important ally in the Balkans. It's unfortunate that the late Kosovar Prime Minister Ibrahim Rugova, a man committed to peaceful resolution of the Kosovar situation, and Rep. Tom Lantos, a devoted friend of the Kosovar people and a brave champion for their cause on Capitol Hill, didn't live long enough to see this day.

Congratulations to Kosovars everywhere!

Albanians and Anti-Jihad Bigotry

UPDATE (05/10/07): Welcome to everyone visiting today from Our Man in Tirana blog! And thanks to Our Man for the plug. New details have emerged that at least three of the four Albanians have been in the US for 23 years (courtesy Fox News) and were not part of the refugee community that came to Fort Dix in 1999. That notwithstanding, the bigotry continues.

A few weeks ago when I had my article published at The American Thinker, "Albania and the Perils of the 21st Century," one letter to the editor that AT received likened me to a Nazi sympathizer for having a kind word to say about the Albanian people. That article raised the issue of Albania's struggles with radical Islam, which you would think the anti-jihad crowd would have appreciated.

But my article today, "Kosova and Anti-Jihad Bigotry", has absolutely brought out the worst. An email I just received called me "an angry apologist for jihadist murderers". This was from a well-known anti-Jihad writer, who had previously agreed with the sentiments expressed that I was a Nazi sympathizer. The jist of his position would be: "Albanian Muslims bad, Serbian Christians good; Albanians jihadist murderers, Serbians innocent victims." But as with all things in the Balkans, things just aren't that simple. If anything, at least I'm not an apologist for Serbian genocide.

EXHIBIT A for the thinly-veiled racism that bubbles to the surface whenever the issue of the Albanians arises is Julia Gorin's leading article today at FrontPage Magazine (yes, a publication I regularly write for), "Balkan Muslim Gratitude". Her point is to condemn the entire Kosova Albanian refugee community for the arrest yesterday of six men, four of whom are Albanian, for plotting to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey. EXHIBIT B would be the reader comments. EXHIBIT C would be Srdja Trifkovic at Chronicles, "Kosova Blowback Reaches America", where he compares Kosovar refugees to Al-Qaeda.

Gorin charges that this is "Balkan blowback" for NATO having intervened in the Serbian ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosova that drove hundreds of thousands of Albanian out of their own country. Notwithstanding that we have had thousands of US troops stationed in Kosova for almost a decade, not a single combat-related fatality has been recorded. In fact, the Albanians are perhaps the most pro-US group in Europe, and Albanian troops have fought alongside US troops in Afghanistan. The NATO mission in Kosova very well may be the most successful international peacekeeping operation in modern history. Does this sound like the Albanians are all raging jihadists, bloodthirsty to kill American soldiers?

Even while writing this post I have received emails that I would not dare post for their vulgarity, openly racist, and religiously bigoted sentiments. As I say in my article, if these individuals would just substitute the word "Jew" for "Albanian", I believe many of them would be ashamed at the malignant spirit that is driving them. Unfortunately, some of them still wouldn't be ashamed. It seems I have struck a wound deeply into the heart of the anti-jihad movment. Those, like me, who are concerned about the opposition to global jihad would do well to take note.

Albania and the Perils of the 21st Century

While it is easy to get me to speak endlessly on any topic, if there's one topic that's near and dear to my heart it is anything having to do with my travels to Albania. I get teary just thinking about it. I should qualify at the outset that I'm not Albanian; in fact, I would be reminded of that fact anytime I walked down the streets of Tirana, at 6'3" towering over virtually every Albanian male. But in my travels there, I was the grateful recipient of the overwhelming hospitality of the Albanian people, which has made me a friend of the country ever since.

So I was pleased earlier this week when I submitted an article to The American Thinker reflecting on the changes that are occurring, and have occurred, since my first visit there in March 1994 - just a few years after the country emerged from one of the most oppressive Communist regimes ever. During those dark years, Albania was officially atheistic. After Communism, religious struggle was unheard of; today, that is no longer the case, as I discuss in my American Thinker article published this morning, "Albania and the Perils of the 21st Century".

Prompted by a recent Washington Post article by Mary Jordan, "Albanians Discover God, If Not Old-Time Religion", in my article I discuss the growing conflict between Christians and Muslims in the country, caused by the exponential growth of Saudi Wahhabi-backed mosques all over the country. As I mention, I witnessed this phenomena first-hand.

Thus, not even two decades after emerging from Communist atheistic darkness, Albania is right in the middle of the current conflict between Islam and the rest of the world. As one of the areas historically straddling the divide between East and West, and a former battleground between Christian Europe and Islamic imperialism, Albania is one of the most important areas to watch to guage how this newest battle in the ancient conflict is going. I conclude:

Once more, Albania faces extraordinary odds. Yet it might be that the country's survival over decades of brutal atheism may be the key to preserving its hard-won freedoms. The developing story of Albania and the perils of the 21st Century is very much our own. Paying attention to their story, their failures and successes, along with their long history in this battle, may be the lessons we must eventually learn to save ourselves in the ideological and religious long-war that lies ahead.

Read the whole article! And here's a picture of me at the tender age of 25 somewhere in middle of nowhere Southern Albania.