[Peace-discuss] Uproar in Italy

[Morton K. Brussel]

From: HTTP://www.afterdowningstreet.org/vicenza

Anti-U.S. Uproar Sweeps Italy
Submitted by davidswanson on Fri, 2007-05-04 18:50. Nonviolent  
Resistance
By David Swanson

The U.S. government has proposed to make Vicenza, Italy, the largest  
US military site in Europe, but the people of Vicenza, and all of  
Italy, have sworn it will never happen.

As with the story of the Downing Street Minutes two years ago this  
week, a major news story and huge controversy in Europe right now is  
unknown to Americans, despite the fact that it is all about the  
policies of the American government. In February of this year,  
200,000 people descended on the Northeastern Italian town of Vicenza  
(population 100,000) to march in protest. Largely as a result, the  
Prime Minister of Italy was (temporarily) driven out of power.  
Meanwhile, just outside Vicenza, large tents now hold newly minted  
citizen activists keeping a 24-hour-per-day vigil and training  
hundreds of senior citizens, children, and families every day in how  
to nonviolently stop bulldozers. The bulldozers they are waiting for  
are American.




The conflict, should it come about, will be as surprising to American  
television viewers as were the attacks of 9-11, unless someone tells  
them ahead of time what is going on. This week a group of Italians is  
in Washington, D.C., attempting to do just that. A group of Italian  
Members of Parliament also visited Washington last month in  
opposition to the base.

To understand this story it is necessary to be aware of a few basic  
facts that Americans are not supposed to be aware of, including that  
our military maintains several hundred bases in other people's  
countries, and that many of the residents of these countries resent  
the U.S. military presence. (Of course, the alleged planner of the  
murderous 9-11 attacks said he was reacting to U.S. bases on foreign  
soil, in that case in Saudi Arabia. The Bush Administration closed  
the offending bases.)

In addition, it is helpful to understand that Vicenza is a UNESCO  
World Heritage site, a beautiful treasure of a town showcasing the  
renaissance architecture of Andrea Palladio. Reflecting on this makes  
it easier to put into context the proposal for Vicenza from the U.S.  
military and the reaction of the people who live there.

If you google "No Dal Molin" you'll find 83,300 results. Dal Molin is  
the name of the proposed new military base. This compares with 9,290  
for such an important news story as "John Edwards' hair." But the  
only U.S. media link you'll find is Democracy Now, which interviewed  
one of the Italian activists in Washington this week.

In Italy, the women leading the opposition to the base, women who  
were housewives and had never been activists until news of this  
proposal leaked, have appeared frequently in the media. Here's a  
television news show video in Italian (click on "Puntate," scroll  
down to "Vicenza," and click). And here is an activist's video in  
English.

Since this story broke last year, Vicenza has become a focus for  
peace activists in Europe, including Americans living abroad, and has  
been the site of numerous protests and acts of civil disobedience.  
There is another protest march planned for this coming Sunday. (Flyer).

I spent all day Thursday with U.S. peace activists Stephanie  
Westbrook and Medea Benjamin accompanying a delegation of four  
Italians to meetings with Congress Members, Senators, and their  
staffers. The Italians were led by two women, Cinzia Bottene and Thea  
Valentina Garbellin.



They had arrived Tuesday and began their lobbying efforts on  
Wednesday. Stephanie and Thea appeared on Democracy Now that morning.  
And Code Pink launched a petition website where we are collecting  
Americans' signatures in support of the people of Vicenza.

On Wednesday, the delegation spoke with various Congress Members,  
including Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D., Hawaii) and Rep. Walter Jones  
(R., N.C.). At these and many other meetings, the Italians dropped  
off materials, told their stories, and answered questions. The  
Congress Members and staffers made no commitments but promised to  
look into the matter.

"The amazing thing," Cinzia said, "is that nobody in the United  
States, not even Senators and Congress Members, knows anything about  
it. But we found a great deal of interest."

On Thursday we met with Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D., N.H.)and a staff  
person. They, too, knew nothing about it, but were very interested.  
The same goes for aides to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.) and Sen.  
Jack Reid (D., R.I.).

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio) had a little bit different  
reaction. He said he opposed the base and would write a letter to all  
of his colleagues asking them to join him. He said he favored closing  
foreign bases but not opening new ones. Cinzia thanked the  
Congressman and invited him to come and speak in Vicenza.

Another meeting we had on Thursday was with three Senate staffers,  
who each worked for the Armed Services Committee or for a member  
thereof. They had all been to Vicenza. In fact, they flew to the new  
base location to examine it in 2004, two years before anyone in Italy  
had even learned about the proposal.

In our meeting, they articulated the U.S. government's position, and  
Thea and Cinzia articulated that of the people of Vicenza. At times,  
the two world views clashed. One of the staffers, who said he had  
been to Vicenza many times and had many Italian friends there, but  
who did not speak a word of Italian, suggested that the base might be  
necessary to allow the U.S. to airlift aid to starving Africans. This  
did not sit well with the Vicentines, who are motivated as much by  
their opposition to global militarism, arrogance, and lies, as they  
are by the potential impact on their city's water and traffic.

The Senate staffers tried to be helpful, and explained as others had  
before them, that what they needed to know about were potential  
impacts on water, traffic, power, pollution, and the environment.  
They also were very interested in learning about alternative  
locations for the base and accounts of the Italian government having  
offered other locations. But the danger brought to the people of  
Vicenza by making it a major military target was not a concern that  
had made it onto their radar screen. The damage to historic and  
artistic treasures was deemed "intangible." And the affront to the  
dignity of the people of Vicenza was unfortunate but insignificant.

The Italians explained that they have never protested the existing  
U.S. base in Vicenza, which has been there for 50 years. In fact,  
there are a number of U.S. military installations in and around  
Vicenza and throughout Italy, including facilities holding 90 atomic  
bombs, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, and this  
video news report in English from Italian television.

"The people of Vicenza and the Americans have always been friends,"  
Cinzia said. "But when you invite a friend to your house and give  
them a room, it changes when they demand to have the whole house."

As in much of the world, Vicenza is already overrun by American  
soldiers who drink too much, commit too many crimes, return from Iraq  
in mental anguish, and – since 9-11 – remain ever more isolated  
from the Italians. It's the Vicentines' city, but they are second- 
class citizens. If an Italian is waiting in line in a hospital  
emergency room, and a U.S. soldier comes in, the soldier can go  
straight to the front. And the economic argument so cynically used  
all over the United States to keep our economy based on war does not  
work in Vicenza: Italian tax payers are paying a large portion of the  
cost of their own occupation.

American taxpayers, on the other hand, are completely oblivious to  
the fact that they are paying hundreds of millions of dollars for the  
construction of a base that has enraged the nation of Italy and  
serves no purpose that the people of the United States have ever  
debated or had any say in. While the State Department and the  
Pentagon make our decisions for us, the Congress does have to approve  
the money. They've already approved half of the money for this base,  
and the rest is expected to be voted on by October.

The people of Vicenza have also had no say in this. They handed in  
10,000 signatures and requested a referendum, but were denied. The  
Italian government has said it will permit the base, but it has not  
actually issued the construction permits. Leaders of the opposition  
movement met with the Minister of Defense who said that Italy was  
capable of saying No to the United States. But the U.S. ambassador  
gave Italy a deadline of January 19th to accept the base, and the  
Prime Minister announced his acceptance of it on a trip abroad on  
January 16th. While no permits have been issued, fiberoptic cables  
have been laid on the site, which activists have dug up and ripped out.

The activists leading this resistance struggle say they want to be  
friends with Americans. They have even proposed that the hundreds of  
millions of dollars for the base be spent instead on aiding the  
people of New Orleans, and that the cities of Vicenza and New Orleans  
establish a relationship as "twin cities."

But Cinzia Bottene made her case very clearly in the meeting with the  
staffers. "The citizens," she said, "will never, I repeat, never  
accept a base at Dal Molin."

The Italians plan to deliver a petition showing American support for  
their peaceful efforts to Senator Carl Levin and Congressman Ike  
Skelton, chairs of the Armed Services Committees in both houses. You  
can add your name to it here.

The Commander Guy, George W. Bush, plans to visit Rome on June 9th.  
He might actually be greeted by some cheers if he cancels the plans  
for Dal Molin. Otherwise, he can expect a grand unwelcoming party.

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spotlight
Yes they hate us..
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2007-05-05 06:23.
...But they sure do love our money. Why do you think these  
governments let us stay in their countries? The US Military is one of  
the largest employers in Germany and we're pulling almost all of our  
bases out of here leaving alot of people without jobs. The  
unemployment rate is already in the double digits.
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