Kosovo and the Principle of Self-Determination

A week ago Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. The U.S. and some other Western countries immediately recognized the new country.

Since the independence of Kosovo seems to be generally accepted as the right and just thing to do, one wonders if the Kurds are now, at long last, going to get their own country also? And what about the Tamil people, who have been fighting for 25 years for independence from Sri Lanka? And then there's the Karen people, who have been fighting for their independence from Burma since 1949! Yes, the people of Kosovo deserve sympathy for the atrocities they have suffered. But the same can be said for these latter three groups as well.

And a final thought. If self-determination is such a good thing, as surely we can agree it is, then when are all you people who think Lincoln was such a great President, and did the right thing by taking this country into a horrible civil war instead of letting the South go in peace, when are you going to wake up and admit that Lincoln was in fact a horrible President?