Condoleezza Rice had the following soothing and diplomatic words for the people of Serbia:
We believe that the resolution of Kosovo’s status will really, finally, let the Balkans begin to put its terrible history behind it,” Rice said yesterday. “I mean, after all, we’re talking about something from 1389 — 1389! It’s time to move forward.”
The “statute of limitations” for half-educated moderns like Condy is always moving forward. It’s 100 years. Maybe 50. Soon it will be 10 minutes. We’re already being told to “get over” 9/11 by more consistent observers than Condy.
Further, why should the Serbs forget that the Islamic Turks fought many battles to oppress them in 1389? Why does this event deserve to be flushed down the memory hole, but not the birth of Jesus Christ more than 1,000 years before the battle?
Should Jews forget the Holocaust? Should Germans? Should Turks continue to “forget” their genocide of the Armenians? Yes, history should not simply be a fountain of grievances, but it cannot just be forgotten. Without history, men have no identity, nor concern for the future. It is a good thing that the Serbs remember and honor their ancestors; it’s not just some obstacle for cosmopolitan technocrats like her to overcome.
Condy is also misrepresenting the motives of the Serbs. This is not just a nostalgia act. The grievances of the Serbs are vital and ongoing. It’s a brazen thing to say that it’s “time to move forward” as Albanians are burning Serbian churches and monasteries in Kosovo todayunder the supervision of NATO.
Yes, 1389 is a long time ago. But it matters because it demonstrates an ongoing pattern of Islamic violence, a pattern we see today in Osama bin Laden and the terrorist leader of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci.
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