Nikola Drobac – 8/17/08

This page was last updated on August 17, 2008.

Russia doing what U.S. did in Kosovo; Nikola (Nick) Drobac; Beaver County Times; August 17, 2008.

Mr. Drobac is taking a break, kind of, in that the primary focus of the letter isn’t to bash Republicans for something. Mr. Drobac wrote at least 31 anti-Bush and/or anti-Republican rants since July 1, 2004. In a letter entitled “GOP messing things up” (October 29, 2002), Mr. Drobac expressed a wish to be able to laugh as all Republicans face financial ruin in retirement, calling them fools because they may have more confidence in themselves than in government bureaucrats and politicians.

According to his website, Mr. Drobac attended CCBC, Pitt, and USC.

Mr. Drobac appears to spam his letters to multiple papers, including newspapers in eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland. Some of the papers in these locations include The Republican, The Patriot News, The Ephrata Review, and the Cumberland Times-News. At the same time he wrote letters to the Times and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette claiming to live in Aliquippa, Mr. Drobac sent letters to these other papers claiming to live in Oakland, MD, and/or Stevens, PA. You can see examples on Mr. Drobac’s website.

Mr. Drobac appears to be a journeyman secondary school teacher – at least three school districts over the last several years – who has taught in the aforementioned locations. As of this writing, Mr. Drobac appears to be on the Reading School District staff. In a previous letter Mr. Drobac described himself as a current/former “high school accounting and business teacher.” Does anyone doubt the stuff he writes in letters like this also finds its way into Mr. Drobac’s classes? Mr. Drobac also appears to serve as Vice President Information Systems for DiCenzo Personnel Specialists of Pittsburgh.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, ‘This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed.’

“Rice never mentioned that in 2003, Republican President George W. Bush invaded Iraq, continues to threaten its neighboring countries, continues to occupy the capital of Iraq, overthrew the government, had the leader killed, installed a puppet government — and got away with it.”

[RWC] I thought it was an Iraqi court that convicted Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government that executed him. Now I learn from Mr. Drobac it was really President Bush.

“[I]nstalled a puppet government?” The last time I checked, the Iraqis formed and elected their own government.

“According to the NBC Evening News, Georgia started this confrontation. Georgia is attempting to force South Ossetia and Abkhazia back into the Georgian state.”

[RWC] Unlike Mr. Drobac, I don’t know who’s to blame. As for Georgia forcing “South Ossetia and Abkhazia back into the Georgian state,” the vast majority of the world has recognized these provinces as part of Georgia since at least the early 1990s.

“Sound like Kosovo? If the United States can force Kosovo independence from Serbia, then the Russians can force South Ossetia and Abkhazia independence from Georgia.”

[RWC] Russia needs an example? Did Mr. Drobac forget about the USSR invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, or did history begin in 2003? In any case, our involvement with Kosovo began in the 1990s during the Clinton administration, long before President Bush took office and long before we invaded Iraq.

You can tell Mr. Drobac badly wants to tie the current Georgia/Russia conflict to President Bush, but he knows the timeline doesn’t work for his Kosovo comparison.

“In the area of contention is the Black Sea port city of Poti. The oil terminal in Poti is key to Georgia’s fragile economy.”

[RWC] I don’t know why Mr. Drobac claims Poti is in “the area of contention.” Poti is in neither South Ossetia nor Abkhazia.

“Sound like Kosovo? In addition to oil, there are many natural resources in Kosovo. Plus, the Albanian-led and al-Qaeda-backed Kosovo Liberation Army has permitted the United States to build a military base in Kosovo.”

[RWC] Mr. Drobac’s description of Kosovo’s resources don’t agree with what I’ve read. As most countries, Kosovo has some resources, but they don’t appear to be enough to go to war over. I haven’t seen any mention of oil in Kosovo.

Also, I don’t know if Mr. Drobac’s linkage of the KLA and al-Qaeda is correct. I reviewed a number of sources about the KLA and none mentioned al-Qaeda.

“The United States set a precedent in Kosovo. Now look for the Russians to capitalize on that precedent.”

[RWC] After mentioning “Republican President George W. Bush,” did you notice something missing amongst all the talk about Kosovo? If you guessed no mention of Democrat President Bill Clinton, you win. In fairness, Mr. Drobac did mention Mr. Clinton (but no party affiliation) when discussing Kosovo back in February, but I guess it’s now too close to the general election for Mr. Drobac note those facts. At least Mr. Drobac didn’t blame President Bush for Kosovo, though I suspect he hopes we do.