January 28, 2007
Sunday PM

The crown jewel of all things American is probably the Constitution, but in this little article we'll find a small nation in Europe that has had the same (if not higher) standards of democracy, freedom and liberty for thousands of years - yet that very same nation waw ruthlessly and illegaly bombed by Slick Willy.

The Clinton initiated NATO bombing of Serbia has lost its place in recent memory and Slick Willy knew full well that American amnesia begins one week after you get caught doing something nasty so he bit the bullet and won. There is absolutely no reason why Clinton, Bleehr and other criminals should get away with attacking a sovereign country. In my private conversation with most Americans (at â a higherâ station in life), they admit to being ashamed that this attack ever took place in the distant 1999.

It is even more surprising to learn that Serbians were most probably the first nation which was passionately attached to the idea of liberty, democracy and justice long time before the American founding fathers conceived our incredibly clear, firm and unsurpassed Constitution. Let me inject a few sources with a very similar view on liberty, democracy, freedom, etc. but predating our Constitution by nearly 1,000 years:

1. Stefan UroÅ¡ IV DuÅ¡an Silni ("the Mighty") (in English also Stephen Dushan) (c. 1308 â December 20, 1355) was king of Serbia (September 8, 1331 â April 16, 1346) and emperor (tsar) (April 16, 1346 â December 20, 1355). His contribution is found in the following:

a) Apart from significant territorial gains, in 1349 and 1354 he made and enforced DuÅ¡an's Code, a universal system of laws. He is also the only ruler from the house of NemanjiÄ who may not have been canonized as a saint soon after his death. DuÅ¡an was also noted as a man of gigantic proportions, and according to Papal ambassadors he was the tallest man of his time, estimated at close to seven feet tall. So one of the first Laws in Europe was laid by a Serbian â that much is clear. The Law students will know that this Law was extraordinarily equitable.

b) Twice he became involved in larger conflicts with the Hungarians, but these battles were mostly defensive. Both times he defeated the Hungarians. He was at peace with the Bulgarians, who even helped him on several occasions, and he is said to have visited Ivan Alexander at his capital. This segment clearly speaks of Serbian propensity against aggression contrary to Clintonâ s idiotic doctrine of carpet bombing a sovereign Christian country.

c) No less important is Dusanâ s grandson Tsar Lazar, in short: Stefan Lazar , Prince Lazar HrebeljanoviÄ or Knez Lazar (1329 â June 28, 1389), also known as "Tsar Lazar", was a Serbian noble who fought and perished at the Battle of Kosovo, to which his name and life are inextricably tied. He is a mythical figure in Serbia, and a saint of the Serb Orthodox Church. This Tsar knew full well that (in the words of one of this spies) â if all Serbia is to become salt, it would not be enough to salt one Turkish dish having compared the size of Turkish (Muslim) Army to Lazarâ s Serbian army of dukes and volunteers. Another famous saying was that if it rained on the Turkish army, not a single raindrop would reach the ground thatâ s how densely they were gathered.

d) I have to digress to a prior Serbian luminary: Stefan Nemanja (1109-13 February 1199 was a Medieval Serb nobleman, descended from the VukanoviÄ who was Grand Prince of the medieval Serb state of Rascia in 1166-1199. He established control over the territories of neighboring Serb states, including Zeta/Doclea, and unified them into a single state. He founded the NemanjiÄ dynasty and became an Orthodox Saint (Symeon) after numerous miracles following his death. Various names have been used to refer to Stefan Nemanja, including Stefan I and the Latin Stephanus Nemanja. Sometimes the spelling of his name is anglicised, to become Stephen Nemanya. In the latter part of his life, he became a monk and hence was referred to as Monk Simeon or Monk Symeon. After his death, he was canonised by the Orthodox Church, and became St. Simeon the Myrrh-flowing (Greek: !
Elaiovrytis; English: He who flows with the Holy Oil). Nemanja's name is a Serbian version of Nehemiah. His son and successor, Stefan the First-Crowned, called him The Gatherer of the Lost Pieces of the Land of his Grandfathers, and also their Rebuilder.

e) Stefanâ s son was Rastko Saint Sava (1169 - January 14, 1236), originally the prince Rastko NemanjiÄ (son of the Serbian ruler and founder of the Serbian medieval state Stefan Nemanja and brother of Stefan PrvovenÄ ani, first Serbian king), is the first Serb archbishop (1219-1233), the most important saint in the Serbian Orthodox Church and important cultural and political worker of that time. Let it be noted that none of these early rulers of Serbia has ever engaged in any overtly aggressive wars attacking any of its neighbors or rivals. Dusan was a particularly well skilled diplomat who amassed large lands through marriages (just as Royal British family did centuries later).

f) Not that this is a competition but I donâ t know many Americans who earned sainthood. Yet it was an American Bill Clinton (Slick Willy) who decided to bomb this very country back into stone age on account of deflecting attention away from Lewinsky and his other domestic issues.

g) In the long history of Serbia (ancient remains found on the grounds of todayâ s capital, Belgrade date as far back as 7,500 years â no chump change when you speak of the original inhabitants. Quite a long presence in the same region.

h) Fast forward to modern (recent history): King Petar I Karadjordjevic (June 29, 1844 â August 16, 1921) , generally considered the father of Serbian renaissance as it was during his reign that the Constitution was reworked, so was the Army, the agriculture and the educational system. He was particularly known to insist on kind treatment towards Austro-Hungarian (commonly Croatian, Slovak, Bosnian) prisoners of war, and insisted his army would first feed the prisoners and later provide for itself â there arenâ t enough similar examples like that in human history. He was also known to have gone to the trenches and fought shoulder to shoulder with his soldiers, as much as he was known for an austere life without any royal appointments and decorations (pomp and circumstance in U.K.)

So much is Clintonâ s policy more wicked, flawed, self-centered impure and devoid of any honesty â which I hope Hillary will have to inherit and stop pounding on her manly chest.

That was a very short overview of a small people (nation) in Central Europe that has been labeled tyrants, bloodthirsty, butchers, etc. by Christiana Amanpour and other â journalistsâ on the Albanian payroll.

In conclusion, I find that Serbians have the closest perception of true democracy, liberty and freedom which is thought to be an exclusively American domain. This little article shows the world that Serbian views of democracy, liberty, freedom pre-date even the American founding fathers, as they are equally present among Serbians for thousands of years â while the United States has those same qualities for only under 300 years.

Iliya Pavlovich
Deerfield Beach, FL

Received January 28, 2007 - Published January 28, 2006

About: "Sociology PHD, frequent commentator at Baltimore Independent Media, history, politics, culture"

 

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