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| Europe |
| The inconvenient Serbs |
| 2007-04-27 |
| When the outcome of a tragedy is known in advance, it finds ways of occurring earlier than expected. In this case, the fate of 100,000 Serbian Christians who remain in Kosovo may pre-empt the debate over Europe's eventual absorption into the Muslim world. A new book on the Islamification of Europe appears almost weekly, adding to the efforts of Ben Wattenberg, Oriana Fallaci, Bat Ye'or, George Weigel, Mark Steyn, Philip Jenkins and a host of others. Scholars debate whether the decline and fall of Europe will occur by mid-century, or might be postponed until 2100. The inconvenient Serbs may force the issue on Europe a great deal sooner. If Serbia and Russia draw a line in the sand over the independence of Kosovo, we may observe the second occasion in history when a Muslim advance on Europe halted on Serbian soil. The first occurred in 1456, three years after the fall of Constantinople, when Sultan Mehmed II was thrown back from the walls of Belgrade, "The White City", by Hungarian and Serb defenders. The Siege of Belgrade "decided the fate of Christendom", wrote the then Pope Calixtus III. Not for nothing did J R R Tolkien name his fictional stronghold of Minas Tirith "The White City". |
| Posted by:gromgoru |
| #5 No modern people have proven a greater inconvenience than the Serbs. Yes, and thanks again for sparking off World War I, guys. I know they're bummed they couldn't spark off World War III somewhere in the remains of the former Yugoslavia, but thanks for trying, anyway. |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2007-04-27 20:58 |
| #4 To be honest I always felt Bush Sr/Clinton screwed the pooch on the whole Balkans thing. At the time you've got Russian troops in East Germany and a Russia without the money to pull them back immediately. You've got Russia trying to act like a big power as they slid into the third world. You've got a peacekeeping problem where one side cannot trust anyone in the world but Russia. The US should have paid to move the Russian troops into the Balkans, painted their helmets blue, and made sure the world watched carefully so they could have their pride and not look the other way on Serbian atrocities. Should have made Russia an ally instead of sticking a thumb in their eye. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-04-27 18:50 |
| #3 Contrary to American propaganda at the time, no massacres had occurred; Big claims should be accompanied by sources, or evidence and I believe that's a pretty freaking big claim. Having said that after all the moral and physical support the Kosovo muslims have provided during the War on Terror I don't think they should count on Western help a second time. We should have pulled our troops out of the region on Sept 12 anyway. Let the Europeans handle it. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-04-27 18:47 |
| #2 Best thing I read all week. I will convert to whatever branch of Christianity is prepared to engage in a Crusade. Ethiopian, Serbian, etc. It's all good. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-04-27 15:45 |
| #1 "But there are limits to what the Orthodox Christian world will tolerate" Not so far, unfortunately. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-04-27 12:52 |