Free Republic

Japanese city 'rejects US base' Residents of the Japanese city of Iwakuni have voted overwhelmingly against the expansion of a local US military base, according to exit polls. The vote is not binding on the Japanese government, but could put pressure on a deal already agreed between Tokyo and Washington, correspondents say. Officials said with nearly half the ballots counted, they were 7-1 against the plan. The redeployment is part of a project to reduce US military numbers in Japan. The US proposes relocating a naval air wing, or 57 planes and 1,600 personnel, to its base in Iwakuni, a...

TOKYO: Thousands of protesters gathered on Sunday on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to rally against plans to relocate a US air base there, with reports saying the protesters numbered as many as 35,000. Holding placards demanding the immediate closure of the base and its relocation off the island, about 35,000 people took part in the rally in Ginowan, Kyodo News and public broadcaster NHK reported. “The city of Ginowan strongly demands that Futemma, the world’s most dangerous base, be shut down immediately and relocated outside of Japan,” Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha was quoted as saying in the Kyodo...

Football and pizza point to US staying for long haul By Oliver Poole at al-Asad airbase (Filed: 11/02/2006) The airbase at al-Asad is the biggest marine camp in western Anbar province. It is in the midst of the most rebellious region in Iraq, where thousands of insurgents have been killed in a series of operations over the past year. But get "inside the wire" and this stretch of desert increasingly resembles a slice of US suburbia rather than the front line in a war zone. Marines based in Iraq find time to watch the Super Bowl Its restaurants include a...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2006 – First lady Laura Bush thanked U.S. airmen at Aviano Air Base, Italy, today for their sacrifices as they and their fellow servicemembers defend the United States and help bring peace and stability to the world. Stopping at Aviano on her way to Turin as leader of the U.S. delegation to the 2006 Olympic Games, Bush and several former Olympians traveling with her told the airmen they're America's true heroes. "These athletes make America proud," she said this year's U.S. Olympians and the former Olympians who joined her, including speed skater Eric Heiden, skaters Dorothy Hamill...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2006 – Survey forms will go out in the mail this week to 10,000 servicemembers and Department of Defense civilian employees overseas to determine what they're looking for in radio programming provided by American Forces Network. The survey will help American Forces Radio and Television Service, AFN's parent organization, provide better radio programming of music, news and talk that lives up to its audience's desires, Warren Lee, AFRTS plans and operations officer, said in an interview. The goal, he said, is "to serve our overseas audience with the information and entertainment that they want and need to...

North Korea on Sunday issued a New Year's message demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea. The New Year's message didn't mention a word about the nuclear standoff with the United States. "The entire nation should firmly defend peace and security on the Korean Peninsula by turning out in the Struggle to resolutely foil the U.S. attempt to launch another war. We must remove the root cause of war completely from this land by launching a nationwide campaign for driving out the U.S. troops," said a joint editorial by North Korea's Rodong Sinmun and two other major state-run...

MOSCOW — Russia's foreign spy chief said military forces from other countries deployed at bases along Russia's periphery are a threat to the nation, a Russian news agency reported Monday. In comments that appeared directed at U.S. forces deployed on bases in former Soviet countries, the Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Lebedev, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, as saying that Russia no longer had a "main adversary" as during the Cold War. But "Russians cannot help but be concerned about new military bases and military contingents being deployed around our country," he was quoted as saying. Russia has watched...

BUCHAREST, Romania | “It took them more than 60 years – but better late than never!” This is how 82-year-old Dimitrie Balus greeted the news that the United States would soon station troops permanently in Romania. The Transylvanian villager is one of the many Romanians who after World War II hoped for American troops to come and liberate their country from Russian occupation. Sixteen years after the collapse of the Soviet bloc and three years after former Warsaw Pact member Romania joined NATO, it’s official: the Americans are coming. NO MORE COLD WAR U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and...

RBC, 07.12.2005, Moscow 14:18:50.Russia sees no threat in the US-Romanian agreement concerning deployment of four military bases in Romania so far, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists today. He added that the defense ministry insiders had been aware that the decision was upcoming. However, they know nothing about the size of the bases. Ivanov said that conclusions would only be made after Russia had learned about the size of the bases.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov warned on Wednesday that Russia could reconsider its adherence to a key arms control treaty because of planned U.S. military deployments closer to its borders. Ivanov also shrugged off U.S. complaints against a deal to sell Russian air defense missiles to Iran, saying that it was in line with international law. Russia is closely following the planned deployment of U.S. troops to Romania and other former Soviet allies in Eastern Europe, Ivanov said. The government will react after getting detailed information about their strength and mission from Washington, he said. Ivanov warned that the reconfiguration of...

WASHINGTON — Maryland Christmas tree farmers are combining savvy marketing with a bit of holiday cheer this year by donating some of their Christmas trees to U.S. military bases.----

Rice signs US-Romania bases deal The deal marks a major shift in US strategy in Europe US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signed a deal allowing the US to use military bases in Romania. It is the first such deal to be signed with a former communist country in eastern Europe. Ms Rice arrived in Romania from Germany, on the second leg of a European tour overshadowed by a controversy about CIA operations. She stressed that the US does not carry out or condone torture, but did not comment on alleged secret CIA prisons. She has defended the CIA...

United States to open military base in Romania 2005-12-06 21:09 By Radu Marinas BUCHAREST, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Romania and the United States signed a deal on Tuesday to open U.S. military bases in the former Soviet bloc country, naming an airfield entangled in controversy over alleged CIA jails in Europe as one location. The new bases are part of a shift in the Pentagon's focus from Cold War European facilities towards smaller bases closer to hot spots such as the Middle East. But the deal comes at a sensitive time for both Washington and Bucharest, following allegations that the...

Coming upon the recent news that the US Navy is pulling the plug on Naval Station Rota, the US Navy has just announced the withdrawal of forces from La Maddalena as Part of "Transformation." In a move to adjust its forces to meet current and future readiness needs in the European theater, the United States and Italy have decided to remove U.S. Navy forces from La Maddalena, Sardinia. In a carefully worded announcement, the US claims that "the capabilities provided by the installation are no longer required due to the realities of the new century’s security environment." A cynic might...

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo (Army News Service, Nov. 25, 2005) – For Soldiers of the 40th Infantry Division deployed as part of the Kosovo Forces 6B peacekeeping rotation, Thanksgiving Day provided not only an opportunity for rest and reflection, but also a chance to share one of their traditions with the people of Kosovo. While the mission went on as normal within the Multinational Brigade (East) area of responsibility – from patrolling city streets and rural towns, to providing medical check-ups in remote villages and conducting border and boundary patrols – Soldiers continued also fulfilled their role as peacekeepers in a...

Military officials flatly deny allegations of secret detentions MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU AIR BASE, Romania — In a weedy field on this wind-swept military base, Romanians in greasy combat fatigues tinker with unmanned drone aircraft near a ragged lineup of rusting MiG-29 fighter jets. There's not an American in sight, but the sprawling Soviet-era facility has become a key focus of a European investigation into allegations the CIA operated secret prisons. Top Romanian leaders and the Pentagon vehemently deny that the Mihail Kogalniceanu base in the country's southeast ever hosted a covert detention center, and the Romanians insist the United States never...

KABUL , Afghanistan, Nov. 23, 2005 —Senior Afghan National Police officers recently returned from a trip to the United States where they met with key leaders from the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division and officers from several U.S. law enforcement agencies. "We have the policemen, now we need the systems that help police do their jobs," Afghan Brig. Gen. Sahki Baiani, Afghan National Police, Afghan Brig. Gen. Sahki Baiani, special advisor to the chief of the Afghan National Police (ANP), and Col. Wasim Azimi, chief of Operations for the Afghan Ministry of Interior, toured Fort Drum, N.Y., and local law...

PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you all very much. (Applause.) Please be seated -- unless you don't have a seat. (Laughter.) Laura and I are so honored to be here. We thought we'd stop by and feel the thunder and the fury of the Mustangs. (Applause.) Thanks for greeting us. It's a privilege to stand with the brave men and women of the 51st Fighter Wing and the 7th Air Force. (Applause.) Our citizens are safer because you're ready to fight tonight. (Applause.) You're serving the cause of liberty on distant frontiers, and I bring a message from home: Your...

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. and Polish officials are discussing building a base in Poland from which U.S. interceptors could shoot down long-range missiles as part of a global defence network, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. It would be the first American strategic missile defence site outside U.S. territory, and would be designed to defend all of Europe against intercontinental-range missiles - primarily those launched from the Middle East. No decision has been made to proceed with a missile defence base in Poland and alternative sites in Europe are a possibility. But the Pentagon official said Poland appears to be the...

Icelanders will not force the US to maintain its military presence should they wish withdraw said prime minister Halldór Ásgrímsson at a meeting of the central committee of the Progressive Party Friday night. According to the Icleandic National Broadcasting Service, Halldór said that the US needed to speak clearly and take the initiative on Iceland's defenses. He said that Icelanders would not tolerate the status quo. He plans closer cooperation with the European nations. He said he was not hopeful that a solution regarding the defense issues would be found in the coming months. The prime minister said it was...