Trump Takes Credit For Ending Kosovo War, Which Ended In 1999
By: Joe Walsh (Forbes)
Posted in Sinners and Buttheads because it sounds like satire. However, it is not. Forbes is a little stuffy for satire.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Joe WalshForbes StaffBusinessI cover breaking news for Forbes.
Topline
President Donald Trump added a new line to his foreign policy resume this week, repeatedly insisting he brokered an end to the violent conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, even though the Kosovo War ended more than two decades ago — a bizarre and inaccurate claim as the president looks to tout his dealmaking skills in the final week of the campaign.
U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a signing ceremony and meeting with the President of ... [+] Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and the Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdullah Hoti in the Oval Office of the White House on September 4, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Key Facts
During a Nebraska rally on Tuesday, Trump claimed Serbia and Kosovo had been fighting for centuries, but this bloody conflict supposedly ended after Trump told the two countries' leaders he was unwilling to make any trade deals unless they agreed to stop killing each other, a successful maneuver the president predicted will "save a lot of lives."
Trump made an almost identical claim on Sunday, telling a crowd in New Hampshire he brokered a Serbia-Kosovo peace deal that cut off decades of bloodshed and ended with the two countries leaders' "hugging and kissing" in the White House this year.
In reality, the brutal 16-month war between Serbia and ethnic Albanian groups in Kosovo — which was a region of Serbia at the time — ended in 1999, and while tensions and scattered violence continued into the 21st century, it's inaccurate to suggest the two countries were "fighting" each other directly.
Trump helped negotiate an economic normalization deal between Kosovo and Serbia this year, but that agreement mostly involved economic and transportation links, and it did not solve tougher geopolitical issues like Serbia's refusal to recognize Kosovo ever since the country declared its independence in 2008.
The White House and the National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and the Trump campaign redirected a request to the White House.
Crucial Quote
"I think they'd been fighting for 400 years, if you want to know the truth. But they'd been fighting for a long time," Trump said Tuesday. "They want to make a deal, all of a sudden two months ago, [Serbia and Kosovo's leaders] are in the Oval Office hugging and kissing."
Key Background
Trump is fond of talking up foreign negotiations on the campaign trail, citing them as evidence of both his foreign policy expertise and his prowess as a dealmaker. In particular, he has often touted the economic and political normalization deals signed this year between Israel and Sudan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Experts say these agreements — signed with countries that were not directly at war with Israel — were significant, but they probably weren't the landmark steps toward Middle East peace that Trump claims. But Trump's claim he solved a violent 20th-century conflict in Kosovo is harder to understand.
Tangent
Trump framed his Serbia-Kosovo economic deal as a key distinction between him and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, suggesting Biden does not have the stamina for those negotiations. Ironically, Biden was directly involved in the U.S. response to the Kosovo War. As a U.S. Senator, he supported NATO airstrikes against Serbia in 1999, a controversial measure often credited with helping to end the fighting and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
Further Reading
Kosovo awards Trump with Order of Freedom for peace efforts (Associated Press)
Trump lauds economic steps between Serbia and Kosovo (Reuters)
Will White House Follow Through On Serbia-Kosovo Deal If Trump Wins Second Term? (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty)
Follow me on Twitter. Send me a secure tip. Joe Walsh
I am a breaking news reporter at Forbes. Previously, I covered local news for the Boston Guardian, and I graduated from Tufts University in 2019. You can contact me at
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Who was the Newstalker who claimed that trmp has never told a lie?
There are probably a number of them to choose from, but we all know, I think, who the main offender is in that category.
It's bizarre , so bizarre, to say there is no proof trump lies , when the proof arrives with every new day. My own favorite examples are when he says he doesnt know someone he was photographed having dinner with.
There are a few people that I wish I could say I didn't know.
I'm taking bets on when he does this with Rudy Guiliani.
And he doesn't have the balls to come in here and defend his position.
[ deleted ] closed his article that is relevant to this discussion, so I will put this material here.
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Politifact has analyzed 891 of Trump's statement's . 72 % of those, or 654, have been judged to be untrue, with another 13% categorized as Half True. Only 12% of these hundreds of statements by Trump are categorized by Politifact as Mostly True or True.
some nazi fucktard dipshit whose name rhymes with [deleted.]
oh c'mon ... you could count the few of those smart enough to be offended on one hand. they don't come in here without friendly moderation present.
just trying to keep everything fair and keep everybody out of trouble
But Ms. Giggs...if it's a shoe that fits...wouldn't that hold at least a modicum of merit?
We know that you have our best interests at heart.
pffft, fuck that. I got points to burn. get XXXL pettycoat and the hankie retrieval squad in here.
I can't issue points only tickets. Besides Pettycoat and smegma mouth won't visit my seeds. Too afraid I'd censor them
Some Newstalker who themselves tells frequent lies?
The Newstalker (singular)?
You mean to say there was only one?
Hint - Vapor Rub.
Donald borrowed Doc Brown's DeLorean...
That might be the funniest thing you've ever said.
I doubt if Trump could find either country on a map that had the countries names on it.
To be fair...I might have a little problem locating Kosovo on a map, too. I do know that it's in the area where Yugoslavia used to be and that is the Balkans?
landlocked east of italy, on the other side of the adriatic sea. north of greece a couple countries.
I know where the Adriatic Sea is....but I'm going to go find a globe....
found it! Kinda where I thought it was
North of Northern Macedonia.
Helpful, hmmmm?
Find Albania and Kosovo is just north of it and south of Serbia.
or,
Северно од Албаније и јужно од Србије.Oh, yeah, you bet!
Looking at the map I found, I realize how close the Soviet Bloc was to the NATO countries.
That is called the Balkan Region, correct?
K!!
That's Montenegro, North of Albania. How could anyone confound Kosovo and Montenegro? They're completely, totally different...
yes it is.
LOL, no it isn't.
That was kinda sorta the idea. Then Tito got the great idea of setting up between the blocs, and playing them against each other.
The map shows, VERY CLEARLY, that Kosovo is EAST of Albania and NORTH of Northern Macedonia.
Nah!
You said Montenegro.
Double nah!!
Do not fuck with me when maps are involved!
Don't blow a gasket, Bob.
The map also shows that part of Kosovo is north of Albania. It also shows that part of North Macedonia is west of Kosovo.
Dobra dan.
A very, very small part...
Yep-- you can say that again!
I've learned something today!
"Google translate" is kinda cool...
... but with a good sharpie, he could always just change the labels.
you can bet melania knows where all those eastern block countries are, from touring in her "modeling" days.
Remember, he is the one who thinks Harris should be disqualified because she was born in Oakland. He thinks that if a place has LAND in its name (ie - Iceland and Greenland) it is a country. I guess Graceland is a country also then.
I thought it was by kokomo.
How many of you have visited any of the countries that made up the old Yugoslavia, Kosovo or Albania.
BTW, Yugoslavia translates to the ''Land of the South Slavs.''
I haven't. I've always wanted to visit Sarajevo before the War cause I hear it was a very beautiful city. I don't know about today, tho.
Sarajevo was and is once again a beautiful city. You would find mosques, catholic churches, and orthodox churches within blocks of each other.
This is a photo taken in the late 1940's or early 50's. Sarajevo is in Bosnia which is mostly Muslim. Many Muslim women in Bosnia wore vails into the 1960s.
Thanks, Kav!
Your welcome, Trout.
I've spent a fair amount of time in all of the countries mentioned. I love the history of the area and the people of each of the countries.
If I had spent more time in the Air Force, I might have gotten the opportunity to go the Balkans. Oh, well.
Last night I found a fascinating documentary on Amazon about the Goths (Germanic tribes) and all the places they migrated to. Some of them came to this region.
That's a cool photo. There's a lot in it.
I've never been to that area-- the closest I've come was Greece. (a wonderful country to visit
IIRC, Yugoslavia was a really large country. It was Communist, but was more independent of control by the USSR than was most of Eastern Europe.
When it was broken up, there were three main groups Bosnians (mainly Muslims), Croats (mainly Catholics) and Serbs (mainly Eastern Orthodox). Historically there was a lot of mutual hatred between all three.
At one point there was also a horrendous massacre of the Muslims by the Serbs.
(My memory of these things may not be totally accurate, but I believe its mainly correct).
I believe Kosovo is more mixed.
These European Muslims were for the most part pretty moderate, much more so than most Arab countries. IIRC, this was mainly due to the influence of Turkey, which, while predominantly Muslim, was pretty moderate (thanks to Attaturk).Of course under Erdogan Turkey gotten really bad...
For a while there was a UN Peacekeeping force there (mainly Scandinavians?) -- although IIRC by that time there wasn't much for them to do. So some of them made this (slightly) humorous video with the tune of The beachboys Kokomo:
(Its sa pretty old video. I have noticed that over time the quality of old Youtube videos deteriorates).
Ha. I just mention that...
The Balkans are the only region in Europe that we haven't visited. We don't like hot weather, so we've spent more time in Scandinavia. We did see a bit of Slovenia, while following the French National Team. Croatia beckons...
How hot does it get? It doesn't seem so far south that they wouldn't have some cool seasons.
But I like hot.
Into the 90s in the summer.
What's the humidity like? I'm used to 95 with 100% humidity. Some days we have triple digits with 100% humidity
All of the countries mentioned are well worth visiting. The history is outstanding. I especially loved Macedonia and Montenegro.
Having friends throughout many of the countries allowed me to see and experience things that tourists usually don't see or experience.
The Adriatic seacoast along Croatia is quite beautiful.
For you it wouldn't be hot at all.
Along the seacoast the summer temps are the mid 70's to the mid 80's. Inland as Bob said it will get into the 90's.
Some day a beach vacation along the Adriatic is happening
The stone cities of the Adriatic coast are quite stunning.
Any information you need on the area just ask.
Thanks. I want The Boy to get stationed at Aviano AB in Italy which I understand is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Montenegro
I think there's regular ferry service across the Adriatic.
It's just a hop from anywhere in the Balkans.
I visited Greece in the winter-- in fact I arrived ("deck passage" on a freighter-- cheapest ticket available, allowed me only to sleep in sleeping bag on deck-- could only go instead to use a primitive toilet) on a trip from Bari italy to Piraeus, the port of Athens) a few days after Christmas-- Christmas decorations in Athens were still up. Unfortunately I missed Christmas celibrations in Athens.
(I was a "poor student"-- took my Junior year in college to hitch around Europe, also was in Morocco and Israel)
But the weather in Greece is quite peasant in winter,
Greece is splendid. We've visited Athens and Crete. I went to Rhodes as a kid. They were filming The Guns of Navarone.
Same here with years spent between different parts of SE Asia in the 70's and 80's. I love people here in the states talk about monsoons. First real monsoon I ever saw was in Vietnam where the rain came down so hard I could not see past the end of my outstretched arm! Now those were monsoons! I never made it to the Balkans as during the time of U.S. involvement as I was sitting in McMurdo Station, Antarctica. I left there when I transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hi where I retired in 1993. Talk about exposure to climate extremes! Sorry to ramble.
I went through a monsoon in 'Nam, too. No dry clothes for the duration. The village was swept away... but the villagers had long since found high ground, with most of their possessions.
The locals warned the American artillery battery, but the idiot captain didn't have orders from battalion. They just barely got the guns away, and all the troops' gear went downriver.
The airstrip, made of BIG linked steel "planks", was rolled up like a carpet.
Lots of rain during the monsoon.
Yup...
Trump also led the army that took over the airports during the Revolutionary War.
Do you think they had drones back then?
No dromes, but they did have ''bone spurs'' back then.
Bone spurs don't stop you from riding a horse
There are few horses in the world that would allow an obese orangeman on their back.
good point
They do if you're Donald Trump!
Yes. In fact was one of the first to drone on and on in his rallies!
(It was during his Midieval rallies that he was the first super-spreader of The Plague).
Yeah, they were called carrier pigeons...
Trump has accomplished so much...
In fact he took the Pulitzer prize winning photo of David slaying Goliath-- the one that was on the front page of all the newspapers (well, actually the News Papyrus) back then!
(Rumour has it that way back then Trump was actually the first one to disseminate "Fake News"...and he hasn't hesitated to disseminate news lies to this very day!)
Everyone says he's the most beautiful President in the history of the universe. Right?
Let us not forget when Hillary ran to avoid sniper fire from her plane to the terminal in Kosovo!
Sounds just like his agreements with Israel and some Middle Eastern countries.