Russian-Georgian conflict from 2008

 

24:44

“Meanwhile in fact under Bush the march in one way or another on Georgia and Ukraine continued. So we got the 2008 Russian-Ukrainian(misspoke meant Russian-Georgian) war. A European investigative commission found that Georgian president Saakashvili had started the war. This is beyond dispute simply beyond dispute. What we don’t know or maybe professor McFaul knows, I don’t know the extent to which Washington did or did not encourage Saakashvili to attack. That to me is a question a legitimate one but i don’t know the answer”

 

This information was not presented in the West. But if you think about it a little. Look how much territory Russia took from Ukraine. How can anyone think Russia wanted to attack and conquer Georgia and was not able to? Since they were able to fight Ukraine which is a lot stronger than Georgia, then if they really would have wanted to attack and conquer Georgia, Georgia would not exist anymore or would be ruled by a Russia established government. 

 

I will post a lower article from Reuters describing the finding of an independent report commissioned by the European Union.

 

 

Georgia started war with Russia: EU-backed report

Georgia started war with Russia: EU-backed report

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – An independent report blamed Georgia on Wednesday for starting last year’s five-day war with Russia, but said Moscow’s military response went beyond reasonable limits and violated international law. The report commissioned by the European Union said both sides had broken international humanitarian laws and found evidence of ethnic cleansing against ethnic Georgians during Russia’s intervention in the rebel province of South Ossetia.

 

 

Truth and Lies about war in Iraq and war in Libya, my theory.

 

This is my theory regarding both the wars in Iraq and war in Libya. I wrote this During conflict in Libya.

Wars in IRAQ AND LIBYA, those wars were not because those governments were opposing the US government or treated their citizens bad. That’s true that they did oppose the US but as we can see from other countries that also do this, they were not forcefully overthrown. My theory is that in all those 3 examples force was used not because they were opposing US superiority and influence in the area but because they opposed something more important for the US government PETRODOLLAR. In the case of the first war in IRAQ, IRAQ opposed OPEC when they asked them to change the amount of oil produced. OPEC is a puppet of the US used to control the price of oil by which the US controls the price of dollars. OPEC on behalf of the US told IRAQ to change the amount of oil produced, because the US wanted to change the price of dollars. IRAQ refused saying it’s not worthwhile for them to produce OIL if price is too low and since they have huge reserves of capital they can afford to reduce or even stop producing OIL for some time. The US knew they needed to do something about it since they needed to control dollar price.  But they can’t invade IRAQ because they don’t want to produce OIL. So they ask KUWAIT to drill under the IRAQ border and extract OIL from IRAQ oil fields. Because let be honest KUWAIT was not stupid they knew they can’t fight IRAQ, and they would have to if they would start to steal their OIL. So I am sure they did it on behalf of the US and only because they got assurance from the US that they will protect them militarily from IRAQ. The US knew that if IRAQ invaded KUWAIT it would give them an excuse to invade IRAQ and make them obey OPEC. So we had KUWAIT extract OIL under the border from the IRAQ oil field. Which forced IRAQ to invade them. Then we got a bullshit story about kids thrown from incubators and we end up with the US invading IRAQ. After US forces slaughter enemy forces and civilians. To give you a quick explanation how this conflict went we bombed their whole infrastructure. For almost a month we bombed the whole Iraq. There was no electricity, water, or any canalisation etc… even in hospitals. Bombing all the stuff, people dying soldiers, civilians don’t matter. We did it before even our soldiers had entered their country. Then I will give you one image of how that war looked: “Highway of Death ” google it or better check official count, estimated count and google images. And you got proof of how the rest of the covrage of this conflict looked like. After that first war with the IRAQ, IRAQ promised to obey OPEC. That’s the story of the first IRAQ war. Now we come to the second war in IRAQ, this time instead of reducing production of OIL, IRAQ opposed PETRODOLLAR in a different way. IRAQ said they will no longer sell OIL in dollars, instead they will sell their OIL in EUROs. This would also influence the price of dollars. So again the US was forced to use force to do something about it and we end up with a bullshit story of WMD’s and end up with another war in IRAQ. Now we are at war in LIBYA. Same story as the second war in IRAQ difference was that LIBYA decided to sell OIL instead of EUROs, they wanted to sell OIL in gold. Effect would be the same as it would influence the price of dollars and make it more difficult for the US to control dollar price through OPEC. So the US was forced to use force again. Fortunately for the US this time they were able to do it not by using the army but rebels. But we all know it was a US war. My theory is that opposing US superiority and influence in the area is not enough for the US to forcefully overthrow any country. They will sanction that country and use the CIA and other forces to change their government. But if anyone threatens PETRODOLLAR, this US can not afford it and they will use force to fix it as soon as possible. The only exception from this rule is in VENEZUELA. I guess since they are able to stop them from selling OIL and they got enough control over other OIL production so they can not infuance PETRODOLLAR. Because of that they don’t need to use force to overthrow them. That’s my theory.

 

Iraq disobeying OPEC

https://apnews.com/357fa34e6325da60ddcd61f3aaad7523

 

Kuwait drilling
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/03/world/confrontation-in-the-gulf-the-oilfield-lying-below-the-iraq-kuwait-dispute.html

 

Husain selling oil in EURO

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2003/feb/16/iraq.theeuro

 

Gaddafi’s Gold Dinar selling oil in gold.

https://sujo-old.usindh.edu.pk/index.php/THE-GOVERNMENT/article/view/4036

https://millenium-state.com/blog/2019/05/03/the-dinar-gold-the-real-reason-for-gaddafis-murder/

 

Regarding Venezuela, recently I asked myself if the US is treating Venezuela as their own tactical oil reserves in case of war. Since Venezuela is in South America so it’s secure from other powers trying to use it thanks to The Monroe Doctrine. So thanks to The Monroe Doctrine and sanctions they can be sure Venezuela oil reserves will not be depleted and are secure. Now imagine we entered a big global conflict sort of WORLD WAR. The US can not be sure they will be able to secure OIL reserves in the Middle East since they are too far, but how about Venezuela? What problem would the US have in case of world conflict to invade and secure Venezuela oil reserves as their own. So I think the US treats and sees Venezuela as a sort of emergency US oil reserves in case of war. Thanks to sanctions they can be sure Venezuela will not extract and sell oil in big quantities so they can be sure their reserves will not be depleted.

 

Kosovo for the Beginners (2)

Part 1

Kosovo is a pan-Slavic and pra-Slavic name of the kind of bird, which has about 300 subspecies, from the family Turdidae, derived from the Greek kopsihos. The Kosovo Field, where historically a number of important battles were fought, is situated northwest of the regional capital Priština.[1]

Metochia is derived from a Greek metohi as mentioned above, from meteho – to take part. It denotes a monastery estate (of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the KosMet case).

Priština, a pan-Slavic and pra-Slavic term, derived from prysk, derived in its turn from the Indo-European (s)per, to become the verb prisnoti, meaning “to spurt”, “to gush”. In the modern Serbian language, the term prisht designates decease, boil (anthrax). The town of Priština was an important trade and mine medieval center, with an important Dubrovnik colony. A Serbian King Stefan Dečanski (1321−1331)[2] used to stay at Priština, while Serbian Emperor Stephan Dušan (1331−1355) had his court here for some time.[3] After Stephan Dušan, Priština became the capital of Vuk Branković’s feud and retained that position even after the Kosovo Battle in 1389. His wife Mara lived there with her sons, Grgur (Gregorie) and Đurađ (Georgie), as well as Prince Lazar’s widow Eugenia (known in the folk songs as Empress Milica). The Ottomans took Priština in 1439, but the Dubrovnik colony remains there as Dubrovnik had all the time very good political relations with the Ottoman authorities.[4] In 1660 a Roman-Catholic missionary mentions Priština as an important post between Novi Pazar and Istanbul (Constantinople). During the Austrian-Ottoman war in 1683−1699 (the Great Vienna War) the former had a small garrison there in 1689.[5] However, according to the Austrian records, there were about 360 villages around, some of which were set to fire by Muslim Turks and Tatars and (Serb Christian) inhabitants slaughtered. At the beginning of the 19th century, Priština appears to be an important trade town, with a famous fair, with some 12.000 inhabitants. France established her consulate there in 1812. According to some reports, Priština had at the time about 7.000−9.000 inhabitants, mainly Christian Orthodox Serbs, but some Muslim Arnauts and semi-Islamized Serbs too. However, in 1852 the reports count 12.000−15.000 inhabitants, one-third Serbs and Tsintsars (the Christian Orthodox Vlachs), the rest Muslim Arnauts.[6] After two big fires in 1859 and 1863, Priština suffered a considerable decline.

Prizren, a pan-Slavic and pra-Slavic name, from zreti, to see. Derived from the Indo-European gher, to flash, participle perfect zren. A prefix pri is the common pan-Slavic and pra-Slavic. Prizren (a main urban settlement in Metochia) was mentioned as the episcopate in 1019 as subordinated to the Byzantine Ohrid archiepiscopate. The first Serbian archiepiscop (archbishop) St. Sava (1219−1236) subordinated it to his new Serbian archiepiscopate.[7] Prizren was developed as a trade town in the 13th and 14th centuries, especially during Serbian King Milutin (1282−1321) and Serbian Emperors Stephan Dušan and Stephan Uroš (1355−1371), who had their courts there. Stephan Dušan built a monastery with a memorial church devoted to St. Archangels (Michael and Gavril). After falling into the Ottoman hands, the monastery was demolished and no trace of the grave of Emperor Dušan has remained. It was an important colony of Dubrovnik in Prizren, with two Roman-Catholic churches. The Ottomans took Prizren in 1455 and after that, the town was becoming more and more Islamic but even in 1878 2/3 of its population have been Christian Orthodox Serbs (today only several Serbs are left in the city). Nevertheless, during the Ottoman occupation, Prizren lost most of its trade role but there were some rich merchants like Turk Mehmed Hajredin Kukli-beg with his 117 shops, 6 watermills, and caravanserai (hotel). The Shqiptars appear there late, in the second half of the 17th century only. In the 17th century, trade receives a new impetus at Prizren, with some 8.600 (1610) and 12.000 (1655) homes. The town was renowned for its fountains, watermills (600), nice houses, and pleasant gardens. Craftsmanship was very developed, especially guns and sabers productions. Prizren was the largest Serb town in the region, second only to Skopje. Still, the overwhelming majority of the population was Christian Orthodox Serbs. Though there was a Roman-Catholic episcope chair, there were 30−40 Roman-Catholic homes only. However, in both the 16th and 17th centuries Prizren was a victim of ethnic-Shqiptar highlanders, mainly of the Mirdites tribe from North Albania. At the end of the 18th century, many towns were devastated by the Shqiptars, including Prizren, mainly by highwaymen. For instance, father Sava reports how in 1795 Mahmud-pasha Bushatli and his Shqiptars devastated Prizren and only 7.000−8.000 homes remained, much lesser than there were in the 17th century. According to one record in 1805, Prizren experienced a revival. Its inhabitants were partly Muslims and partly Christian Orthodox, but both the Serbs, as their (Slavic) language revealed. The 19th century witnessed the further development of Prizren. According to J. Miller (1844), the following statistics were offered; 6.000 homes, with 18.600 Orthodox citizens, 2.150 Roman Catholics, 4.000 Muslims (4/5 Serbs), and 600 Tsigans (Roma/Gypsies). Trade was mainly in the hands of the Serbs. The town had many mosques (12 big, 42 altogether), many clock towers, and one Christian Orthodox and one Roman-Catholic church. Trade was done mainly with Thessaloniki since the trade road to Skadar (Scodra/Scutari) was insecure due to the Shqiptar highwaymen.

Mitrovica, after the Greek St. Demetrios, Serb Dimitrije. Demetrios itself means son of Demetre, goddess of fertility and agriculture.[8] When Serbian King Milutin donated in the 14th century to the St. Stephan monastery at Banjska the church “St. Dimitrije under Zvečan”, the new town founded in the vicinity obtained the name D(i)mitrovica, or Mitrovica. Renowned Turkish traveler Evlia Čelebija mentions Mitrovica as “on the border of Bosnian vilayet”, with the castle (probably Zvečan) abandoned but the town flourishing. Father Jukić mentions (1852) 300 Muslim and 50 Orthodox houses. Unimpressive until 1871 Mitrovica experienced a fast development with a railway.

Zvečan was a Serbian castle built in the 11th century during Serbia’s fight against the Byzantine Empire. The castle served as a prison (something like London Tower), where many noblemen finished their lives, including King Stephan Dečanski’s brother, Constantine, and the King himself. Ottoman rule was imposed already at the end of the 14th century after the Kosovo Battle. Zvečan used to be left empty for many periods. It suffered the most in 1884 when the wall material of the castle was used by the Ottoman authorities for building the bridge across the River Ibar in Mitrovica and some other objects.

As mentioned before, nearby Banjska was a village, which had a beautiful monastery, but was ruined after the Kosovo Battle.[9] Nevertheless, the place won its celebrity after the beautiful folk poem Strahinjić Bane, an epic Serb hero from Banjska. The Ottomans founded a small town over the ruins of Banjska, with a mosque and sahat-kula (clock tower). At the hill foot, there was a bath,[10] in use a long time afterward. At the beginning of the 20th century, one could still see a remnant of the minaret on the ruins of the old Serbian Christian Orthodox church, converted into the mosque in the 15th century.

Đakovica, from the Greek diakonos, servant, pupil. The earliest record about the place came from the 17th century but the town probably existed before. The Albanian used toponym Gjakova was given by the Ottomans and the Shqiptars while the Serbs are calling the town Đakovica.[11] This is the only area in KosMet (very close to Albania) in which, according to the first Ottoman population census (defter) in KosMet done in 1455, the Shqiptars lived in some big numbers.[12] It was a small town, which started to be massively populated by Shqiptars from neighboring North Albania after the First Great Serbian Migration from KosMet to the Habsburg Monarchy (i.e, to South Hungary) in 1689−1690.[13] It was probably on that account that the Serbs used to call it Arnaut-Pazar. According to some sources, in 1844 there were 1.900 houses, 11 mosques, and 640−650 shops. In the same year, there were 18.000 Muslims, 2.600 Orthodox, and 450 Roman-Catholic inhabitants in Đakovica. As for the ethnic partition, the same records provide 17.000 Arnauts, 3.800 Slavs (Serbs), 180 Turks, and finally some Tsintsars and Gypsies (Tsigans). However, statistics greatly differ from author to author and may be taken as a rough estimate only. The Christians were engaged mainly in craftsmanship, with the Roman Catholics as goldsmiths and the Orthodox as saddle-makers and painters.

Peć, a pan-Slavic, and pra-Slavic from pekti, to roast. Pekt/peć means furnace. It is a cult place of the Serbian people, the former seat of the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć in the nearby church (est. 1346), established by the Serbian King Milutin (1282−1321). However, besides its spiritual importance, Peć was a town with a lively trade, especially by the Dubrovnik colony in the town. The Ottomans abolished the Patriarchate of Peć after 1459, to be re-established in 1557 and ultimately to be abolished in 1766 and subordinated to the Greek Patriarchate of Constantinople.[14] In the 19th century, there were 2.000 houses with some 7.000−8.000 inhabitants, mainly the Christian Orthodox Serbs. The town had 900 shops. A principal occupation was silk production and agriculture (fruit and tobacco). Despite its size, Peć (in Turkish Ipek) was not able to develop trade,  due to, according to the source, insecurity ”from (the local) Arnauts”, who were “public highwaymen”.

Uroševac, a pra-Church-Slavonic from Uroš, derived from ur, master, from Hungarian ursu for a lord. In Turkish Ferizović, in Shqip Ferizaj. It was a small Gypsy village. The railway made it a town and a trade center of the region. 

Lipljan, an old Serbian, probably from the Roman name for the nearby Roman-Byzantine castrum Ulpiana. 

Orahovac, a pan-Slavic and pra-Slavic name oreh for nut (orah in the contemporary Serb), derived from Indo-European ar and reks (to smash), something one eats skinned. 

Drenica, derived from a pan-Slavic and pra-Slavic dren, dogwood, from the Indo-European root dher(e)ghno. 

Vučitrn, derived from Serb vuk, a pan-Slavic and pra-Slavic vlk, for wolf, the Indo-European ulkuos[15] and trn, the Teutonic-pra-Slavic term for thorn (the Indo-European (s)ter, for thorny plants). The town is built probably over the ancient Vicianum. It is mentioned for the first time in the 14th century as a place belonging to the Serbian feudal lord Vuk Branković, who had his palace there too. The town was renowned for its trade activities, especially for its Dubrovnik colony. A Serbian despot Đurađ Branković (1427−1456) used it as his seat too. In the vicinity, there was a well-known trade and mine town Trepča. Vučitrn fell to the Ottomans in 1439 (or 1440) for the first time, then definitely in 1455 when all KosMet became finally occupied by the Ottoman Empire. Some travelers mention it as an important trade center. The Ottoman historian Turk Evlija Čelebija counts 2.000 houses, then tekija,[16] schools, a Christian Orthodox school, a hammam (bath), vineyards, and orchards. In the 18th century, Vučitrn appears as an insignificant place but becomes the seat of a sanjak.[17] In 1894 one counted about 7.000−8.000 inhabitants. The main occupation was blacksmith and leather craftsmanship. 

Glogovac, a pan-Slavic and pra-Slavic name from glog for hawthorn (from Greek glohiis – top of a blade). 

Istok, from tok, a pra-Slavic noun for flow (from the Indo-European teq – to run (away), and iz as the perfective prefix for the verb teći – to flow, from the Indo-European eghs. 

Gračanica, a pan-Slavic and pra-Slavic diminutive of gord, initially any fenced settlement, later town, and castle, from the Indo-European gherdh, to fence.[18]

Kačanik, a Turkish name, from kaçak–highwayman. Kačanik (situated on the very border to the present-day Republic of North Macedonia) was notorious for its highwayman activities from the beginning of its history, which dates from the 16th century. Situated at the entrance of the gorge Kačanik, made by the river Lepenac, it controlled the passage through the gorge, the only possible between Macedonia and KosMet. A report from 1573 warns people to guard themselves well in passing the gorge, for the danger from the local Shqiptars. It was for this danger that Sinan-pasha built the small fortress at the gorge entrance, which was intended to protect travelers, mainly tradesmen, from robbery and slaughter. The Austrian soldiers during the Great Vienna War under General Piccolomini took the fortress in 1689, but after their retreat in 1690, the Ottomans captured the fortress and slaughtered the Austrian garrison. It was not until 1807 when Reshid-pasha cleared Kačanik from highwaymen that the traffic through the gorge was resumed. Around the middle of the 19th century, the town consisted of, according to the source, about a „hundred miserable Arnaut (Shqiptar) houses“, situated beside the ruined fortress. Before the Balkan Wars (1912−1913) town was renamed by the Ottomans as Orhanije and at that time had about 250 houses.

Names of the rivers, mountains, and other geographical entities are likewise Slavic in the entire KosMet. They are easily recognized by suffixes, like –va for the river, -ica for rivers or settlements. We mention the Rivers Sitnica, Studenica, etc. The suffix -or for mountains is considered to be of Celtic origin, but mountains with this ending are scattered all around the West Balkans. Some toponyms bear Turkish names, as expected after centuries of Ottoman rule in this part of the Balkans.[19] We emphasize here that since KosMet used to be separated from modern Serbia for two centuries, its development was considerably retarded concerning the language and folklore generally. It appears today as a sort of reservation in this respect, as a remnant of ancient times, from the medieval Serbian state and the Serbian nation in general. This is also the case with other mountainous regions of the Balkans, in particular, North Albania, Montenegro, and Herzegovina, which were on the margin of European civilization and culture for centuries.[20]

As for the toponyms in Albania, many appear corrupted from the original Greek or Roman, whereas some bear purely Slavic names. This applies particularly to the plain regions, which were settled by ethnic-Shqiptar (Albanian) highlanders only relatively recently.

As was already pointed out above, these linguistic details are not merely of a linguistic nature but reveal the essence of the issue of who is the genuine owner of the “disputed” land. It concerns the question of “negative designation” as well. The ancient Greeks (and Romans as well) used to call other nations “barbarians”, meaning “non-Greeks” or “neither Romans nor Greeks”. It had somewhat pejorative overtones, which one could appreciate regarding their superiority over the surrounding nations, in particular, those much less civilized, like Skits.[21]  The same point appears with the Israelites, who designate non-Jews as goyim, meaning (other, non-Jewish) nations.[22] Though no Jew would admit it, it has a pejorative meaning whatsoever, and this overtone cannot be ignored.

The Shqiptar Question, in fact, involves all nationalities with whom the ethnic Shqiptars are in close contact at the Balkan Peninsula. Subsequently, one faces the conflict of the Shqiptars versus non-Shqiptars, which places inevitably the ethnic Shqiptars in a privileged position. This will sound cynical when we compare the civilization levels of both sides in the conflict over KosMet. Unfortunately, the term “non-Albanian” has been widely accepted by the international community, and even an eventual neologism that would substitute the unfortunate term “non-Albanian” would not do. In a sense, this terminology would correspond to a “non-sick” man (as compared to a sick one), meaning “healthy man”. “Non-Albanian” implies inevitably the feeling of “something wrong” with those singled out so.

Unfortunately, the story does not end here. Serbia used to have, during her recent history (since 1945), two regions, which had privileged positions relative to the rest of the state. One was the autonomous province of Vojvodina, the other the autonomous region (later to become a province, too) of Kosovo and Metohia (KosMet). The problem is the “rest of Serbia”. Some call it “Serbia proper”, some “Central Serbia”. The first designation appears particularly unsuitable, for it implies that KosMet is not ”proper Serbia”, thus concealing in the very name a political message.

End of the article.

Dr. Vladislav B. Sotirovic

Ex-University Professor

Research Fellow at Centre for Geostrategic Studies

Belgrade, Serbia

www.geostrategy.rs

vsotirovic@yahoo.com

© Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2023

References:

[1] Undoubtedly, the most important battle occurred in KosMet was that of 1389 (June 15/28th) between Serbian army led by Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad I. Both military leaders died during the battle. On the battle, see: Ратко Пековић (избор текстова), Косовска битка: Мит, легенда и стварност, Београд: Литера, 1987. About Prince Lazar, see: Раде Михаљчић, Лазар Хребељановић: Историја, култ, предање, Београд: БИГЗ, 1989.

[2] About Stephan Dečanski, see: Станоје Станојевић, Сви српски владари: Биографије српских (са црногорским и босанским) и преглед хрватских владара, Београд: Отворена књига, 2015, 49−50.

[3] About the Empire of Stephan Dušan, see: Миладин Стевановић, Душаново Царство, Београд: Књига-Комерц, 2001.

[4] On the golden age of the history of Dubrovnik, see: Radovan Samardžić, Zlatni vek Dubrovnika, Beograd: Prosveta, 1962.

[5]  About this war and KosMet, see: Радован Самарџић и други, Косово и Метохија у српској историји, Београд: Српска књижевна задруга, 1989, 127−141.

[6] The Ottoman census system for the very taxation purposes did not count ethnic nations but rather only the confessional groups (millets).

[7]  About St. Sava, see: Драган Антић, Љиљана Цвекић, Венац Светога Саве, Шабац: Глас цркве, 1988.

[8] According to Robert Graves, Demetre means mother of barley.

[9] Slobodan Milošević’s family claims to have the origin from Banjska.

[10] Banja in the Serbian language means bath or spa.

[11] There are indications that the original town-name was Jakova or Giacovo.

[12] Translated text of the original defter from 1455 to the Serbo-Croat language is published in 1972 by the Oriental Institute in Sarajevo: https://www.scribd.com/doc/98035320/Oblast-Brankovica-Opsirni-Katastarski-Popis-Iz-1455-Godine.

[13] About the First Great Serbian Migration, see: Стефан Чакић, Велика сеоба Срба 1689/90 и патријарх Арсеније III Црнојевић, Нови Сад: Добра вест, 1990.

[14] About a historical role of the Patriarchate of Peć in the preservation of the Serbian national and cultural identity, see: Vladislav B. Sotirović, “The Historical Role of the Patriarchate of Peć in Preservation of Serbian National and Cultural Identity”, Актуальнье проблемы науки в контексте православных традиций, Сборник материалов международной научно-практической конференции, 28−29 февраля 2008 года, Армавир, Россия, 2008, 22−25.

[15] Ulk has been preserved in contemporary Albanian, as a common name, with the same meaning – wolf. In modern Serb Vuk appears a common name, too, in particular among the people coming from poor regions (usually high mountains).

[16] Dervish house, after Turkish tekke (Arab täkyä).

[17] Sanjak was the Ottoman smaller administrative-territorial unit as a part of a bigger pashalik.

[18] Some toponyms Shiptars still call by Albanian names, like Ferizaj for Uroševac.

[19] About the Ottoman rule in the region, see: Peter F. Sugar, Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354−1804, Seattle−London: University of Washington Press, 1977.

[20] See the book by Maria Todorova: Imagining the Balkans, New York−Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

[21] The anecdote on the dispute between a bully Greek and philosopher Abaris, of the Scythian origin, who exclaimed “My homeland is a shame for me, but you are the shame of your homeland!”  illustrates well the issue.

[22] In modern parlance it renders gentiles.

I thought it would be good to have some laughs at this troubling time. So I thought I would post this video.

 

This video was created by Moderate Rebels 2 years ago. It describes the absurdity of official stories regarding Russia that is presented in the West. When you think about it it’s funny people actually believe this stuff.

 

 

US anti-Russia bill ‘totally unwarranted’ – South African FM

The legislation targeting Moscow’s alleged malign operations on the continent should be scrapped, senior diplomat has said

The US should scrap its “Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa” bill because the legislation is at odds with international law, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said on Wednesday.

In an interview with news outlet Sputnik, Pandor stated that Washington’s bill “should really be killed” because “it’s totally unwarranted.” “I think it’s an intrusion that goes against international law,” she noted, adding that South African officials have made this clear to their US counterparts.

“We even met with the drafter of the initial legislation and indicated the offense which we view with this particular proposed piece of legislation,” she said.

Pandor also vowed that South Africa would continue “to advocate for that bill to be torn up and not to proceed in any form or state.”

Read more

US ‘threatening’ Africa over ties with Russia – Pretoria

She also noted that the legislation had not been approved yet and is scheduled for debate in the US Senate. The bill was first introduced to the House of Representatives in late March and was passed a month later by a huge bipartisan majority.

Should the bill be signed into law, the US would have to “regularly assess the scale and scope” of Russia’s activities in Africa that undermine Washington’s objectives and interests. It would also require the US “to hold accountable” through sanctions or other restrictions Russian and African governments and officials “who are complicit in aiding such malign influence and activities.”

South Africa has already voiced concerns about the proposed legislation. In September, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that Africans should not be “punished” for their historic non-aligned position amid the Ukraine conflict. “I think it will harm Africa and marginalize the continent,” he said at the time.

The bill has created ripples not only in South Africa but also through neighboring nations. In August, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which incorporates 16 regional countries, said that the law would make the continent “the target of unilateral and punitive measures.”

Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict last February, South Africa has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia, with Ramaphosa arguing in late May that the restrictions would hurt “bystander countries.”