Clinton welcomed as hero in Kosovo

[Rspaight]

Clinton welcomed as hero in Kosovo

Ethnic Albanians greet former president as their liberator

PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, Sept. 19 — Basking in public adoration the United States can only dream of in Iraq, ex-president Bill Clinton got a hero’s welcome in Kosovo on Friday, four years after NATO bombing ended Serb rule.

Thousands of Kosovo Albanians turned out to greet the man they see as their liberator from a decade of repression under then Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic.

Schoolchildren got the day off and well-wishers waving the Star and Stripes thronged Pristina’s Bill Clinton Boulevard as his motorcade drove by.

Loud applause erupted when Clinton, while also preaching ethnic reconciliation with Serbs, gave what Kosovo Albanians may be keen to interpret as implicit support for their drive for complete independence from Serbia.

“I love this country,” he told a packed Pristina University hall in a speech which, like much of his visit, was broadcast live on television.

“I want to see you move toward self-government...,” he said after receiving an honorary doctorate. True to form, Clinton later worked the crowd waiting outside, shaking hands as NATO-led peacekeepers and U.N. police held people back.

U.S. POPULAR IN MUSLIM KOSOVO

Unlike many other predominantly Muslim places in the world, the United States is genuinely popular in this landlocked territory of two million, placed under U.N.-led administration in the summer of 1999 after NATO’s 11-week air war.

“There is a holiday in Kosovo today because Clinton is here,” said local journalist Blerta Foniqi, 20, as she waited for him to arrive. “He’s one of Kosovo’s most loved people,” said her colleague.

The reception contrasted starkly with the maximum security visits to Iraq recently by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, both of whom had virtually no contact with ordinary local people.

Not only are Kosovo streets named after the former president, but some proud parents have named their new-born children Clinton or Madeleine, after Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Clinton delivered an emotional message of reconciliation and urged local people to condemn last month’s killing of two Serb youngsters, the latest in several deadly attacks against members of the remaining Serb minority.

“You cannot build a new Kosovo on retributive violence,” Clinton told his Kosovo Albanian audience. “No-one ever gets even in this life.”

[Patrick M]

Semi-related:

On the day that Clark announced, some Republican pinhead from Arizona (I think) was quick to point out that Clark was dismissed by Clinton after Kosovo. [I don't know any details about this, so post 'em if you got 'em.]

They went back to the guy who introduced Clark that day in Little Rock and he said they would be glad to compare records with Bush any time.

Let's see: 4 star general vs. AWOL from the TANG. Hmmmmm.

[Rspaight]

As I remember it, Clark and the Pentagon brass at the time didn't get along too well -- the Pentagon was annoyed at Clark's constant appeals in the media for more weapons and the ability to escalate Kosovo to a ground war. Defense Secretary Cohen eventually advised Clark to "get your fucking face off TV."

There's also some suggestion that the "final straw" was Clark's eagerness to prevent the Russians from occupying a Pristina airfield:

http://truthout.org/docs_03/091803A.shtml (second article)

Ryan