Thursday, May 24, 2007

DoD security contractor working for KFOR speaks about life in Kosovo

I am currently stationed at Camp Bondsteel near the city of Ferizaj (Urosevac is the Serbian name) in the southeastern part of Kosovo, near the Macedonian border. My job entails basically access control onto the base, or perimeter overwatch, sitting in a guard tower with an M-16 and a bunch of NoDoz. The "fun" part of the job is searching vehicles and personnel for contraband/weapons/things that go "BOOM". We haven't had anything bad happen here (knock on wood!) since I've been here.

The UN and OSCE contingents, though, have had their operations bombed, both in the last couple of weeks. The independence talks have broken down, and the Albanians (with the US backing them) and the Serbs (with the USSR, I mean, our good friends the Russians backing them) are getting froggy. Frankly, from what I've seen, the Serbs are the underdogs in this, and tend to get short shrift from the Albanian majority here for wrongs done centuries ago. The Albanians claim this area, but it is the birthplace of Serbia. So, go figure. There is NOT going to be any peace here, anytime soon.

Organized crime and corruption are a way of life here, and are embedded in everything you can think of. The more UN/EU money that flows into this God-forsaken place, the more the Albanian mob gets its hands on.

Source: R. Lee Ermeys SOUND OFF Forum

Ok so this guys not too familiar with the history of the region, but even he realises that organized crime is a way of life for Albanian's. I would like to know how Albanians were wronged centuries ago. I'm inclined to think that being invaded by Turks, and then settled by Turkish minions (Albanian's) makes Serbia the one that was wronged. Mind you some Albanian's have a warped view of history. Check out this perverse interpretation of Serbia overthrowing Turkish occupation after hundreds of years of struggle:

In fact it was Serbia that acted in contradiction with international law in 1912 when it annexed Kosovo through military occupation after its aggression against the Ottoman Empire

Aggression against the Ottoman Empire? But the Ottoman Empire wasn't being aggressive when they invaded our land, abucted our children, settled our land with Albanian's and other muslims, and exploited our people? I guess when you view history from this kind of perspective it makes sense to regard Tony and Bill as noble and peaceloving saviours.
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kosovo kfor ottoman occupation

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