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  • #16
    Police officer dies in Kosovo violence
    Rte.ie/news
    Tuesday, 18 March 2008 14:33

    A UN policeman in Kosovo has died of injuries suffered in rioting by Serbs, as NATO tries to restore calm after the worst violence since Kosovo's independence declaration.

    The police officer was Ukrainian, and he died yesterday evening of wounds suffered during violent demonstrations in Mitrovica, Kosovo.

    More than 150 people were injured in the ethnically divided northern Kosovo town during clashes between both the UN police and NATO-led peacekeepers and Serbs opposed to Kosovo's independence declaration.

    Sixty-three of the injured were members of the UN's international police force, hurt when demonstrators pelted them with stones and at least one grenade.

    The rioting erupted after police conducted a pre-dawn raid to dislodge a group of Serb protesters who had been barricaded inside two UN-run courts in Mitrovica since Friday.

    After the police detained around 50 Serbs in the court, hundreds of residents from the Serb-populated northern part of the town attacked the security force's convoy and managed to free some of the prisoners.

    The police later withdrew from the northern half of Mitrovica, but KFOR peacekeepers have stayed in the flashpoint town where tensions remain high today.

    UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon led the international condemnation of Monday's violence in the town, urging 'all communities to exercise calm and restraint.'

    However bitter differences over Kosovo's independence remain between the US and Russia.

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    • #17
      KFOR March Past in Dundalk last week.







      Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

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      • #18
        Irish soldiers 'needed in Kosovo for many more years'

        The Irish commander of the international peacekeeping force in Kosovo has said there is no end in sight to the need for Irish soldiers in the country.

        Brigadier General Gerry Hegarty briefed Defence Minister Willie O'Dea and the chief of staff of the Irish Defence Forces today on the current situation in the breakaway former Serbian province. He said Irish soldiers would be needed in Kosovo for many years to come to ensure peace and stability.

        He also said the Kosovan economy would be on life support from Brussels for up to two generations. Mr O'Dea is also due to meet the deputy prime minister of Kosovo later today before travelling to Vienna tomorrow for talks with the Austrian defence minister.


        http://breakingnews.ie/ireland/?jp=m...cwoj&c=ireland
        You will never have a quiet world until you knock the patriotism out of the human race

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        • #19
          True story of Kosovo
          Sunday Independent
          Letters Page
          Sunday May 25 2008

          Sir -- I am a serving army officer and I have just returned off leave. I read your article on Kosovo with great interest. It was excellent, I really am fed up reading the UN propaganda that is blindly regurgitated by most visiting journalists.

          While undoubtedly United Nations' Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has improved the country and the lot of the Kosovar Albanians in particular, as an international organisation it could have done so much better. So well done for telling it as it is!

          I am a soldier. All armies, large and small, have more or less the same form of training. On staff courses we learn how to seek out and target various aspects of a nation we might have a negative interest in, for example: population (size, composition, age, education, ethnic/cultural/religious differences that could be exploited ie divide and conquer), economy, general infrastructure, road/rail network, electricity grid, industry/employment. It's called "analysis of an area of operations" but a "checklist for destruction" would be equally accurate (but "non-PC").

          On the reverse side, if you wish to construct a country you examine the same areas with a view to improving these key aspects. In this regard UNMIK's performance has not been good.

          The population is as divided as ever, freedom of movement for the K/Serbs is mostly a myth. Mistrust is endemic in both communities.

          Unemployment is very high, rising to 90 per cent in K/Serb areas. The economy is a basket case with virtually no industry. The black economy is thriving, this of course only benefits the corrupt.

          Crime is best forgotten. The local police are touted as a success story. A constable is paid €225 per month, there is no retirement pension and if he/she is injured or killed in the line of duty there is no sick pay or compensation. Not exactly motivation to risk oneself for the cause of law and order!

          Anyway, sorry for sounding off on the subject. I was just so delighted to see that you did not fall for the usual spin on how wonderfully things have developed here. You renewed my faith in journalists.

          (Name and address with Editor)

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          • #20








            You will never have a quiet world until you knock the patriotism out of the human race

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            • #21
              good pictures the story for the first one is " watch taoiseach while i squash this beetle"

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              • #22
                I always get the impression An Taoiseach does not like Military ceremonial. Most of those before him tolerated it respectfully(Bertie), some loved it(CJH) But Brian never disguises the fact he is not having a good time.


                Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

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                • #23
                  am i getting old or are all the soldiers on the trips a young age

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                  • #24
                    Originally posted by golden rivet View Post
                    am i getting old or are all the soldiers on the trips a young age
                    Probably a bit of both G-R
                    "Well, stone me! We've had cocaine, bribery and Arsenal scoring two goals at home. But just when you thought there were truly no surprises left in football, Vinnie Jones turns out to be an international player!" (Jimmy Greaves)!"

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by golden rivet View Post
                      am i getting old or are all the soldiers on the trips a young age
                      Nobody over 40 I think I read elsewhere.


                      Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        NOt always

                        the different ranks have different age limits
                        Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
                        Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
                        The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere***
                        The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
                        The best lack all conviction, while the worst
                        Are full of passionate intensity.

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                        • #27
                          We were assuming the over 40 think was Chad, I know of people over 40 going though!

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                          • #28
                            Over 40 talk seems to be a bit of a myth. Seems to depend what Brigade you are serving in. No harm having some over 40s in the units going overseas. Gives a bit of stability and experience.

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                            • #29
                              How come there is a lack of pictures on this thread.

                              Surely someone has some good "transport porn" in the snowy hills??
                              Without supplies no army is brave.

                              —Frederick the Great,

                              Instructions to his Generals, 1747

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                              • #30
                                Over 40 is no longer a threat. High cholesterol is now the biggest barrier in getting overseas to KFOR.

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