US Embassy in Belgrade Evacuated of Non-Essential Personnel
The US Ambassador in Belgrade is staying put, for now, but all nonessential personnel have been evacuated following the embassy attack that took place on Thursday.
The US also issued a stern warning to Serbia, reminding the country that they are responsible for the safety of the embassy representatives.
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns said, “…they have a fundamental responsibility to protect our diplomats and our embassy and to protect American citizens. What happened yesterday in Belgrade was absolutely reprehensible.”
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9 Responses to “US Embassy in Belgrade Evacuated of Non-Essential Personnel”
U.S.: An event like embassy attack “should not happen in a civilized country.
An event were people loot stores and kill people after a natural disaster should not happen in civilized first world power country. Yup yup.
Comment made on February 22nd, 2008 at 1:43 pmNATO and USA had a fundamental responsibility in march 2004. to protect Serbian people and Serbian monastery on Kosova. How did they do it we saw. 19 people were killed, hundred houses were destroyed and many monastery were burned. Some of this you can see on this link. http://www.spc.yu/Vesti-2004/pogrom.html
Comment made on February 22nd, 2008 at 2:47 pmIn civilized countries people do not kill students in campuses…..
Comment made on February 22nd, 2008 at 4:00 pmin civilized countries people do not attack other people’s assets or land….
But, God is not that fast to show them who is who, but all these catastrophes throughout the USA is some small warning for all of them…unfortunately, ordinary people suffer wherever..politic is a whore, everybody knows that….media war is something so powerful today….
I am curious as to where the Marines were when the US Embassy was under attack? Back in 2004, when rioting broke out due to a contrived incident in Kosovo by the Albanians, the Marines were standing in the location that was burned ready to take on anyone who attacked. This time they were no place to be found. Or were they hiding out in the back? Or were they gone? If they had been evacuated also, then one has to wonder as to why? I know this building well, I spent alot of time there. Where were the Marines? Marines do not fall under the category of “Non-Essential Personnel”.
Comment made on February 22nd, 2008 at 4:46 pmMartha - you hit the nail on the head. Where were the Marines. Whatever happened to Semper Fi? No one should have gotten past the gates. What kind of commander would not have deployed the guards? What if an American was trying to seek refuge in the Embassy as would be thier right?
As it stands now, why doesn’t the state department just recall everyone and shut down the embassy and turn off all diplomatic and financial ties to Serbia?
Oh yeah, because they are cowards! It is time to hold governemnts and people accountable for their actions. Turn off the support and then let then see what it is like to be left in the cold like the Serbian government did to us.
One last time, what happened to the Marines? Semper Fidelis no more……
Comment made on February 22nd, 2008 at 5:13 pmMr. Burns you cant be serious. How would you feel if somebody is taking 15% of your land illegaly. Look at the Western side of the US. Arizona, New Mexico will be overpopulated by the Mexicans will you give them their contry? Come on man think about this, taking somebodies land just because they over populated it is not the move we should be making here. Kosovo has been part of Serbia4ever. Stop talking like you know what is really going on here.
Comment made on February 22nd, 2008 at 6:37 pmNot only New Mexico and Arizona but what of Florida with its large Cuban population. What will happen now that Castro has stepped down and change is in the future for Cuba? Will Cubans declare Florida independent and then annex to Cuba? Not to mention the large Serbian diaspora in Vienna, Chicago, Toronto. How many “Chinatowns” and “Little Italy”s are in the USA? Should we be surprised if Quebec finally declares independence from Canada? Maybe that is why Canada is hesitating in following the USA and their Queen.
And to answer Jon’s post…Remember the rioting after the Rodney King incident? Or after the Boston Red Sox won the World Series? What does that say about the US and how civilized are we? We promote our democracy and civilization everywhere in the world (Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan etc.) but we riot after civil rights infringements AND World Championships. We riot for negative and positive. What an example we set. But then again it is do as I say, not as I do.
Comment made on February 22nd, 2008 at 7:05 pmMartha - Again you hit the nail on the head.
For us to think we can export or version of democracy to other countries and cultures is sheer folly. When we realize this, maybe we can start being the country we hope we can be. Our system works for us because of our history. No other country has the same history so no other situation will work like we do. In some cases there are societal issues that go back thousands of years. We are just over 200 years old and hoping to make it to three hundred. How do we tell coutries and cultures so much older than we are what is right and wrong. It is arrogance at its best, or it is foolishness at its worst.
The biggest problem with America is that as a country, we really do not know what is going on in our neighborhoods let alone across the world. But our government thinks it knows what is best for everyone. The sin of pride there I think. As a people, we all need to learn more and understand more of what the rest of the world is like with an open mind and an open heart. When we can do that, we will truely be a Super Power.
I love this country, and it pains me to see that we are held in such low esteem world wide, but it is because of the actions of our government and not the people. I have had the opportunity to travel the world first hand and talk with people from other countries and learn about thier cultures. Guess what, they all have families and dreams, people they love and places they love. They my see the world differently, but around the dinner table they are really not very different from us.
I was in Central America in the 80’s and met a boy whose village was routinely ravaged by rebels or the government militia. He dreamed of freedom one day from all of the terror. His version of freedom, not having to be afraid to go to sleep at night. That was his version of freedom. This is a part of a culture that we as a country can not even comprehend. This is why we are not held in high regard abroad.
If the President and the State Department bothered to think things over about Kosovo, they maybe could have seen that it could possibly lead to another civil war and kept thier mouths shut for a little while. But no, they had to rush in before guaging the cultural maelstrom that attacked out embassy.
It is the arrogance we project to the world is why we are despised. Some of the “Third World” countries have been around for over a millenia with thier cultures and customs. These things can’t just be changed in an instant.
Sorry I rambled on so long, I hope some of this made sense to some one.
Comment made on February 22nd, 2008 at 9:57 pmThe US only invokes international Law when it helps their cause.
Comment made on February 24th, 2008 at 9:24 amBut what happened to International Law when it came to unilaterally
declaring Kosovo independent, or Torturing prisoners from the “War on terror”?
Back to International Law; If Serbia voted as a whole and they decided
“Yes, Kosovo should be independent” Then so be it. Similarly the whole US would vote to allow or not allow the southest United States to be independent. In this case they only asked Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California to vote. Disregarding the rest of the country or their beliefs on the matter. Is this the democracy that we want to spread around the world? Personally, I feel that:
1. Unlike Poland, Serbia has refused the US on many occasions to put Missles on their soil to point at Russia. Now they could have it.
2. In their “War On Terror” the US and the West need to show the Middle Eastern countries (Read OPEC) that they are willing to support Muslim countries.
How are we as US taxpayers going to support a puppet state in europe that has: No Economy other that Herion Export and Human Trafficing. Set up defense for said country and repair and infrastructure that has been failing since the influx of these Albanians since the 1960’s. This while our own economy is failing, inflation is on the Horizon, a recession is coming closer and closer ever day, foreclosures are at an all time high, and social security is on its last leg.
So instead of fixing our own problems, we are going to pump billions of dollars, this added to the billions already spent in kosovo, to a non-sustainable economy. What will we gain by doing this? And don’t tell me anything about democracy because the US does not do anything unless there’s money to be gained.
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