Article

2006-05-22 Europe

U.S. base in Iceland packing it in quickly

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Posted by ryuge 2006-05-22 03:39|| || Front Page|| [4 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 There used to be a very interesting local policy concerning US military personnel and off-base activities. I wonder if that policy is still in effect. I also wonder what prompted the rapid closure.

Posted by Besoeker 2006-05-22 09:41|| 2006-05-22 09:41|| Front Page Top

#2 a very interesting local policy concerning US military personnel and off-base activities

Dude, you can't say that and not tell what the policy is/was!

Posted by Laurence of the Rats">Laurence of the Rats 2006-05-22 10:24|| 2006-05-22 10:24|| Front Page Top

#3 It concerned the prohibition on non-whites leaving the confines of the base.

Posted by Besoeker 2006-05-22 10:28|| 2006-05-22 10:28|| Front Page Top

#4 you've gotta be kidding me! What year is this??

Posted by 2b 2006-05-22 10:51|| 2006-05-22 10:51|| Front Page Top

#5 The 1951 U.S.-Icelandic Defense Agreement paved the way for a permanent U.S. military presence at the Keflavik base in Iceland, an outpost that played a crucial role in U.S. strategy during the Cold War. The article explores two gender-related aspects of the U.S.-Icelandic Cold War relationship: the restrictions on off-base movements of U.S. soldiers, and the secret ban imposed by the Icelandic government on the stationing of black U.S. troops in Iceland. These practices were meant to "protect" Icelandic women and to preserve a homogeneous "national body." Although U.S. officials repeatedly tried to have the restrictions lifted, the Icelandic government refused to modify them until the racial ban was publicly disclosed in late 1959. Even after the practice came to light, it took another several years before the ban was gradually eliminated. Misguided though the Icelandic restrictions may have been, they did, paradoxically, help to defuse domestic opposition to Iceland's pro-American foreign policy course and thus preserved the country's role in the Western alliance.

Posted by tu3031 2006-05-22 15:40|| 2006-05-22 15:40|| Front Page Top

#6 Damn. I thought it was going to be something amusing about bars or driving snowmobiles on the sidewalk.

My opinion of Iceland just went down.

Posted by Laurence of the Rats">Laurence of the Rats 2006-05-22 15:46|| 2006-05-22 15:46|| Front Page Top

#7 hey you ever seen women from iceland? I f i was a man from there i wouldn't want anyone messing with them either

Posted by Greamp Elmavinter1163 2006-05-22 19:49|| 2006-05-22 19:49|| Front Page Top

#8 Yeah, they're all like Bjork, only crazier.

The US has been trying to close the base for years after the Soviet's breakup, but the Icelanders like to have the F-16's and SAR services provided by the US. Now they will have to buy their own helicopter fleet.

Posted by ed 2006-05-22 20:46|| 2006-05-22 20:46|| Front Page Top

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