The bedrock principle of American foreign policy.

Balkan politics at the best of times seem impenetrable to me. All the more so that I never could understand our involvement in Bosnia and Kosovo in the ‘90s. That probably says something bad about me but there you are.

Howevvver, in my own defense, I rather suspect there aren’t a lot of people who can give you a run down on the what and the why of our involvement. The way in which we screwed the Serbs who, as I never cease to remember, returned many of our airmen to us during the German occupation, is a disgrace and we were lucky the Russians chose not to respond to our mistreatment of their Slavic brothers. Why we climbed into bed with Albanian Muslims and the likes of the Kosovo Liberation Army is one of the eternal mysteries and one of the many, mannnnyyy aspects of our foreign policy that are greasy and stink.

That said, here’s an excerpt from an interview Julia Gorin had with Jovan Tripkovic in Serbia’s largest foreign affairs weekly Pecat. I know nothing about Tripkovic but Gorin thinks he's worthwhile talking to so that settles it for me. He identifies the man behind the curtain in our earlier involvement and, especially in light of the anti-Russian hysteria of our time, I think he is right on the money as to the why of our strange policy, at least in part:

[Julia Gorin:] It’s been almost 20 years since the US intervention in Kosovo and 10 years since Kosovo unilaterally declared independence. Do you think that military-intelligence structures in DC have realized the mistake that the United States made in Kosovo, taking into account the fact that the territory of Kosovo is the biggest exporter of jihadists to Syria and Iraq?

[Jovan Tripkovic:] Even the fact that today — 20 years later — Kosovo is proportionally the biggest exporter of jihadists to Syria is beside the point regarding the words “Kosovo mistake.” Our attitude toward jihadists in general should be clear by now. Events since Kosovo — that is, in Libya, Syria and others where U.S. again supported jihadists against governments — have made it unmistakable: we do not regard terrorists and jihadists as an ultimate target, even if we are theirs. The ultimate target is, and has always been, Russia, and jihadists are viewed as an often useful tool against such perceived “rivals” no matter how many Westerners they kill. We don’t take seriously those who seek our end, but are very serious toward Russia, which does not seek our end.

Now, through this prism, our backwards involvement in Bosnia and Kosovo is crystallized.^[1]

Gorin and Tripkovic think there is a community of interest between Serbs and Jews apparently along the lines of “if you can do it to the Serbs you can do it to another small country like Israel.” Tripkovic also mentions the U.S. determination to throw in its lot with the Muslim world, which at the time I thought was really the driver of our Balkan misadventures. He also alleges that “9/11 had connections and origins in Bosnia” which is news to me but which idea I do not dismiss. Nor do I get the Serbian-Jewish alignment of interests but leave it to you to decide for yourself on that. To me, it seems a strange connection.

His reference to “many others [Albanians or, if you prefer, Albanian-Americans] throughout our intelligence apparatuses” is alarming. This highlights the usual American penchant to consider foreigners scrubbed of all foreign allegiance the moment they take the naturalization oath. What makes more sense than to give Muslims guided tours of sensitive security installations?

Interesting and bewildering stuff to simple minds. My takeaway point is merely the “Russia in the cross hairs” one. That keystone of our foreign policy that has been decided upon by the lizard people from Andromeda and which is immune to democratic control. Yes, yes. Those Russian bastards. Our worstest enemies EVer, followed by the Iranians. It's all so obvious.

Notes
^[1] "My Interview in Pecat and Novosti, Translated." By Julia Gorin, Republican Riot, 8/31/18 (emphasis added).