[sorabia] McCain & Albanians ANTIC.org-SNN Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:46:17 -0800 The article below in Serbian is from the column "Svet" in Politika Online for Feb. 13, 2008. Here is a translation: John McCain armed the KLA "He did everything that we asked of him, including arming the KLA", said Albanian lobbyist Joe DioGuardi. The Albanians collected one million dollars for the presidential campaign of this senator. Americans of Albanian heritage collected a million dollars in one evening for the presidential campaign of Republican Senator John McCain, said the Albanian American Civic League yesterday, the lobby group headed by former Congressman Joe DioGuardi. A reception for McCain was held January 22 at the Saint Regis Hotel in Manhatten, and the senator, who is now leading in the runoff for the Republican party candidacy in the November elections, cut his campaign in Florida by one day to attend this gathering. "Even in 1998 when we had problems with Milosevic, McCain did everything that we asked of him to the benefit of the Albanian people, including arming the KLA", announced DioGuardi. "We are American Albanians and we need a leader who will strengthen this country... We must support John McCain because he did everything we asked of him for Kosovo, from supporting the Kosovo Liberation Army to supporting the independence of Kosovo. Two years ago he spoke in Brussels and said that independence is the only solution", concluded this former congressman who has been fighting for the independence of Kosovo and Metohija for more than twenty years. He explained that the first thing McCain said to him when he entered the hotel in Manhatten on January 22: "Joe, I saw your people in Michigan, and in South Carolina and in New Hampshire", from which this lobbyist deduced that all Americans of Albanian background will be voting for the senator from Arizona. DioGuardi and his wife Shirley Cloys-DioGuardi have been friends with McCain for years, and he intervened several times in the Senate on behalf of the Albanians. Because of that, the Albanian American Civic League awarded him the "Balkan Award for Peace" a year and a half ago, and the initiative was the proposed Senate resolution - which McCain wrote - in which thanks is extended to the Albanians for "saving all the Jews who lived in Albania or who sought shelter there during the Nazi Holocaust". However, even though he is leading in the presidential nomination, John McCain has not yet succeeded in convincing the primary wing of the Republican Party - the conservatives - that he is the right candidate. One of the reasons is that he often spoke and voted against the majority Republicans, as in 1999 when he asked for more intensive air bombing of Serbia. In April of that year, three weeks after the bombing commenced, he announced that the US is in danger of losing the war to the Serbian Army which has "antiquated machinery" and "absolutely no military air power", if massive strategic air attacks are not initiated. "Attacks on any infrastructure target must not be prevented. We all regret civilian losses, as well as our own, but they cannot be avoided," he said. During the pre-election campaign in February 2000 at a meeting in Manhatten, John McCain asked for the release of all Albanian prisoners in the prisons of Serbia proper, and a year later he used his inlfuence to ask the administration for an urgent investigation into the killing of the brothers Bitici who were taken from prison and killed in the police training center in Petrovo Selo in eastern Serbia. This February 5 the senator held another meeting in Manhatten and in the public there was a visible Albanian flag. V.R. ______________ Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 7:07 PM Subject: Kandidat Don Mekejn naoruavao OVK Radio je sve to smo traili od njega, ukljucujuci i naoruavanje OVK, izjavio albanski lobista Do Diogvardi. Albanci prikupili milion dolara za predsednicku kampanju ovog senatora Amerikanci albanskog porekla prikupili su za jedno vece milion dolara za predsednicku kampanju republikanskog senatora Dona Mekejna, saoptila je juce Albansko-americka gradanska liga, lobisticka grupa koju vodi nekadanji kongresmen Dozef Diogvardi. Prijem za Mekejna odran je 22. januara u hotelu Sent Ridis na Menhetnu, a senator koji trenutno vodi u trci za kandidata Republikanske stranke na novembarskim izborima prekinuo je na jedan dan svoju kampanju na Floridi kako bi doao na ovaj skup. Jo od 1998. kad smo imali probleme sa Miloevicem, Mekejn je radio sve to smo od njega traili u korist albanskog naroda, ukljucujuci i naoruavanje OVK, izjavio je tim povodom Diogvardi. Mi smo americki Albanci i treba nam voda koji ce ojacati ovu zemlju... Mi moramo da podrimo Dona Mekejna, jer je on uradio sve to smo traili za Kosovo, od podrke Oslobodilackoj vojsci Kosova do podrke nezavisnosti Kosova. On je pre dve godine u govoru u Briselu rekao da je nezavisnost jedino reenje, zakljucio je ovaj bivi clan Kongresa, koji se vie od dvadeset godina bori za nezavisnost Kosova i Metohije. On je objasnio i da je prvo to mu je Mekejn rekao kad je 22. januara uao u hotel na Menhetnu bilo: Do, video sam tvoje ljude (Albance) u Micigenu, i u Junoj Karolini i u Nju Hempiru, iz cega ovaj lobista izvlaci zakljucak da ce svi Amerikanci albanskog porekla glasati za senatora iz Arizone. Diogvardi i njegova supruga irli Klojs-Diogvardi vec godinama su prijatelji sa Mekejnom, a on je nekoliko puta u Senatu intervenisao u korist Albanaca. Zbog tih zasluga Albansko-americka gradanska liga dodelila mu je pre godinu i po dana svoju Balkansku nagradu za mir, a povod je bio predlog senatske rezolucije koji je napisao Mekejn u kojem se pohvaljuju Albanci za spasavanje svih Jevreja koji su iveli u Albaniji ili su tamo potraili utocite tokom nacistickog holokausta. Medutim, iako vodi u trci za predsednicku nominaciju, Don Mekejn jo nije uspeo da ubedi glavno krilo Republikanske stranke konzervativce da je on pravi kandidat. Jedan od razloga je i to to je cesto govorio i glasao suprotno vecini republikanaca, kao 1999. kad je traio jo ece vazdune udare po Srbiji. U aprilu te godine, tri nedelje posle pocetka bombardovanja, izjavio je da su SAD u opasnosti da izgube rat od srpske vojske, koja ima zastarelu opremu i uopte nema ratno vazduhoplovstvo, ako se ne pokrenu masovni, strateki i koncentrisani vazduni napadi. Ne sme biti zabranjeno da se napadne bilo koja infrastrukturna meta... Svi mi alimo za civilnim rtvama, kao i za sopstvenim, ali one su neizbene, rekao je. Tokom predizborne kampanje u februaru 2000. godine, Don Mekejn je na mitingu na Menhetnu zatraio putanje svih albanskih zatvorenika iz zatvora u uoj Srbiji, a godinu dana kasnije svoj uticaj iskoristio je da od administracije trai hitnu istragu o ubistvu brace Bitici koji su oteti iz zatvora i streljani u policijskom centru za obuku u Petrovom Selu, na istoku Srbije. Ovog 5. februara senator je ponovo odrao miting na Menhetnu, a u publici je bila uocljiva albanska zastava. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 04:00:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015