Bush recognizes an independent Kosovo

Can't say that I'm thrilled by this latest Bush foreign policy faux-pas.

Given that the Kossovars are ethnic Muslim Albanians, and that Serbia, the country they just seceded from views Kosovo as a fundamental, if not sacred place for Serbs.

Whether such recognition is in America's interest is an open question. Given the likelihood of bloodshed over the unilateral declaration, recognition was probably not the best thing to do. (On the other hand, such recognition may prevent war from breaking out given any move to stop it would likely be opposed by the US and the UN). Indeed, recognizing a new Muslim state which has ethnically cleansed lots of Serbs from the territory it now proclaims as independent, and the resultant alienation of Serbian Orthodox Christians, and their patron Russia, was probably not the best move to make.