'저는 그들의 땅을 지키기 위하여 싸웠던 인디안들의 이야기를 기억합니다. 백인들이 그들의 신성한 숲에 도로를 만들기 위하여 나무들을 잘랐습니다. 매일밤 인디안들이 나가서 백인들이 만든 그 길을 해체하면 그 다음 날 백인들이 와서 도로를 다시 짓곤 했습니다. 한동안 그 것이 반복되었습니다. 그러던 어느날, 숲에서 가장 큰 나무가 백인들이 일할 동안 그들 머리 위로 떨어져 말과 마차들을 파괴하고 그들 중 몇몇을 죽였습니다. 그러자 백인들은 떠났고 결코 다시 오지 않았습니다….' (브루스 개그논)





For any updates on the struggle against the Jeju naval base, please go to savejejunow.org and facebook no naval base on Jeju. The facebook provides latest updates.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Text Fwd: Italian film questions U.S. troop presence [in Vicenza and Okinawa]

* Text sent from J. D. on July 7, 2010
________________________________________________________________

Below is the Youtube Video of Standing Army film documentary (Video URL)



________________________________________________________________

Italian film questions U.S. troop presence


BY SHINYA MINAMISHIMA
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2010/07/07

ROME--Two young Italian filmmakers have posed an intriguing question in a documentary that focuses on a U.S. Army base in their country and touches on the situation in Okinawa Prefecture.

They sought to find out why U.S. troops continue to be deployed worldwide more than six decades after the end of World War II. The documentary "Standing Army" was completed recently by filmmaker Enrico Parenti, 31, and Thomas Fazi, a 28-year-old researcher and translator. The two were first drawn to the topic of the U.S. armed forces through a January 2007 decision by the Italian government to authorize the expansion of a U.S. Army installation in the city of Vicenza, in northern Italy. The base is the home to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and a staging area for troop deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Some 2,750 U.S. soldiers are assigned to the base. Under the expansion plan, an additional 2,000 troops stationed in Germany were to be transferred to Vicenza by 2012. That would make it the largest U.S. military base in Europe.

The filmmakers set out by interviewing local residents opposed to the expansion. Although an opponent to the plan was elected mayor of Vicenza in April 2008, a plebiscite he initiated against the base issue was crushed by a decision by the Council of State, Italy's highest administrative court. According to an unofficial survey of 25,000 residents by the city government, 95 percent opposed the base expansion. Coupled with the fact that 25 countries around the world, aside from Iraq and Afghanistan, now host units with 100 or more U.S. military personnel, with a total 120,000 servicemen and women scattered worldwide, the base expansion prompted the two to seek answers.

Their theme had a special meaning, particularly as Italians remain ambivalent about the continued U.S. presence after Italian fascist forces were defeated by U.S. and British troops in World War II. Many Italians sided with the Allies as part of the partisan movement. Parenti's mother is a U.S. citizen and his maternal grandfather and uncle fought in the Korean War, while Fazi's mother is British, making the issue especially poignant. Through their work with anti-base activists, Parenti and Fazi learned about a similar situation that has been facing an island halfway around the world.

The two traveled to Okinawa Prefecture to see for themselves the situation surrounding the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the city of Ginowan. There, they watched military aircraft taking off and landing, noting that classes at a nearby school were constantly interrupted because of the roar of the engines. Including news footage of the 2004 helicopter crash at the campus of Okinawa International University near the Futenma airfield, the two sought to better understand the situation facing Okinawan residents.

The film, which has been shown at several events in Europe, was released on DVD in June.

Parenti and Fazi say they are hoping to find people willing to help show the movie and distribute the DVD in Japan.

Those interested can contact the two in English or Italian at (info@standingarmy.it).

No comments:

Post a Comment