Two Can Play

clipped from fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com "Hopes for a peaceful conclusion to the declaration of Kosovo's independence were fading as the European Union announced it had withdrawn its staff from the north of the fledgling country in the face of increasingly angry Serb protests." So begins the utterly predictable reaction of the EU to Serb anger as their "army in suits" pre-emptively withdraws. At the same time, KFOR, the Nato-led peacekeeping force, sealed the border to Serbia, after angry mobs torched border crossings. ... Remarkably, many Muslim countries have refused to recognize Kosovo. And their reluctance is fueled in part by the desire to avoid stirring up separatism. The problem is that the Serbs are taking the cue from the Kosovars. If Kosovo can split from Serbia why can't Serbian regions split from Kosovo? But as the experience of Iraq shows, stabilization can only occur where security is guaranteed.