White House surprised by Kosovo independence?
While on a tour of several African countries, George Bush acknowledged Kosovo's recent declaration of independence from Serbia and stated that the US would soon establish reciprocal diplomatic relations:
President Bush hailed the newly independent Kosovo and officially recognized it as a state and a "close friend" on Monday, expressing strong support for the new Balkans nation even as he rebuffed protests by Serbia and Russia.
The formal announcement came in a statement issued by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is traveling in Africa with the president. "The United States has today formally recognized Kosovo as a sovereign and independent state," she said. "We congratulate the people of Kosovo on this historic occasion."
[...]
"The Kosovars are now independent," Bush told NBC. "It's something that I have advocated, along with my government."
However, it seems that George may have deviated from the script somewhat:
White House press secretary Dana Perino then came to the back of Air Force One to tell reporters that he did not mean the United States was recognizing Kosovo. "He didn't announce that," she said, adding: "What he meant by that is that the Kosovars have declared their independence."
The White House also scrapped plans to have the president make a formal statement for the cameras when he arrived back in Dar es Salaam on Monday evening. Instead, aides rescheduled it for Tuesday morning before he flies to Rwanda. The fluid sequence of events seemed to suggest how Kosovo's decision, announced Sunday, caught the Bush administration somewhat unprepared.
How could the "fluid sequence of events" have possibly caught the Bush administration off-guard? Kosovo's move toward independence has been percolating since the Kosovo war of 1999, in which NATO forces expelled the Serbian military from the province. Kosovo's impending independence has been in the headlines a lot recently, so it's not like this declaration was a surprise to anyone:
After years of fruitless negotiations and months of anticipation, the province of Kosovo on Sunday finally declared itself to be an independent state. It is a declaration that surprises no one, and will likely be recognized swiftly by much of the European Union and by the United States.
Over a year ago, the UN Security Council assigned former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari with the task of drawing up a roadmap for the final status of Kosovo. His report was delivered to the UN in January of last year, and it made the case that the only realistic option for the stability of the region would be for the province to obtain independence from Serbia, under the protection of the EU and NATO. This roadmap has been carried out methodically over the last year; the final declaration of independence was merely a formality, acting simply as a confirmation of what had already become a fait accompli.
Regardless of whether Kosovo's independence is valid or advisable, how on Earth could the Bush administration possibly have been surprised that this was happening? Don't they read the papers?
Oh, I forgot -- no, they don't.