Wars have started for less

Every nation has its limits. You can almost taste the fact that the Serbs don't want to go down that road of war - but they are being painted in a corner. This from the last week in DEC.

Serbia's parliament overwhelmingly adopted a resolution Wednesday that threatens to halt the country's integration into the European Union and cut off diplomatic ties with Western countries if they recognize Kosovo's independence.

The resolution — passed with 220 votes in favor, 14 against and three abstentions — also obliges Serbian officials to reject Kosovo's statehood and denounces NATO for allegedly supporting the separatist Kosovo Albanians.

Ethnic Albanians, who account for about 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, have said they would proclaim independence early next year.

The U.S. and several EU states have said they would recognize Kosovo's independence because it has not been under Serbia's control since 1999, when NATO intervened to stop former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's military crackdown against the separatists.

Serbia, backed by Russia, insists Kosovo — considered the cradle of Serbia's medieval state and religion — should remain part of its territory, and has urged more negotiations with Kosovo Albanians.

During a fiery debate in Parliament, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica accused the U.S. of blocking efforts to find a compromise with ethnic Albanians by its open support of Kosovo's independence.

"America is openly striving for the destruction of the international order," Kostunica told the parliament. "America, which once seemed like a symbol of freedom, now advocates the policies of force."

The Kosovar Albanians want independence. They have been emboldened. They won the war of the cradle, now they want their own bit of land. Malmö, call you office. The Serbs now feel they have the backing of Russia. This whole soup is thick. Do you know what the Kosovo flag is? Ahem; it is the Albanian flag. The precedent this sets should make all stop and think; is the USA, Canada, and the EU ready go to war over this - again?