PHOTOS A Very, Very Big Dawg in Kosovo

[Jackeens]

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A monument to former U.S. President Bill Clinton is installed on Bill Clinton Boulevard in Pristina, Kosovo October 12, 2009 (unveiled today, Nov 1).

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An ethnic Albanian holds a portrait of former US President Bill Clinton during his visit in Pristina, Kosovo, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009.

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Former US President Bill Clinton poses with ethnic Albanians during his visit in Pristina, Kosovo

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Former U.S. President Bill Clinton holds an Albanian traditional hat called Plis alongside Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu

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Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGaIP6Jh86c&feature=sub

[UrbScotty]

1. Gee, where's their Reagan Monument?

:sarcasm:

[DURHAM D]

3. Maybe they put one up in Grenada.

I suppose George I has one in Panama also. :sarcasm:

[Fridays Child]

5. Ha!

:D

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. Aren't they still trying to rename everything "reagan" this & that?

It's cheaper & easier than actually building a monument that nobody wants.

[roguevalley]

26. that little child is darling and bill looks a lot like JFK. Just saying. :-D

[CherokeeDem]

41. My thought as well...

The Big Dog's statue does look like JFK! Simply amazing. Wonder if *'s little head exploded when he saw this. Probably whining and begging for a statue right this minute. I think the Hague would be a good place for statue of Georgie; why, we could have an entire hall of statues just for the Bush administration. I would pay to visit that tourist attraction!



Edited due to my grammar inadequacies.

[xxqqqzme]

54. I thought there was a

resemblance as well. The statue has a remarkable JFK quality to it.

[BrklynLiberal]

58. That struck me as well...

The statue does look a lit like JFK.

[2QT2BSTR8]

51. It is guarding Lenin's tomb!

:sarcasm:

[Odin2005]

2. Go BIG DAWG!!!

[Enrique]

4. that's the president the republicans impeached

approve or disapprove of what he did in Kosovo, while he was making those decisions one of our political parties was trying to take him down with a sex scandal.

[Justitia]

6. Holy Crap! Now THAT'S a golden statue - LOL!

I know Ole Bill has a big ego & all, but I wonder if it creeped him out at all? hee, hee

They obviously love him, and that's all good :thumbsup:

[burning rain]

23. I'm sure Clinton appreciates that....

folks whose lives he did so much to save from genocidal fascists, are bound to be enthusiastic about him. Kosovo, besides Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Albania for that matter, are about the only largely- to majority-Muslim states in the world where the US is well liked--and that's thanks in major part to Bill Clinton.

[AspenRose]

8. Kick for the conservative-exploding-head potential

It's worth it for that alone. :kick:

[calimary]

9. Good enough for me!

But then again, I always figure - if they don't like it, there's gotta be something good about it - something certainly worth my support.

[GoCubsGo]

24. That was my first thought...

Duck! Incoming skull pieces! (I started to type "Incoming brain matter!", until I realized that was an impossibility.)

[burning rain]

33. No doubt some of that at FR, if they have a thread about this.

Most FReepers who express an opinion on the subject take the view that Serbian fascists should have been allowed to genocide Muslims to their heart's content in the former Yugoslavia.

[CTyankee]

70. First, Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize and now this! What about US?

I can hear the whining now...those decadent Europeans!

[juajen]

10. Thanks for the photos. I love that man and his wife! NT

[mdmc]

16. kick

love the sig line..

[emilyg]

69. So do I. Always will.

[Narkos]

11. Think Bush will get himself a statue in Baghdad?

Surrounded by thousands of admirers? LOL!

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Only if it's part of a carnival side show and folks can throw shoes at it.

[ladywnch]

15. Isn't it the Haitians that think he walks on water for his AIDS work.....

or is it Africa...some country thinks him a hero for his "promises" to help with the AIDS epidemic

[Cha]

29. Nah, they put a Bronzed Giant Shoe Statue instead.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7859444.stm

[RaleighNCDUer]

67. KBR has the contract - it won't be ready until 2012, and will cost 25x

their original bid.

[denem]

13. ... "welcomed with candy and flowers",

this is what liberation looks like.

[Sebass1271]

14. Aside from selling us out with Nafta and the Glass Steal, I very

much love my President Clinton. Yes, i will never forgive him for that and i sincerely hope that one day he regrets his support on both (I can't wait for this day), i still love his charisma, his leadership and perseverence. He is a good Democrat.

[girl_interrupted]

17. Awesome photos Jackeens! Congrats President Clinton!

It's so nice to see him get some praise once in awhile. He deserves it. I always thought he deserved a Nobel for his work in N Ireland too. But it's finally nice to see him get honored, instead of constantly criticized. I'd take his presidency over bush's anyday & twice on Sunday, in a NY minute! Congratulations President Clinton!

Kosovo honors Bill Clinton with statue
Large crowd of ethnic Albanians turn out to welcome ex-president

PRISTINA, Kosovo - Thousands of ethnic Albanians braved low temperatures and a cold wind in Kosovo's capital Pristina to welcome former President Bill Clinton on Sunday as he attended the unveiling of an 11-foot (3.5-meter) statue of himself on a key boulevard that also bears his name.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33573112/ns/world_news-europe

[girl_interrupted]

18. Sebass1271 Feel the same as you, I love the guy!

No administration is perfect. And like it or not, NAFTA is here to stay. President Obama has given no signs that will change. But all in all, I have to say President Clinton's watch benefitted a lot of people. Sure as hell beats bush's watch! I remember when Republicans (Newt Gingrich) tried to shut down the Federal govt because Clinton wanted to increase the minimum wage & medicare benefits. That was one fight I'm glad Clinton won. It was no easy task working with a Republican majority in the House & Senate for 8 years! I miss him! Hope the Republicans don't give President Obama the same grief they gave President Clinton. But, unfortunately, they probably will.

[Sebass1271]

27. They are already giving him grief. Worse than Clinton,

While our president Obama was addressing the house, he was a called a liar in front of millions of americans. Clinton never had this treatment. President Obama has been hunted down by republicans even before he was running for the Presidency. Yes, he has not been impeached, but, hey, it's only been 10 months and Obama seems beaten by the republicans and conservative dems.

He can't even control his own senators, i.e. lincoln, lieberman, conrad etc.

[Beacool]

19. Congratulations Mr. President!!!!

Best president in my lifetime.

:applause:

[The Wielding Truth]

71. Hey, Barack is just getting started. He's just starting to get his legs.

[Cass]

20. Great pictures! Thank you!

How cool is this! Love him...

[niyad]

21. k and r-- just to watch the little heads explode!!

[reggie the dog]

22. I was actually on the news protesting against Clinton

when he started doing the NATO bombing of Kosovo. I was convinced that he was just doing a bullshit war based on lies. Now that I have read that there were actually was the beginnings of a genocide happening I think getting involved in an effort to end the fighting was good. It seems as if the war in Europe ended earier thanks to NATO intervention. If only we could have tried to help in Rwanda.... I doubt the wars started by W that I consider bullshit and based on lies will come to be known as anything but bullshit.

[Sebass1271]

28. evidence that not all wars are DUMB wars.. we can't just

against it any wars without fully knowing what the shit is happening!!

[Fedja]

40. Not all wars are dumb

But they are all bad. Every single last one of them. Without exception, every war means death and suffering of civilians, and the fact that one of the two sides in that conflict made the news today doesn't mean the other side didn't suffer unjustly.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that Kosovo needed help and got help just in time before escalation. But the manner in which it got help was no more heinous than the grim future it was heading toward.

Remember, when your children die from a bomb that missed its mark, you don't care if another 100 or 1000 or 200.000 died in that war. A part of you died in it, and a part of the generation which carries the memory.

[bleever]

25. People like it when you save their lives.

K&R.

[YvonneCa]

30. President Clinton...

...Congratulations! :patriot:

[myrna minx]

31. K&R n/t

[elleng]

32. Fortunately some of us remember the rest of the story.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php%3Faz%3Dview_all%26address%3D364x1306849&usg=__3EvBje0uYlszt1ZCRrNiw2tB4V4=&h=533&w=800&sz=142&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=q3LR5lKNpriPoM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGeneral%2BClark%2BKosovo%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26ie%3DUTF-8

[sandspur]

36. Clark deserves a ton of credit, Both do. Clark saw the need and pushed for

us going in. Clinton was not in a good place politically and still decided to do the right thing.

[elleng]

37. General Clark and SOS Albright had to work VERY hard to pressure him.

FORTUNATELY he went along. (And the 'brass' punished Wes for it at the end.)

[Jennicut]

43. Clinton was pushed by a few people

Including Biden in the Senate, if I remember correctly. Clinton did do the right thing in the end though.

[elleng]

45. Took him quite a while.

Don't recall Biden's role, but he is a moral person.

[Jennicut]

48. I found this

Biden consistently argued for lifting the arms embargo and training Bosnian government forces, so they could defend the country from Serbian aggression. He also argued for investigating war crimes and administering NATO air strikes.

Biden's subsequent "lift and strike" resolution was instrumental in convincing President Bill Clinton to use military force in the face of systemic human rights violations in Bosnia-Herzegovina. http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/2009/05/us-vice-president-joe-biden-in-sarajevo.html

Though I think Clark and Allbright did much more, having the power to make the airstrikes happen.

[elleng]

49. Thanks, Jenn.

[Captain Hilts]

57. Congress was tying his hands on it - as were the French....nt

[Jeneral2885]

74. Thumbs up for Clark

Clark was the real hero during the Kosovo conflict. But he was sidelined. I very much like him to be handling national security

[Skittles]

34. I will always loves me some Big Dawg

:thumbsup:

[harmonicon]

35. I guess if you create a country, you get a statue in that country

I better get to work if I want any statues.

[indimuse]

38. KNR!

Love it!

[WinkyDink]

39. Wow! This is AMAZING! And COOL!

[joeycola]

42. Wonderful. thanks for the pics.

[Jennicut]

44. Now THAT is one cool statue.

Congrats Mr. President.

[bos1]

46. KOSOVO is nothing to be proud of.

[William769]

52. Tell the people of Kosovo that. NT

[Fedja]

72. Yes, do.

While Bos1 is apparently not a (wo)man of words, there is room for discussion here.

When you say the 'people of Kosovo', do you mean the Albanian people? The situation in Kosovo has been complicated for centuries, and the smiling faces greeting Clinton were but one party to the conflict. To have this party assume the role of the sole victim as well is either misinformed or purposefully misleading.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Slovenian national and we acted as a catalyst to the Kosovo path to independence, putting our own futures on the line in 1989 (give or take a year, can't be arsed to look it up). I also agree that Kosovo as it is today should be independent and it should have been allowed to reach their independence by peaceful means.

Still, to ignore the fact that this independence was paid for in part by rivers of Serb blood and by hundreds of thousands of dead, and evicted since the twenties is wrong. Both sides has suffered untold casualties in this long conflict, and both sides called themselves 'the people of Kosovo'.


Sort of off-topic: I wonder, if Texas, New Mexico and California over time become majority hispanic states, will you automatically support a genocide/exodus of their non-hispanic populace and their independence? "The people of California" might like that idea.

[dhpgetsit]

47. Thank you for sharing these wonderful pictures!

I don't watch much MSM news but I don't think this was covered, was it?

I never realized how much good will he earned us in that effort. And we didn't even lose one soldier to combat in the Balkans.

Clinton might well have averted a WW III.
Bush might well have kindled one.

[sarah FAILIN]

50. 7 Days Bake Rolls???

Am I the only one that thought that sign was a funny backdrop for the statue?

[jberryhill]

59. The Statue Might Get Hungry....

Given his propensity for eating junk food, I'd say that ad is in trouble.

[Lorien]

53. The statue looks like a bizarre combination of Clinton, Reagan and Carter

but it's still a great honor-and will no doubt make Right Wing heads explode!

[onehandle]

55. Big cake for a Big Dawg. Deserved. nt

[theFrankFactor]

56. The Ole' Dog is a Mixed Bag but Still...

The outcome was significant in this case.

[newtothegame]

60. I get so confused, I thought Bill and Hillary were Satan's minions incarnate on here? n/t

ed for sp

[quiet.american]

61. Not today. :) nt

[onehandle]

63. The naysayers have been unrec'ing this like crazy. nt

[SIMPLYB1980]

62. Cheers for the Big dog!

:toast:

[shireen]

64. wow!

do you think he could get that level of adoration here?!
Those people are in love!
:loveya:

[DFW]

65. Save some people from annihilation, they tend to appreciate it

If you talk to Bill Clinton in private (or maybe even in public by now? I don't get US TV), he'll tell you straight
away that the biggest foreign policy regret of his time in office was not getting involved early in the Rwandan
slaughter to try and prevent it. I think that what happened there weighed heavily on his decision to get involved
in the Balkans.

He is the kind of guy to say "enough of this ugly shit has happened on my watch." The intervention in the Balkans
was, whether one justifies it or not, in response to a genuine, ongoing slaughter. The invasion of Iraq, whether
one justifies it or not, was for the emotional and financial gratification of a small group of citizens of the
invading country (us), with any benefits for the country being invaded being coincidental, and, at best, of
secondary importance.

[wroberts189]

66. And of course..the pubs attacked him for it.

Damn I swear the pubs were aliens or lizard people.

But I do not think even an alien race of beings are that bad.

Why do we suffer the plague of pubs so bad? Because we took away their slaves?

on edit knr

[onestepforward]

68. K&R!

[LynnTheDem]

73. “A year from now I'd be surprised if there's not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after

President bUsh."
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/17/perle-bush-square-baghdad/


Are you surprised yet, Dick?

:rofl: