EDITORIAL: AMERICAN REACTION TO EMBASSY DESTRUCTION IS SURPRISING
www.slobodan-milosevic.org – February 23, 2008

Written by: Andy Wilcoxson

On February 21^st Serbian protesters set fire to the American embassy in Belgrade. The attack was provoked by the Bush Administration’s decision to give diplomatic recognition to the Albanian separatist regime in Serbia’s Kosovo province.

“Our embassy was attacked by thugs,” White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We have made known to the Serbian government our concern and displeasure that their police force did not prevent this incident.”

Nicholas Burns, the State Department's envoy to Serbia, complained that the attack was “unacceptable” and that “their protection of the embassy was sorely lacking”.

The American Government’s reaction is perplexing. If anything Serbia’s police should be commended for their “prudent behavior”. After all, the police might have hurt someone or caused an escalation in the rioting if they had tried to stop the crowd from burning down the embassy.

One may recall that in March of 2004 KFOR troops stood-by while the Albanians rioted in Kosovo. The Albanians were unopposed as they destroyed 29 Serbian churches and 800 homes belonging to Serbs and other non-Albanian civilians.

Colonel Dieter Hintelmann, the commander of the German KFOR contingent in Prizren, explained KFOR’s inaction saying: “Protection of buildings is not the task of the Bundeswehr in Kosovo” and German defense minister Peter Struck praised the “prudent behavior" of the KFOR soldiers saying “They reacted rationally, preventing an escalation and thus protecting human lives.”

According to an article in Der Spiegel, when a group of Albanian rioters attacked the Serbian monastery of Holy Archangels during the March 2004 riots, the approach road could have been easily blocked with a few armored vehicles, especially since master sergeant Udo Wambach and 19 soldiers of the Bundeswehr were stationed inside the 14th century monastery.

The Albanian demonstrators sent a delegation under a white flag to the KFOR soldiers and ensured them that nothing bad would happen to them that “we only want to burn down the monastery.” The KFOR troops evacuated the monks and the monastery was then burned down.

Master sergeant Wambach received a commendation for his “outstanding act” from KFOR. According to the commendation, the sergeant avoided “by his prudent behavior and courageous action, an escalation of violence, preventing bloodshed and protecting the human lives entrusted to him”.

Rather than complaining about their embassy being burned down, the U.S. Government should be commending Serbia’s police for their “prudent behavior”. After all, the embassy was just a building – it’s not like it was an irreplaceable 14^th century UNESCO world heritage site.

One may also recall that on October 5^th 2000 the United States supported anti-government riots in Belgrade that resulted in the parliament being set on fire, Radio-Television Serbia being taken-over by force, and the headquarters of the Socialist Party of Serbia being ransacked.

As I recall those riots were praised by the U.S. Government as a “triumph of democracy”. The U.S. Government certainly didn’t call the people who set the parliament on fire “thugs”. If I remember correctly, the American administration praised them for their courage.

The American Government ought to be happy that Serbia is democratic enough that people can register their political protest by burning down foreign embassies without having to fear police repression. If October 5^th has taught us anything it is that the U.S. Government considers the destruction of property to be an acceptable and even courageous form of political protest.
 

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