Another Albanian Triumph: Religious Freedom

Anyone who has been reading this blog has known that we take a very pro-Albanian slant. None of our writers (to my knowledge) are Albanian, but we take pride in the insightful and pro-American policies and attitudes of Albania and Kosovo.

So I was fortunate enough to stumble upon an article by Michael Totten, who is linked on our blogroll. He writes about his experiences in the newly-independent nations of Kosovo. This nation is Muslim, but along with Albania, Georgia, and Kurdistan, is fervently pro-American.

Totten writes about the very small portion of this Muslim nation that is fundamentalist and the majority of the people who are secular:
Wahhabis are encountering resistance from Kosovo’s religious community as well as from its atheists and agnostics. “We are working very hard to stop these kinds of movements,” says Hamiti. “These kinds of movements are dangerous for all nations, for the faiths, for all religions. The traditional Islam that has been cultivated in these areas is the best guarantee for the future. If we allow foreigners to come here and to push us to war with their ideas, then the situation will be out of our control."

And to make it better, Kosovars are incredibly pro-American:

In 2004, a Gallup survey measured popular opinion of U.S. foreign policy around the world. Only ten countries rated American foreign policy favorably, and among those, Kosovo scored highest, registering 88 percent approval. When one ethnic Albanian I met happened to make the uncontroversial statement that Kosovo was a European country, another broke in. “We aren’t European,” she corrected. “We’re American."

And this article has perhaps the best interchange I've read in a while:

“Americans are our best friends in the world,” a waiter said to me at one of Pristina’s finest restaurants. “The U.K. is second.”

“Thank you,” I said. “We appreciate that. Some people don’t like us.”

“Bad people,” he said.

I strongly suggest that you check out this article. It might just make your day.