The Fiction that is Kosovo Revealed in the Arts Page

Apparently when it appears in the arts section the editors at The New York Times aren't as vigilant in censoring political content that veers from the official narrative. Case in point is the thoroughly damning "Can a Music Festival Make Kosovo Cool?" by Alex Marshall, which appeared in Tuesday's national edition.

Dukagjin Lipa, the father of pop singer Dua Lipa, recently staged a major musical festival in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, with his daughter headlining.

What emerges from Marshall's reporting is a confirmation of one of the main criticisms of the NATO air war in support of the Kosovo Liberation Army 20 years ago: There is no such thing as a "Kosovar," a person with a unique national identity rooted in Kosovo's political independence; it was a creation of the Western powers to justify a war of aggression against Serbia. Kosovars are Albanians and identify as such. The putative Kosovo war of liberation was really a NATO campaign to further dismember the former Yugoslavia; for Albanians, it was a big step down the path towards "Greater Albania."

According to Marshall,

A strong sense of ethnic Albanian identity was everywhere at the festival. Dua Lipa wore red and black, the colors of the Albanian national flag, when performing her 90-minute set. She spoke almost entirely in Albanian between songs. Later, she held the Albanian flag aloft to screams from fans.

Many of the acts, who ranged from Albanian rap stars like M.C. Kresha to Jericho, a band widely seen as Kosovo’s answer to Rage Against The Machine, drew cheers from the crowd by making a double-handed sign that represents the black eagle on Albania’s flag. The American rapper Action Bronson, whose father is Albanian, also made the gesture during his set. 

Kosovo’s blue flag, which features six stars to represent the country’s main ethnic groups, was nowhere on display.

You won't find such hard truths on the front page.

Kosovo is ghastly experiment which highlights the preferred method of U.S. power projection. Splinter a state, cow it into submission with air power, and then erect a huge military base.