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| Europe |
| Belgrade's US Embassy Set on Fire |
| 2008-02-22 |
| Serb rioters broke into the U.S. Embassy and set fire to an office Thursday, and police clashed with protesters outside after a large demonstration against Kosovo's declaration of independence. The embassy said a charred body was found in the embassy after the attack. "It was found at the part of the building set on fire by the protesters," embassy spokeswoman Rian Harris said. She said all embassy staffers were accounted for; Belgrade's Pink TV said the body appeared to be that of a rioter. Masked attackers broke into the U.S. compound, which was closed at the time, just after 7 p.m. and tried to throw furniture from an office. They set fire to the office and flames shot up the side of the building. It took police about 45 minutes to appear at the scene, and firefighters arrived about the same time and put out the blaze. Police secured the U.S. Embassy and surrounding area, blocking off all access. The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he was "outraged" by the attack and would ask the U.N. Security Council to issue a unanimous statement "expressing the council's outrage, condemning the attack, and also reminding the Serb government of its responsibility to protect diplomatic facilities." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #24 TOPIX > RUSSIA SAYS IT HAS NO HAND IN SERBIAN VIOLENCE, agz US embassy. Warns NATO envoy that FORCE may be used to get respect. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-02-22 23:43 |
| #23 No problem mon. Just close the embassy for remodeling for the next 50 years. I won't care one bit if no more visas are issued for that part of the world. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-02-22 20:44 |
| #22 I no longer believe in random riots attacking embassies. There is almost always some kind off government organization either behind the scenes or openly. The US may have had no business getting involved in the Balkins during Clinton but the Serbs were involved in some sick shit in Bosnia and possibly Kosovo and playing the upset victim doesn't change that. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-02-22 20:39 |
| #21 CNN > BREAKING - US State Department has decided to withdraw all embassy personnel and dependents from Serbia??? ION, GUAM K57 Radio/PNC > BREAKING - MILITARY AIRCRAFT REPORTED ON FIRE AT ANDERSEN AFB, + UPDATE: WITNESSES SAY AIRCRAFT IS A B-2 BOMBER. USAF B-2 "Spirit" Bomber appears to had crashed on the tarmac - pilots reported as safe. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-02-22 20:26 |
| #20 Kosovo was and should be none of our business. |
| Posted by: Sockpuppet of Doom 2008-02-22 18:29 |
| #19 Clinton bombing a country at war with it's own muslim population and this is what it bought. the implied bigotry of youre remark aside, are you at all aware that some ethnic Albanians are orthodox christians, and some ethnic Serbs in Kosovo were muslims(theyd be called Bosniaks,maybe, except they didnt live in Bosnia)? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-02-22 16:21 |
| #18 I wouldn't get too exercised about how the Serbians committed an act of war here. After all, the U.S. committed an act of war against Serbia when we bombed them so they might just figure they are defending themselves. I don't have a warm, fuzzy feeling about how we're fighting on the right side in this war and I'd just as soon we get the hell out of it. we bombed them 8 years ago. Since then theyve invited us back into our embasssy. You think youre in a state of war, you expel the ambasssador and the other diplos. You accept an embassy, you got obligations towards it. Same as the Iranians have an obligation to the Danish embassy, etc, etc. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-02-22 16:20 |
| #17 I wouldn't get too exercised about how the Serbians committed an act of war here. After all, the U.S. committed an act of war against Serbia when we bombed them so they might just figure they are defending themselves. I don't have a warm, fuzzy feeling about how we're fighting on the right side in this war and I'd just as soon we get the hell out of it. I didn't watch the debate in Austin last night so I'm wondering if anybody there had sense enough to bring this issue to the attention of the candidates. It'd be interesting to hear what they have to say about it. I mean, we already know what they have to say about Iraq and health care. Do they know anything about any other issues? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-02-22 12:27 |
| #16 US should never, never have got involved in this deal. Thanks president clinton, you ass. I have the feeling my kids are going to be cleaning up your mess as my generation is already reaping your shit. Europe is right there. They could walk over there. Time to move everything worth keeping to Lake Havasu and let eu figure it out like they have always done - royalty and peasants and war. coffee. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2008-02-22 11:51 |
| #15 Clinton bombing a country at war with it's own muslim population and this is what it bought. |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2008-02-22 11:20 |
| #14 ...theyre no less blameworthy than Muslims doing the same thing. True, but I am not going to blame people that have been immersed in the culture and propaganda that the US is an evil, imperial country that picks on the weak. However, it still won't keep me from killing the bastards if they proceed to harm my country. As far as I'm concerned, the dead serb got what he deserved. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-02-22 10:42 |
| #13 "Can't really blame the protesters. " Fuck it, theyre no less blameworthy than Muslims doing the same thing. Im not saying we go to war with Serbia over an embassy - but I can tell you, I aint crying no tears over the "protestor" who died while fucking around inside our embassy. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-02-22 10:30 |
| #12 Leave it to Luigi. NS, I think you've found your slogan! |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-02-22 09:34 |
| #11 Ahem, wasn't Kosovo one of Hillary/Bill's "Accomplishments"? Weren't the Serbs/Kosovars singing cumbaya and reading poetry to each other after the Clintons left office? /snark |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2008-02-22 08:59 |
| #10 “More than a dozen nations have recognized Kosovo's declaration of independence, including the United States…” I think it's safe to assume that the US did a tad more the just "recognize" Kosovo's independence. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2008-02-22 08:59 |
| #9 !. Somebody should tell the WaPo and its idiot Slobodan that the embassy belongs to the United States, NOT Belgrade. It's the US embassy in Belgrade, NOT Belgrade's embassy. 2. The hooligans were part of a Serbian government sponsored anti US rally that got out of hand and the police had orders not to use force in restraining the rioters, at least at first. That's government complicity. 3. We had evacuated the embassy, so we must have known something was coming, perhaps through our national technical means. 4. It is sovereign U. S. Territory. If we weren't going to keep Marines on duty to repel boarders by all necessary means, we should have booby trapped the place and told the world we had. 5. We should pull all troops and diplomats out of the Balkans, and issue travel alertsto all Americans warning them that this is not a safe part of the world and that they go there entirely at their own risk. 6. We should forget about the Balkans. It's Europe's problem. The EU (pbui) has a bigger economy and more defence resources to address it than we. Leave it to Luigi. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-02-22 08:35 |
| #8 Belgrade's Pink TV said the body appeared to be that of a rioter. Heh. Either hoist on his own petard, or someone took the opportunity to settle their own score. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2008-02-22 08:04 |
| #7 It took police about 45 minutes to appear at the scene, Detroit police, maybe... |
| Posted by: Raj 2008-02-22 07:36 |
| #6 Can't really blame the protesters. The average Serb feels like they got the short end of the stick after '92 and then the US bent 'em over and took full advantage. This view has only been enhanced by the government propaganda. The fact that the Serb government didn't provide police protection to our embassy, but did others is a cheap political trick to get back at the US. Act of war, no. Dirty politics, yes. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of those "protesters" were Serb intelligence agents. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-02-22 07:24 |
| #5 Pappy, read further down in the article: On Thursday, the neighboring Croatian Embassy also was targeted by the same group of protesters at the U.S. Embassy, and smaller groups attacked police posts outside the Turkish and British embassies in another part of the city but were beaten back. Seems awfully convenient... Mayhap the Serbian Government wanted some broken windows and forgot that mobs love to burn things... |
| Posted by: Tyranysaurus Thineger1966 2008-02-22 06:59 |
| #4 It may be an act of stupidity, but it isn't act of war. An act of war would be if it were done with government compliance, like Iran. I don't see complicity here. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2008-02-22 01:05 |
| #3 When Serbian rioters burned the US embassy they went from being right to being bomb targest of convenience for all I'm concerned. Burning an embassy is an act of war. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-02-22 00:40 |
| #2 The Serbs are in the right. Should California be given over to the Mexicans because of all the illegals here? My government is wrong the Serbs are right. |
| Posted by: Idont Care 2008-02-22 00:10 |
| #1 [Anonymous has been pooplisted.] |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2008-02-22 00:08 |