By Ben Murray and Bryan Mitchell - Stars and Stripes European edition
Saturday, March 18, 2006
RAF MILDENHALL, England — Sigurjon Hafsteinsson is mad. Not to mention worried about his financial future.
Days after the U.S. government announced plans to withdraw its military forces from Iceland, Hafsteinsson is one of nearly 900 locals employed by the American military who wonder about their job prospects.
“What we are mostly concerned about is that it was such a surprise,” Hafsteinsson said. “They said there were going to be ongoing discussions.”
On Thursday, U.S. officials informed Icelandic officials about the plan to withdraw its forces, which make up the only military presence in the country.
The decision affects around 3,000 U.S. military members, dependents and civilian employees at Naval Air Station Keflavik, home to a helicopter rescue squadron, a hospital, various support units and a rotating quartet of fighter jets from England.
The move has left a raft of unanswered questions for both Americans and Icelandic locals who live in, work at or depend on the northern outpost. A lack of official information has only exacerbated the problem.
“Nobody let us know nothing,” Hafsteinsson said. “They are just telling us that they are leaving and that we are going to be unemployed. It’s just not the right way to do it.”
Fridthor Eydal, spokesman for the U.S. military contingent in the country, the Icelandic Defense Force, said no specific decisions have been made on exactly who would go, or when.
Eydal confirmed that “the fighter unit and the helicopter rescue unit will be withdrawn,” before October, but said potential talks between the two governments about the final status of the base have prevented the announcement of specifics.
The fighters that patrol the skies above Iceland are based out of the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England. Those planes will cease to rotate into Iceland, according to 48th spokeswoman Capt. Beth Horine.
The impact of the drawdown will fall on the more than 700 members of the Air Force’s 85th Group and 540 Navy personnel at NAS Keflavik, plus the nearly 100 U.S. employees and around 1,700 family members.
Eyedal said he did not have a breakdown of how many personnel in some affected units would be moved, such as the 56th Rescue Squadron, home unit of the station’s rescue helicopters.
Those helicopters, since their arrival in the early 1970s, have helped save the lives of about 310 people in the icy waters and rugged terrain around the base, according to Eydal.
The base could not say how many of the 592 local hires or 250 Icelandic contract workers would be retained after the withdrawal, leaving some employees to fear the worst: a total shutdown and across-the-board firings.
“I think it will be a catastrophe,” said Gudbrandur Einarssor, chairman of a Keflavik trade and office workers union with about 120 workers on the U.S. base.
Keflavik, a community of about 11,000 people, can’t accommodate nearly 900 unemployed workers on such short notice, he said.
“It was a complete surprise,” Einarssor said of the American announcement. “We thought that it would be coming, but not this fast.”
Given two years’ notice, the community might have been able to find work for such a large number of people, but six months is not enough, he said.
“They will not have any work when they come back to town,” Einarssor said of his workers.
By Leo Shane III - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Saturday, March 18, 2006
WASHINGTON — A Michigan congressman will introduce federal legislation to block protests during military funeral services in response to a Kansas church’s continued demonstrations at servicemembers’ burials.
Rep. Mike Rogers said he won’t officially submit the bill until later this month, but colleagues in Congress have already scheduled a hearing in early April and pledged their support for the measure.
The proposal would prohibit protests an hour before or after a funeral at any national cemetery, and force protesters back at least 500 feet from the grieving family. Penalties for violations still need to be worked out.
“When you go to a funeral, it’s difficult enough to show up and pay your respects to someone who died for their country without getting jeered, taunted and harassed,” said Rogers, a Republican. “There’s a difference between free speech and hateful, harassing speech.”
On Thursday, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., introduced similar legislation in the Senate, creating a 300-foot buffer zone and making violations punishable by up to five years in prison. Bayh’s bill would apply to “all funerals for soldiers who were killed in active duty service.”
Rogers began crafting the legislation after attending a funeral last week picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church, whose members have been demonstrating at military funerals across America.
The group insists that troops are being killed to punish the United States for embracing a pro-gay agenda, and usually wave signs with slogans such as “Thank God for IEDs” as mourners approach.
Rogers, a former Army officer whose brother has served as a soldier in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said even though he knew the group was coming he was incensed when he saw their protest.
“It was worse than awful,” he said. “It was darn close to being criminal.”
But Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of the Westboro group’s founder, said the effort to block their protests is anti-American, since their demonstrations “are exactly what the framers of the Constitution had in mind.” She promised a legal challenge if the bill becomes law.
“It’s so fitting that this nation, before the eyes of the world, is prepared to give away the freedoms it wants to spread to other countries,” she said. “We are witnessing the suicide of a once-great nation.”
Rogers said his measure was carefully crafted to withstand such a legal challenge, and he hopes it can serve as a model for states which have not passed protest laws yet. Currently five states — South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Indiana and Kentucky — have already passed similar bills.
Phelps-Roper said her group has stopped protesting in those states because “those states needed a cooling-off period” but predicted their challenge to the federal bill would overturn all of the state statutes.
The group is scheduled to protest Rogers and “our Barney Frank Congress” in Washington next week. Lawmakers adjourned for a holiday break Thursday night, and won’t return to the city until March 27.