Ciao Villa e bentornato da Italia,

I continue to be confused by the description of the base near Vicenza as the "largest US military base in Europe". Could you provide some statistics or links (other than the not very impartial No Dal Molin and related sites)? This from Wikipedia, found with a Google search for the "largest US military base in Europe":

"Ramstein AB is part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC), where more than 16,400 American service members and more than 5,400 US civilian employees live and work. US organizations in the KMC also employ the services of more than 6,200 German workers. Air Force units in the KMC alone employ almost 9,800 military members, bringing with them nearly 11,100 family members."

As I recall the US military presence in Vicenza following the opening of the second installation was to be about 5,000. What statistics can you provide to confirm the claims that the second base (in addition to Camp Ederle), consisting of an additional 1,200 military personnel, will make this the largest US military base in Europe?

Maybe you're right Steve. I don't really know but they are saying the largest U.S. military base in Europe in Viceza.
What will you say when you find out it's true. Oh, it really doesn't matter.

Sun May-06-07 08:02 PM
Original message
Vicenza, Italy to be the largest US military site in Europe?
http://www.davidswanson.org/?q=node/807

Anti-U.S. Uproar Sweeps Italy
Submitted by dswanson on Fri, 2007-05-04 19:03. Peace and War
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.


Plans to build a new U.S. military base in Vicenza Italy at Dal ... U.S. Military Base in Vicenza, Italy Gets Final Approval .... such as that this would be the largest American Army base in Europe (which turns out to be ...
Plans to build a new U.S. military base in Vicenza Italy at Dal Molin Airport - Cached - Similar

Ciao Villa,

I ask because I'm seen too many things hyped (for example, the "death boards" claimed to be part of the health reform proposals in the US) that turn out to be nothing more than a means of skewing an otherwise rational discussion.

And, if a party is prepared to lie about one factor in a discussion, how much of what else they claim is false? To that extent the truth of the claim is very important.

And if it is true, what would I say? I would say that it is a stupid thing for the US to do when they are shrinking the size of their bases elsewhere. In this case the argument that is being made by the military is that they are increasing the efficiency of one unit by combining the two parts of it into a single location. Since it's a relatively small unit (only 1,200 people are being moved), that seems to be prudent.

I'm suspicious of the people that oppose the move - they seem to not be locals.

They may mean in land area. The U.S. Naval Base in Naples is fairly small but a very large population. Vincenza has a lot of area just for the air base. Planes need space to land.
Just my guess.

No DalMolin - No alla nuova base USA DalMolin a Vicenza - [ Translate this page ]Siyto che rappresenta e si pone a sostegno delle iniziative del movimento che è contro la realizzazione della base americana in Vicenza.
No DalMolin - No alla nuova base USA DalMolin a Vicenza - Cached - Similar
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16 sec - Jul 23, 2008 -






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