A Muslim army heading north to conquer Christian Europe was forced to go through Christian Kosovo, a place where the Serbs lived. The Serbs lost the battle and were driven out of the region and taken over by Muslims. The Serbs therefore call this �the grave of our liberty.� In a way, this was to show that Serbia could not be destroyed.

In 1974, Yugoslav allows Kosovo to become its own country. Later, the condition and treatment of the Muslims continue to worsen. They have the highest birthrate in Europe and only a 12% employment rate.

Then about 10 years ago, Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian president, visited the Field of Blackbirds and gave a speech. In this speech, he used Serbian passion about controlling Kosovo to cleanse Kosovo of these Muslims, which were 90% of the population.

In 1989, Kosovo is stripped of its independence by Slobodan Milosevic. Then, in 1997, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) starts killing Serb policemen.

In February 1998, Serbian forces began to �cleanse� Kosovo of the Muslims. This process included separating families, raping women and children, and destroying the Muslim�s mosques and temples.

Ethnic cleansing is described as the systematic and forced removal of the members of an ethnic group. Ethnic cleansing has been performed on over 500 towns and villages in Kosovo. NATO is the group that is dedicated to getting these Muslims Albanians back to their homes.

Over a million, approximately 1.5 million, Kosovo Muslims were expelled from their homes and fled to neighboring countries as refugees. Neighboring countries include the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Republic of Montenegro.

By Michael Hill