The Road to Kosovo, Part II- June 30, 2008 My friend and traveling companion Sean LaFreniere and I awoke at first light on the shores of Montenegro. We originally planned to catch a bus or a taxi up the mountains into Kosovo, but we still had a few hours before it was time to drop off the rental car. So we took a brief detour into nearby Albania, the country that, at least until recently, had the reputation for being the most politically, economically, and criminally dysfunctional in all of Europe. Robert Young Pelton&39;s Web site...http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/06/the-road-to-kos-1.php The Iraqification of Lebanon- June 28, 2008 Hezbollah is alarming its Lebanese opponents by expanding its territory through the purchase of property outside Shia areas in Lebanon. Former civil war-era President Amin Gemayel went on television Thursday and said what many Lebanese have feared for months now while this has unfolded. &8220;There is some sort of military preparation starting from Niha in Jezzine all the way across the entire Western mountain range with military surveillance posts set up from Jezzine to Sannine all the way up.http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/06/the-iraqificati.php How Kosovo Created its Own Liberal Islam- June 26, 2008 On February 17, 2008, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. Some are concerned about what NATO, the United Nations, and the European Union have nurtured there since the military and humanitarian intervention in 1999. James Jatras, a U.S.-based advocate for the Serbian Orthodox Community, put it bluntly last year when he said Kosovo was a &8220;a beachhead into the rest of Europe&8221; for &8220;radical Muslims&8221; and &8220;terrorist elements.&8221; It&8217;s an assertion without...http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/06/how-kosovo-crea.php No Peace in Lebanon- June 25, 2008 You aren&8217;t hearing about it in the Western media, but the truce agreement reached last month in Doha, Qatar, between the Lebanese government and the Hezbollah-led opposition is no more operative than the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Fighting broke out in the northern city of Tripoli between Sunni supporters of the &8220;March 14&8221; majority bloc in parliament and gunmen from the Alawite sect loyal to the Syrian Baath regime and Hezbollah. We&8217;re not talking about street...http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/06/no-peace-in-leb.php The Road to Kosovo, Part I- June 23, 2008 A gigantic poster of genocidal Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic hung on the outside wall of a hideous communist-style apartment block. &8220;Get a picture of that,&8221; I said to my friend and traveling companion Sean LaFreniere as I drove our rented car through the outer suburbs of Serbia&39;s capital Belgrade. I had the wheel and he had the camera. &8220;Too late,&8221; he said. We were driving fast on a four-lane road and were almost out of the city. Our road trip from...http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/06/the-road-to-kos.php Don't Miss the Zohan- June 19, 2008 If you&8217;ve seen the trailer for Adam Sandler&8217;s new movie You Don&8217;t Mess with the Zohan, it may be tempting to write it off as yet another low-brow comedy aimed at fifteen-year-old boys and best avoided by everyone else. But wait. After Hollywood&8217;s recent spate of dour axe-grinding films about Iraq, a fun movie featuring an Israeli counter-terrorist as the protagonist is a refreshing change, even if it is no more serious or realistic than a cartoon. Sandler plays Zohan, an...http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/06/dont-miss-the-z.php |