Bill Clinton gets himself a statue in Kosovo

[Force Lord]

Bill's fans in Kosovo get him a statue

Former President Clinton unveils statue in Kosovo

By NEBI QENA, Associated Press Writer Nebi Qena, Associated Press Writer – Sun Nov 1, 11:46 am ET

PRISTINA, Kosovo – Thousands of ethnic Albanians braved low temperatures and a cold wind in Kosovo's capital Pristina to welcome former President Bill Clinton on Sunday as he attended the unveiling of an 11-foot (3.5-meter) statue of himself on a key boulevard that also bears his name.

Clinton is celebrated as a hero by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority for launching NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999 that stopped the brutal Serb forces' crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.

This is his first visit to Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia last year.

Many waved American, Albanian and Kosovo flags and chanted "USA!" as the former president climbed on top of a podium with his poster in the background reading "Kosovo honors a hero."

Some peeked out of balconies and leaned on window sills to get a better view of Clinton from their apartment blocks.

To thunderous applause Clinton waved to the crowd as the red cover was pulled off from the statue.

The statue is placed on top of a white-tiled base, in the middle of a tiny square, surrounded by communist-era buildings.

"I never expected that anywhere, someone would make such a big statue of me," Clinton said of the gold-sprayed statue weighing a ton (900 kilograms).

He also addressed Kosovo's 120-seat assembly, encouraging them to forgive and move on from the violence of the past.

The statue portrays Clinton with his left arm raised and holding a portfolio bearing his name and the date when NATO started bombing Yugoslavia, on March. 24, 1999.

An estimated 10,000 ethnic Albanians were killed during the Kosovo crackdown and about 800,000 were forced out of their homes. They returned home after NATO-led peacekeepers moved in following 78 days of bombing.

Leta Krasniqi, an ethnic Albanian, said the statue was the best way to express the ethnic Albanians' gratitude for Clinton's role in making Kosovo a state.

"This is a big day," Krasniqi, 25 said. "I live nearby and I'm really excited that I will be able to see the statue of such a big friend of ours every day."

Clinton last visited Kosovo in 2003 when he received an honorary university degree. His first visit was in 1999 — months after some 6,000 U.S. troops were deployed in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission here.

Some 1,000 American soldiers are still based in Kosovo as part of NATO's 14,000-strong peacekeeping force.

Police in Kosovo upped security measures ahead of Bill Clinton's arrival by adding deploying more traffic police and special police.

NATO officials said the peacekeepers were also on alert, although no additional security measures were taken.

A statue of Bill Clinton in Kosovo? They must really be grateful.

[fgalkin]

Not only is no one killing them anymore, they now have the freedom to do the same to the Serbs living there! They're happy, alright.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Sidewinder]

I'm curious how the Kosovars raised the money to build the statue. Donations from wealthy expatriates in North America and Western Europe? Republicans desparate to diminish the Democrats' influence by getting Clinton the hell out of the US?

[fgalkin]

I'm curious how the Kosovars raised the money to build the statue. Donations from wealthy expatriates in North America and Western Europe? Republicans desparate to diminish the Democrats' influence by getting Clinton the hell out of the US?

More likely, drug money from Albania.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[stormthebeaches]

Is there any evidence that Kosovo is currently conducting ethnic genocide against the Serbs?

[Vympel]

No one said 'ethnic genocide', they said killing Serbs. Plenty of killing / 'ethnic cleansing' went on in the aftermath of Operation Support Narco-Terrorists in 1999, and the only reason the Albanians don't wipe out the Serbian enclave in the north is because they're being protected by NATO troops.

In any event, I foresee the northern enclave of Kosovo becoming part of Serbia in the near future.

[MarshalPurnell]

And to think all of this trouble can be traced back to a farmer who didn't want to admit to doctors that he shoved a bottle up his own ass.

Well, I grant extreme Serbian nationalism was only looking for an excuse for aggression against the other nationalities of Yugoslavia, but it was the purported violation of said fellow that provided the impetus for the move to strip Kosovo of its autonomous status. Afterward Serbian behavior was about as chauvinistic and brutal as one has come to expect from that people, which certainly justified severe resentment against them on the part of the Albanian majority. The KLA was like almost all guerrilla movements ever a terrorist-minded, criminal organization fond of brutalizing people to enforce support for their aims, but then Milosevic was also a jerkass and the Serbs perpetrated plenty of their own atrocities. It's hard to be sympathetic to either side in the dispute, though clearly since the Albanians are unwilling to live in a Serbian ruled state anymore the most humane solution would have been partition on ethnic lines. That would, alas, require borders to be less than completely sacrosanct and one certainly won't find that admitted in Europe these days.

And yeah, the intervention was a serious mistake on the grounds that it infuriated Russia for little gain. I can fairly confidently say the main motivating factor, besides utter exasperation at the Serbs, was the desire to show the Muslim world that the West did not hold to a Crusader mindset and would take their side against Christian oppressors. As should have been obvious the "Muslim world" was less than impressed by the demonstration, while the West seriously damaged itself among Orthodox populations.

[Sea Skimmer]

It really came down to Clinton feeling bad that he listened to certain ‘don’t intervene’ advisors on the wider Yugoslavian civil war for so long. Then NATO was in the end able to impose a peace after flying less then 100 offensive air to ground sorties and losing one aircraft. With a short victorious war like that under his belt, it must have seemed pretty absurd to him not to come to the aid of Kosovo even if he knew the genocide thing was being absurdly exaggerated to the point of having not existed.