LONDON — The ratio of foreign soldiers to local citizens in Kosovo (16,500 NATO troops to 2 million civilians) is slightly higher than the ratio of American soldiers to Iraqi citizens.

The soldiers in Kosovo are not fighting a war, but their presence has certainly been needed to keep one from breaking out again — and there are plenty of people in Kosovo who threaten that if they don't get full independence soon, there will be another war anyway.

During his visit to neighboring Albania earlier this month, U.S. President George W. Bush declared: "At some point, sooner rather than later, you've got to say 'Enough is enough — Kosovo is independent'." There was great joy in Kosovo (where 90 percent of the population are ethnic Albanians), but in Moscow there were threats of a veto.