Kosovo Declares Independance

Well the first chapter of the next Balkan war was written on Sunday as Kosovo declared independence. Looking at the map below it's not hard to see why Kosovo wants independence but unfortunately for them a lot of very important Serbian monasteries are located in that little patch of land. I once had the opportunity to ask a Serbian woman why Kosovo was so important and she basically said "Everything that is Serbia is there", something similar to being say, Greek, but the Turks occupying Athens. The only question is why the U.S. and Europe are so keen on this idea? Is it just to stick it to the Russians?