Below is an exclusive report from Tuesday’s open hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs:

At the hearing, titled “The Outlook for the Independence of Kosova” (the Islamic and dhimmi spelling of the province), Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) — Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee — said the following:

Just a reminder to the predominantly Muslim-led government[s] in this world that here is yet another example that the United States leads the way for the creation of a predominantly Muslim country in the very heart of Europe. This should be noted by both responsible leaders of Islamic governments, such as Indonesia, and also for jihadists of all color and hue. The United States’ principles are universal, and in this instance, the United States stands foursquare for the creation of an overwhelmingly Muslim country in the very heart of Europe.
Clinton holdover Nicholas Burns, State Dept. Under Secretary for Political Affairs, was the special Witness. He reiterated the U.S. position that immediate independence without standards or compromise is the only acceptable solution, because the growing violence is what guides our Kosovo policy:

It’s our view that we have now [to] act resolutely in the coming weeks…we looked at this very carefully with our European friends. And we said, are we better off supporting a solution in the spring of 2007 or delaying a year or two? We became convinced in looking at it, all of us, that the prospects for violence would be greater if we waited. Because 92 to 94 percent of the people who now live in Kosovo are Albanian Muslims. They have been waiting a long, long time…And so we the international community must act.

Indeed, an Asia Times commentary this week explained that to Russia (as to Serbia), an independent Muslim Kosovo presents an existential threat. And it is to America’s eternal disgrace that a country like Russia is on the right side of history on this matter while we pigheadedly pursue the futile path of befriending evil. Burns’ appalling response to Watson’s concerns:

…Kosovo is different… and we believe that achieving the independence of Kosovo will not lead others to justify similar treatment from the United Nations or from the United States itself.

Because there’s no such thing as setting precedents? Particularly by rewarding violence, as the Kosovo Albanians watched the West do in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Further, Burns believes that our actions in Kosovo didn’t embolden the Albanians to promptly move on to terrorize neighboring Macedonia, and Montenegro and parts of Southern Serbia.