Will the Bush admin ever be welcomed as heroes in Iraq?
No.
The war in Iraq is not for the benefit of the Iraqi populace.
For those who posited that Clinton’s war is Kosovo was just as bad as Bush’s war in Iraq.
This article says it all.
I seriously doubt the Serbian population of Kosovo (or Serbia proper, for that matter) is too thrilled to have him visit.
From the article:
Where’s the debate, Reeder?
The debate is whether Bush will ever be able to walk the streets of Baghdad. You didn’t read my OP?
I think you should look at the history of “Kosovo” to understand what is going on. The area of Kosovo was occupied by Serbian Christians. In (I think it was 1972) Tito carved Kosovo out of Serbia and then encouraged Albaninian Muslims to jumb the fence and take up residence in Yugoslavia (in the newly created state of Kosovo). Wait 30 years and the population switches over from predominantly Christian Serbs to Muslim Albanians. Yugoslavia breaks up. Ethnic fighting ensues. I’m not supporting ethnic cleansing but the Serbs were handed a crap sandwhich from Tito and told to eat it.
Clinton may be a hero to Albanian transplants but he surely isn’t popular with the Serbs.
Ahh, didn’t realize this was debatable…
Reeder, comparing Iraq and Kosovo is just apples and oranges.
sigh
I missed you and your lunatic non-debates, Reeder.
Oh, and :rolleyes:.
No, the demographic shift had begun much earlier. The process began as far back as the late 17th century when the Ottoman state began to contract and proceeded fitfully, especially during the disruptions of war.
By 1948, Kosovo was already 68% Albanian, 23% Serb ( and various smaller groups ). In 1971 it was 74%/18%. 1981 - 77/13. 1991, pre-war - 82/10. Most of that increase in the Albanian presense in the last half-century has more to do with greater fertility, rather than immigration. The Serb population in Kosovo was at or below replacement level from 1961-1991, while Albanians have continued to increase through natural growth. Fertility rates have been coming down in general in Kosovo since 1950, but throughout this period remained among the highest in Europe ( so did infant mortality, but overall life expectancies still rose subnstantially ), a lot of that having to do with the very old-fashioned agrarian nature of the region, that encouraged large families in the rural areas ( Serbs tended to be much more urban in Kosovo ).
Everybody got a raw deal in Kosovo at various points, but Milosevic really did put the screws to the Albanians, there is no doubt about that.
- Tamerlane
Wait, so is Reeder saying that attacking another country without the consent of the UN is ok, as long as there are some people in that country that benefit from it?
Or is it only ok when a liberal does it?
Clinton should be welcomed as a hero.
And Bush will be too. Sure, there are some places in Iraq he couldn’t visit, like Tikrit, but I guarantee you, I’d bet my life savings on it, that he would get cheered in Shiite or Kurdish areas, which oh by the way is 80% of the population.
I’m also sure there are some enclaves of Islamism in Kosovo that would just as soon shoot Clinton.
Now, as to the objection that the Iraq was wasn’t for the Iraqi people, that’s all academic about whether either Kosovo or Iraq was for the people. What matters is the results. If Iraq becomes free and prosperous no one is going to want to give it back just because they believe Bush was in it for the oil.
Well said adaher.
In a few short years the iraqis will build a giant statue in Baghdad of George W Bush. But maybe not. Things shift and change. The french once built the Statue of Liberty.