Posted on 02/17/2007 2:24:57 PM PST by La Enchiladita
By COLLEEN BARRY VICENZA, Italy - Tens of thousands of people marched through the northeastern Italian city of Vicenza under heavy police guard on Saturday to protest a planned U.S. military base expansion.
The demonstrators, estimated by police to number 50,000 to 80,000, marched peacefully along the four-mile route as hundreds of policemen stood guard and helicopters hovered above.
Some protesters wore T-shirts saying "Yankee Go Home" and others waved rainbow peace flags as the demonstration headed out from city's train station. It was not scheduled to pass the site of the planned expansion, where critics of the project keep a permanent picket.
"To build a military base is not the gesture of a peaceful government," said Simone Pasin, a 24-year-old resident of the city. "I think it's time to dismantle military bases and put up structures of peace."
The expansion, which has strained relations within Italy's governing center-left coalition, is part of the U.S. Army's overall transformation into a lighter, more mobile force. Under it, elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, a rapid reaction unit now spread between Italy and Germany, would be reunited at the Vicenza base.
In recent years the 173d Airborne Brigade has also been deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2003, the unit made the biggest airdrop since World War II when its soldiers landed in northern Iraq.
Special trains and buses brought in leftist activists and anti-globalization protesters from across Italy to support local residents who are concerned that the expansion could cause traffic, deplete local resources and increase the risk of terror attacks.
Premier Romano Prodi angered his far-left allies last month when he said the government would not oppose the base expansion. Communist and Green parties _ members of the governing coalition _ have backed the protest.
Prodi has said his government had no reason to halt the expansion, which has been approved by Vicenza's city council.
The U.S. Embassy in Rome had advised Americans to avoid Vicenza on Saturday and Interior Minister Giuliano Amato warned that violent protesters could infiltrate the march. Prodi, in a radio address hours before the demonstration, urged protesters to be peaceful.
The Ederle base has about 2,600 active duty military personnel. The expansion at the Dal Molin airport, on the other side of town, would allow the military to move four battalions now based in Germany, adding another 1,600 active duty personnel.
Some in the ruling coalition feared the demonstration might suggest anti-U.S. sentiment in the country. But the protest also drew Americans.
"The U.S. should not build military bases, the U.S. should think of its domestic problems," said John Gilbert, who teaches English at the University of Florence and was in a group of about 20 Americans who had traveled from Rome and Florence.
The Americans were greeted by Italians, who went up to them to shake their hands or snap pictures in a show of solidarity.
ping
"I think it's time to dismantle military bases and put up structures of peace."
Get your islamic neighbors to help you build those.
Ouch!
I was in Rome, Florence and Tuscany and never really noticed any animosity toward Americans except once in a sandwich shop.
Ingratitude? For what, for defeating Italy in the Second World War? How do you think those troops got there?
Well ungrateful in Italian is ingrato.
We took 'em once, we can do it again.
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That's just a euro mishmash of farleft, fascist, flotsam masquerading as Italians. Italians are to smart, and realistic, to fall for that leftwing anarcho street-theater.
There's a real popular hatred of the American government, but American tourists are more than welcome -- if you're harassed in Italy, Germany or even France, that's really remarkable.
It's surprising how many folks I've talked to who had no idea we were at war with Italy during WWII.
We ought to accomodate these people and move the 173d to Romania and let Italy be converted into an Islamic Caliphate. I'm sure that the Italians would be much happier living under Sharia Law.
I still say we should have occupied and KEPT all of the countries we have liberated over the years....better than chewing your cabbage twice as it now seems that we are having to do.
Please, could some one remind me of the name of the man who stood up to the Camel-F'ers and said:
" I'll show you how an Italian man dies."?
I'll bring that request to the Dept of Rainbows & Unicorns
The Maginot line was succesful. The Germans were forced to avoid it. When they did attack it, they attacked it from the rear, only after conquering the rest of France. And sections of it remained unconquered throughout the war. The French problem was that they failed to consider the nature of a rapid German attack through the Netherlands -- not that the Maginot Line itself failed.
"If you entrench yourself behind strong fortifications, you compel the enemy seek a solution elsewhere."
- Karl von Clausewitz
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