Another post on the movement in Vicenza, Itlay by Stephanie Westbrook [steph@webfabbrica.com]:
See below an informal report on the recent lobbying trip from Vicenza to DC.
Bests,
Stephanie
For more on Vicenza, see: http://www.peaceandjustice.it/vicenza/
Vicenza-DC Trip Report
Marching on the Pentagon, Interrupting a Hearing and Meeting with Congress
On March 20, I accompanied a delegation from Vicenza, Italy, involved in the struggle against a new U.S. military base at Dal Molin, to Washington DC. The focus of the trip was to lobby Congress to block funding on the project that is strongly opposed by the local population. You can also hear a radio interview on our trip on CodePink’s new weekly show, Pink Talk: http://pinktalkradio.org/
The dates of the trip allowed us to participate the day after our arrival in the national protest march organized by ANSWER on the occasion of the 6th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq (http://www.pentagonmarch.org/). The principal slogan of the march was “Occupation is a Crime – From Iraq, to Afghanistan, to Palestine.” We were invited to speak from the stage, surprising a few Italians who were in the crowd. Cheers rang out as Cinzia Bottene, Vicenza City Council member and one of the leaders of the No Dal Molin movement, reminded demonstrators that the first troops to parachute into Iraq deployed from Vicenza, troops are just returning from Afghanistan and Vicenza was just recently named command for ground troops for Africom. “Your struggle is our struggle. And only working together will we ever achieve peace!”
Two of the main organizers of the march, James Circello and Eric Murillo, had both been stationed in Vicenza at the existing base of Ederle. James, in fact, went AWOL from Ederle in 2007, and after turning himself in later that year at Fort Know, he was released from service. Both are now part of Iraq Veterans Against the War and we were particularly pleased to march
with them.
The march started near the Lincoln memorial and proceeded to the Pentagon and on to the weapons manufacturers in Crystal City – including the offices of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing – ending at the DC headquarters of former Halliburton subsidiary KBR. One hundred flag
draped coffins representing the victims from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine as well as the U.S. were left at the entrance to the building.
The police presence was alarming, including sharpshooters on the roofs of buildings, but the singing of the women of CodePink helped diffuse the tension. According to the organizers, 10,000 people participated in this first anti-war demonstration of the Obama Administration.
That Monday began a week of meetings with Congress. We had initially set two appointments with Pentagon officials, however after being asked for our personal data for the security clearance, both appointments were canceled with no reason given. So we were doubly pleased to march on the
Pentagon!
And on Tuesday, we got an unexpected chance to make ourselves heard to Pentagon officials. At midnight on Monday, we learned that there would be a hearing of the full Armed Services committee the following day. Testifying would be none other than General Craddock, Commander of the U.S. Military’s European Command. The citizens of Vicenza had tried repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, to arrange a meeting with Gen. Craddock. So we decided to attend the hearing, and interrupted the General with chants of “No new base in Vicenza, Italy.” See Video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcHHJzx7CM0 We learned later from the coverage on C-Span, that the General went on to recognize the opposition in Vicenza later in the hearing, referring to us as a small group who “thinks” there are problems but are mistaken. It was these “supposed” problems, including environmental risks – the site for the new base lies above a major ground water source – and the Italian government’s refusal to perform an environmental impact study, as well as the fact that Vicenza already hosts 6 U.S. military installations, that led to widespread popular opposition against the base, even causing a major political shift in the city last year. And that was the message that we tried to drive home to Congress.
As with our first lobbying trip to Washington in May 2007 (http://www.peaceandjustice.it/vicenza-dc.php), we focused on the two subcommittees most directly involved in the question of military bases, Readiness under Armed Services and Military Construction under Appropriations. We met with the Chairs and members of these committees on both the House and Senate sides.
Many members with whom we met were sympathetic to our cause. Rep. Sam Farr of California was unaware of the situation in Vicenza, but commented, “I represent a district with a similarly sized city, Salinas. If the U.S. military had plans to build a base in my city, I’d be doing the same thing you are.” He assured us he would talk with his colleagues and “ask tough questions” in the subcommittee hearings.
Civil Rights Movement leader and Congressman from Georgia, John Lewis, was also very supportive. He was well aware of the issue of foreign bases thanks to the work of the Raging Grannies in Atlanta.
We were surprised to find support from Rep. Solomon Ortiz from Texas, Chair of the Readiness Subcommittee. Ortiz had experienced a similar situation, albeit from the other side of the coin. The people of his district in southeast Texas had struggled against the federal government and
Pentagon to maintain a base set for closure. He had been in Vicenza in 2007, however had only met with Italian government and U.S. military officials. When shown the photo of the site for the new base, in a residential neighborhood completely surrounded by houses and just one mile from the historic center of this UNESCO World Heritage site, he noted, “That’s some serious encroachment.” He was disappointed to learn that the Pentagon had canceled our meetings and assured us he would look into it.
On this trip, we also turned our attention to the Oversight Committee, meeting with the Chair of the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Rep. John Tierney of Massachusetts. Oversight is the principal investigative committee of Congress; therefore there was a distinctly different feel to this meeting. He informed us that the committee already had plans for an investigation on the network of foreign bases. Tierney has already done much work on Africom, holding hearings last year and was interested to know about the new command in Vicenza.
As during the trip in 2007, our best ally in Congress was Rep. Dennis Kucinich who remarked, “This is absurd, and it must be stopped. The only way we are going to have peace is treat others with mutual respect.” He questioned the need for the new base, as well as existing bases. “If Italy felt under threat of attack, you’d call us for help, right? You’d send us a text message, wouldn’t you?”
On the Senate side, as was to be expected, there was less support and more realism. We did learn a few things. For one, Sen. Tim Johnson’s office, confirmed concerns that the U.S. military has big plans for Vicenza, saying it would become a major hub. And Sen. Evan Bayh’s office noted that the opposition is quite well known. “You have quite a good Internet presence.” He also told us that President Obama’s defense budget will slip into May following the Congressional version of spring break.
In a meeting with Speaker Pelosi’s office, we talked about her recent trip to Italy in which she repeatedly thanked Italy for hosting U.S. troops. We asked, “Is insisting on the new base despite widespread popular opposition the best way to express gratitude?”
One of the most common comments we heard throughout the week was that this is very difficult to stop at this point, that funding for the project has already been approved in two parts. “You’re too late on this.” It’s interesting to note that Congress approved the first funds June 2006, just one month after the citizens of Vicenza learned about this project that had been kept secret, even from some City Council members! In any event, the people of Vicenza have known all along what they were up against, and that certainly never stopped them.
One of the most heartening aspects of the trip was learning that the issue of U.S. bases on foreign soil is ever more present in the discourse of activists, as well as members of Congress and the media. At the march on the Pentagon, several other speakers mentioned the issue in their speeches. And unlike our first trip to DC, many more members of Congress and their staff were also aware of the opposition in Vicenza and the issue of bases. References to the issue are even showing up in the mainstream media. The Washington Post recently published an article (http://tinyurl.com/cscrda) suggesting that cuts to military spending look also at the network of foreign bases, as proposed by yet another recent article on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (http://tinyurl.com/aqq4zu). And Republican Congressman Ron Paul’s recent article, Imagine an Occupied America (http://www.antiwar.com/paul/?articleid=14377) caused a bit of a stir.
This newfound attention to foreign bases in the U.S. is in part thanks to the No Bases conference held in Washington just a couple of weeks before our trip, which was attended by Enzo Ciscato of Vicenza and included a Congressional lobbying day. And I can’t help but think that the very successful, vibrant, active movement in Vicenza has also helped put the spotlight on the issue.
While we did receive some support from members of Congress, we all know they won’t move without pressure from constituents. If your representative or senators are on the committees that count, or even if they’re not, please contact them letting them know you stand with the people of Vicenza in opposing the new U.S. base at Dal Molin.
House Readiness Subcommittee (Armed Services) http://www.house.gov/hasc/subcommittee.shtml
House Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (Appropriations) http://appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/sub_mivet.shtml
Senate Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support http://armed-services.senate.gov/scmembrs.htm#subrm
Senate Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies http://appropriations.senate.gov/military.cfm
Stephanie Westbrook
PS: As with 2007, the best part of our trip was staying at the CodePink house. The house is now open to activists staying in DC, so if you need a place to stay, this is the best in the district! (http://codepinkalert.org/form.php?modin=74) And drop by for the Wednesday potluck if you are in the area. For more on CodePink, see their web site (http://codepinkalert.org) as well as this article on The Nation on the eve of the inauguration, naming CodePink Most Valuable Progressives: http://tinyurl.com/ddzlg8
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