a full-blown (and admittedly, legitimate) diplomatic incident.

Heavens to Elizabeth. Let's review the diplomatic carnage:

Norwegian ambassador Hans Ola Urstad [forced] to formally apologise. Big deal. I'll bet I could force him to wear a schoolgirl uniform for the rest of his life with one threatening phone call.

Slobodan Samardzic, an advisor to the Serbian prime minister: "Such things only help the Serbian side to prove that there is no security in Kosovo, no respect for human rights and no multi-ethnicity," he grumbled. So Slobodan Samardzic is complaining that this makes things too easy for his own side. Samardzic obviously doesn't even know what side he's on.

KFOR headquarters in Kosovo was stung by the joke, describing the Norwegians' song as a "stupid and unacceptable private initiative of some soldiers". KFOR is lying if they claim to have heard this video. Their heads are so far up their collective butts that they wouldn't notice if a Panzer Division drove through their own stupid headquarters.

Belgrade fumed and NATO squirmed. GOOD.

Congratulations to those Norwegian troopers, not only for the great video, but for reducing the entire theory of "Multinationalism" to a smoking ruin.

Personally, I thought the video was great. I also supported the war in Bosnia, as did many of my fellow neocons. But I read these news reports, and thought a bit.

If I was a Serbian family who had been forced out of my home, while NATO troops stood by and didn't protect me as they had promised to do... and then heard stuff about "Serbian bad guys" in the troops' music videos....

Yeah, I realized, I'd be pissed. Legitimately, too. Think of how you felt about Newsweek, Glen. Now multiply that by about 50.

It takes a lot to make me take the Serbs' side, and normally I'm very happy to see them fume. But the simple fact is that NATO and KFOR made some specific promises over there, and a combinaton of inability/refusal to protect plus demonstrated contempt goes against all of those promises.

Hence "legitimate diplomatic incident." Hence the correctness of making apologies.

Really, all the troops had to do to avoid this was change those 3 words. It was very avoidable.

But the video is still funny.

Joe: NATO and KFOR made some specific promises over there, and a combinaton of inability/refusal to protect plus demonstrated contempt goes against all of those promises.

Their failure to protect Serbs is one thing. It goes back to the over-simplified rationale for the whole mission (which I supported too) as a simple case of Serbian Bad Guys. The more complex reality of Serbian and Croatian and Albanian Bad Guys is not something that NATO and KFOR have done a good job of explaining. The Clinton administration didn't do such a good job of explaining it, either.

If some of the people they sent there took them at their own word, too bad.

Besides, it is entirely appropriate for soldiers to sing about blasting Serbian bad guys. They did blast Serbian bad guys. For Norway to apologize to Serbia for it is ludefisk. That's the Norwegian word for "disgusting and ridiculous".

If other subtleties of the conflict were left out, it's a three-minute video. What's NATO's excuse?

I'm not sure if you really should feel sorry for any of them - in that sense at least. What happened to Serbians more recently is dwarfed by what the Serbians did a decade ago, which in turn is dwarfed by what happened to the Serbs under Tito.

What a mess: a little sense of humor might be in order.

The videos make me nostalgic of my days doing the compulsory military service.

Geez - You guys are just blind. I was against American/Eu intervention in that war. You bought the propaganda. Izetbegovic was an islamist (as is the current prime minister of Turkey see where they and the EU end up). Croatia completed the biggest ethnic cleansing since ww2 with the help of American generals and planes. The Albanians have ethnically cleansed the Jews, gypsys and serbs from Kosovo. And you guys still think the Serbs deserve it - you might have realised the truth now given some of your sheepish comments. The Serbs were never against the Croations etc getting their one countries they just didn't want to be ethnically cleansed.

Poor Nationalsocialist Serbs! They were just having some fun shelling with mortars the Sarajevo market at rush hour... and then NATO came and bombed them.

I thought the song was old because of the lyric "Iraqi embargo." See the Information Warfare section of Strategy Page. The lyrics on the Bob Rivers show don't solve questions about the words in the video. No information on the age of the video itself.

Joe#7 - The serbs didn't shell the market and in fact a lot of the people at the market were Serbs - you bought the propaganda.

I am surprised that what is essentially a liberal satirical song that takes a dim view of the comittments of western powers' ability to project meaningful military might to stabilize local conflicts around the world that erupted after the end of the cold war should cause any reaction. The song does not endorse killing serb bad guys, it simply states a fact - this is what happened. As for Serbia's authorities' rightst to make even a sound, this is ridiculous, after spending the 90ies blasing away at neighbouring communities, and glorifying its heros like ratko mladic. As for the song, give these grunts a break, they have one of the most boring and thankless tasks in the world. As for the task of NATO imposing a multiethnic and peaceful society, this is not possible.

Come on, people. We all know that the UN and NATO have their heads up their butt and couldn't protect squat. There is way too much PC going on here. Lighten up and enjoy those adorable Norwegian-grown boys!!! BTW, the video was made in 2003.

This video is great!!! I am sure that the guys in the service have some free time on their hands and what better way to keep the moral up.
I live in the States and think they were really hot and a very funny video. I would love to see more like it.

Good job guys!

It was a funny video made by guys stuck in a lousy situation. It was freedom of expression, and it was really rather well done. I just hope the men involved (hunka hunkas that they are) are still alive and well and have not paid too high a price for our enjoyment and their coping mechanism.

Cari

Any Norse English speaking soldiers can reach me at... ;)

well those people who think albanians made serbs and gipsy leave kosova it is not true they did bad things what albanians didnt forget what they have done during the war and they couldnt live with the killers just like those americans who lost their loved ones on 09/11 would they live together with Bin laden come on guys

I thought the video was in good taste. I enjoyed the "lightness" of the video. It may be politically questionable due to the words, but it is entertainment and people should "lighten" up. By the way, the guy who wipes his hair after getting water on it..... hubba hubba! :) Wished I knew who you are? :)

How did I miss this last year?!? Clearly it didn't cause that big of a row if I'm just now getting the linkage. Any word on what happened to the soldiers? I hope they landed a sweet gig in Honolulu right next to one of the old farts playing JimmyB tunes.

The Video was great!!! The guys were doing what anyone else would do in a situation like that!!! I showed all of my freinds and they loved it as well... The guy who threw the water on his head is aboustley beautiful!! I can only wish that the guys here in the states looked as good

Nice work guys

From one who was actually in Kosovo, Lets review the facts:

1. Wesley Clark (former democoward candidate) didnt do the job right, so we have the mess in Kosovo still today.

2. The 5 year reign of Serbian killing and genocide is well documented, to include shooting down a US fighter (despite being outnumbered and in hostile territory he still evaded and escaped).

3. The Norwegian soldiers should be commended. Who cares if they blew off a little steam. After all they had no choice in being where they were.

4. Shame on Bob Rivers for his thinly veiled criticism of those of us who serve this country. I am glad it came back to bite him in the butt.

Great Video. I just wished that American military had made it since It was so good I could have bragged about it being American.

Well, Norway? Where the hell is Norway anyways?

Americans don't know geography? I live in Greece and when my Greek neighbors ask me "What are they saying about us in the USA".

I'm feeling ashamed to tell them that they are trying to find you (GREECE) on the map!!!

I absolutely 'love' the video and have sent it to several people.

I think it's awesome and if any of you guys in the film ever read this and want to come to the USA you're more than welcome to visit me in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. You can stay at my place for free! heck-- bring the entire crew--
(you girls were right about the hubba hubba guy, but there are a couple of them that are hotties-)