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Europe
Italians protest over US base expansion
2007-02-18
VICENZA, Italy - Tens of thousands of Italians under heavy police guard marched on Saturday through the city of Vicenza to protest against the expansion of a US military base that has divided the centre-left government.

Leftists who last year voted for Prime Minister Romano Prodi, an Iraq war opponent, turned out in droves to decry his approval for US plans to expand the military base in Vicenza, home to the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Pacifists waved rainbow-striped peace banners while some protesters carried anti-American slogans like “Yankees go Home” as they marched through the city and gathered in a main square. “There is no reason to have this base here,” said Antonio Faitta, a 25-year-old gardener who travelled from Genoa.
In a way I agree with Tony. Perhaps the 173rd Airborne should be based in South Carolina?
Prodi appealed to demonstrators to refrain from violence, following warnings from the interior minister that the protest march which began shortly after 2 p.m. (1300 GMT) could attract people “hostile to the forces of law and order”. The US embassy had warned Americans to steer clear of the small northern Italian city of 115,000, where officials also shut schools normally open on Saturday as a precaution.

But the protests were peaceful. Police estimates pegged the crowd at more than 50,000 people. The leftist Communist Refoundation Party (Prc), part of the ruling coalition, boasted the number could top 100,000 and said Prodi should “listen up”.

The base expansion is the latest headache for Prodi, who has faced revolts by his broad leftist coalition partners on everything from gay rights to the budget and the presence of Italian peacekeepers in Afghanistan. “Today, Prodi has been given a vote of no confidence by his own majority. He should step down,” said Isabella Bertolini of the centre-right opposition Forza Italia party.

“I don’t want any more Americans here and I don’t want a new base. They should just leave us alone,” said Pucci Mori, a resident of Vicenza, who lives near the proposed base expansion. “Wherever they go in the world, Americans cause trouble.”
No problem, Pucci, and you Y'urp-peons should settle the next outbreak of violence on your continent without us. Ciao.
The Pentagon wants to double the size of the base to unite its 173rd Airborne Brigade and expand its 2,750 military personnel to 4,500. At present, the rapid reaction unit is divided among the base at Vicenza, about 400 km (250 miles) north of Rome, and bases at Bamburg and Schweinfurt in Germany.

The new barracks would be on the other side of the city from the existing one. That has raised worries about new roads to handle military traffic linking the two parts, loss of green space and strains on public services. Residents fear it could even put Vicenza in danger.
South Carolina or Kurdistan, but move it out of Italy.
Posted by:Steve White

#9  3 gets you 5 that the 173rd ends up living in Kurdistan.

gotta love the Kurds great folks and they need our support... they are among the few groups of Arabs that seem to get it... support yes but not the 173rd, ima in favor South Carolina for the 173rd.
**

Thanks you State Dept, your policies have rewarded "allies" for decades unconditionally with support/largess in spite of their behavior. Yep your genius has bred full contempt for our our Armed Forces overseas.

Thanks assholes for nothing and for wasting our tax dollars.
Posted by: RD   2007-02-18 18:27  

#8  Steve,

South Carolina or Kurdistan, but move it out of Italy.

Hell, put the damn camp in South Carolina. There's more than sufficient room close enough to major airfields, and Americans will welcome them.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2007-02-18 12:32  

#7  Best to pull the airbase out too. That way we won't get suckered when the Balkans blow up again.
Posted by: ed   2007-02-18 12:31  

#6  3 gets you 5 that the 173rd ends up living in Kurdistan.
Posted by: Shipman   2007-02-18 11:42  

#5  No big deal. They hate us until they need us, like P said about the Philippines. We should pull pitch the hell out of that country as fast as we can. They will be calling us back in five to ten, begging.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2007-02-18 11:36  

#4  Agree with Procopius... it's more of a habit. I stopped over there in 1985: a tiny and charming small post, entirely surrounded by suburbs.
Also, NPR had a story this AM on the protests with all the local luvvies in full whine, all about those narsty, narsty Yankee warmongers blighting their nice little neighborhood... since after all, the Cold War is over.
And the NPR reporter mentioned a sign reading "Help us Nancy Pelosi!" (barf)
Got to admit, they have a point about the Cold War being over, though. Damned if I know what we are still doing with large permanent bases in Europe.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom   2007-02-18 10:50  

#3  Was stationed at Caserma Ederle in the mid 70s. It was an old Italian Army post on the east side of the city, taken over by the Germans when the eyeties flipped in ‘43 and occupied by the Americans since ‘45. ItÂ’s a small installation hemmed in by what goes for the burbs in that part of the world. The main entrance is off the main street. ItÂ’s like trying to enter a busy mall entrance with the traffic. Not my concept of a secure location with all sorts of threat scenarios to cause considerable damage among both the military and civilian population. Considering the less than ‘excellentÂ’ support by the locales, its better to take potential targets elsewhere for improved force protection.

Yes, American interests need better and bigger facilities. However, geographically and operationally, Vicenza is more a comfortable habit rather than a good location. [When I was stationed on the base, there was a nice three star restaurant just outside the main gate and a half mile east and over the railroad bridge]. ItÂ’s the old generals and admirals whining again like they did about the Philippine bases as being absolutely positively necessary. Guess what, they werenÂ’t.

It would be better to build new elsewhere. Best to use this as an excuse the make it happen. If they insist for ‘political’ reasons to keep something in Italy, then by all means look to Sardinia and an arrangement like the Brits have in Cyprus. The Sardinians need the economic boost and will be less likely to whine. The American forces will get new decent facilities that address the force protection nightmare that Vicenza presents. Land should not be a problem.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2007-02-18 09:12  

#2  Reminds me of the old war joke

Whats the difference between an Italian and a piece of toast ?

You can make soldiers out of a piece of toast.
Posted by: MacNails   2007-02-18 08:16  

#1  To be fair, the Italian campaign in WWII was a botch. Thank you, Gen. Mark Clark.

I am not sure which is worse: 1) when the Italians have no respect for law and order, like now, or 2) when the Italians have too much respect for law and order, like 1930–1943.
Posted by: Eric Jablow   2007-02-18 07:45  

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