Episode 116 - A Battalion of US Troops in a Country that Doesn't Exist

Did you know there are US troops serving in 170 countries across the globe?  You might be surprised to know the Pentagon reports that in March, we had troops in places like Bolivia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, and it even reports we have two soldiers in Venezuela.  I wonder what they heck they are doing there?

 

Anyway, most surprising to me is that most of the countries where we have US troops there are less than a hundred.  But of the places where we have more than that, one place very few Americans know about is Kosovo.  

 

Kosovo isn't actually even fully recognized as a country, but the almost 2 million people who live there want it to be.  the problem is political, geographical and religious divisions that have made this little slice of the former Yugoslavia a pretty violent place for much of its history.  One of the most violent periods was in 1998 and 1999 when the Kosavo liberation Army fought for their independence from Yugoslavia.  This sparked a massive refugee crisis with over a million people displaced.  The worst of it was twenty years ago this week.

 

[historic footage]

 

Unfortunately that history is still being repeated in all too many places around the globe.  From Venezuela, Syria, North Africa and many other places.  I am still getting messages every day from the people you helped when I was in Venezuela...and they are telling me things are still very, very tough.  they struggle to work, to eat, and to find hope in what looks like an increasingly hopeless situation.

 

Well I visited our troops in Kosovo a few years ago, and unfortunately not much has changed since then.  We still have over 600 troops stationed there as peacekeepers, about a battallion of national guard troops, currently a unit from Alaska.  They train on peacekeeping operations and do presence patrols around the country because there is still a lot of deep-seated animosity between the Kosavars and their neighbors to the north, in Serbia.  Check this out.

 

[excerpt from dvidshub]

 

[excerpt from frontlines Kosovo]

 

Well that's all I have for today folks.  I hope you are enjoying the podcast, and stay tuned - I have some super episodes coming up very soon.  Please like and share the podcast and if you want to watch it, check out Opslens.com and watch the video version.  

 

I'm Chuck Holton, and we'll see you back here tomorrow.

 

See the full episode of the NRA Frontlines Kosovo at:

 

 https://www.nratv.com/episodes/frontlines-season-2-episode-3-kosovo