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http://www.sltrib.com/10092002/nation_w/5418.htm [This local report is so laden with standard State Department/Defense Department/Human Rights Watch gibberish that it's hard to get through, so relevant points have been excerpted at top.] Kosovo Delegation Is Divided on Iraq Wednesday, October 9, 2002 -"If the USA needs some volunteers, there will be a lot in Kosovo." -Asked whether the United States should go to war with Iraq, however, the Egyptian joined the Serbs in saying no. -But Svetomir Samardzic, a Serb who serves in Kosovo's parliament, said the United States should go to war only as a last resort. "The U.S. will not resolve anything if they go to war with Iraq," he said. -It is better that 100 guilty people be spared than for one innocent person to be killed, Samardzic said. But Kadi Kryeziu, an Albanian member of the Prizren, Kosovo, town council, countered that any war to defeat Islamic extremism is good for humanity. BY BRENT ISRAELSEN THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE When the United States went to war in the Balkans, Vesna Jovanovic and Fadil Geci witnessed it up close and personal. Citizens of Kosovo, they saw the pinpoint accuracy of cruise missiles and the laser-guided bombs striking targets outside their towns in 1999. They saw the superiority of the American military as it led NATO to a relatively easy victory over Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's forces in the south Serbian province. As is the case in all wars, there were winners and losers. Geci, an ethnic Albanian whose people were liberated from the oppressive Milosevic regime, was victorious. Jovanovic, a Serb whose people bore the brunt of NATO's campaign, was not. Predictably, their views on a U.S.-led war with Iraq vary widely. A member of Kosovo's Environment Planning Committee, Jovanovic does not believe the United States is justified in launching an attack on Iraq. Geci, a member of the Kosovo parliament, says there is ample evidence to justify war. He even volunteered to fight. "If the USA needs some volunteers, there will be a lot in Kosovo," he said. Geci and Jovanovic were among a delegation of seven Kosovo government officials in Salt Lake City this week as part of a three-week U.S. tour to learn more about American society and government. Four are ethnic Albanians, one is ethnic Egyptian and two are Serbs. They visited The Tribune on Tuesday. When asked whether the war in Kosovo was just, the delegation was split, with the Albanians and Egyptian joining the yes camp. Asked whether the United States should go to war with Iraq, however, the Egyptian joined the Serbs in saying no. Despite their Muslim heritage, most Albanians view Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, also a Muslim, as a tyrant worse than Milosevic. Not only is Saddam a murderous dictator with no regard for human rights, Geci argued, Saddam also supports the al-Qaida terrorist network and possesses the ingredients for weapons of mass destruction. "I don't want Bosnia's history to repeat itself, when the international community was too late to respond, and 8,000 people were killed in one day," he said, referring to the Serb massacre of ethnic Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in June 1995. But Svetomir Samardzic, a Serb who serves in Kosovo's parliament, said the United States should go to war only as a last resort. "The U.S. will not resolve anything if they go to war with Iraq," he said. To the Serbs in Kosovo, the 1999 war was a disaster because it resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and it shifted power to the Albanians, many of whom turned on innocent Serbs in reprisal for 10 years of Milosevic's heavy-handed rule. Milosevic, they say, should have been removed by more peaceful means. It is better that 100 guilty people be spared than for one innocent person to be killed, Samardzic said. But Kadi Kryeziu, an Albanian member of the Prizren, Kosovo, town council, countered that any war to defeat Islamic extremism is good for humanity. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
