The power elites of nations, rich or poor, often leapt at the chance to host US bases and troops, but it is far from clear that the masses in the Middle East would welcome the US military presence but for Israel. Anti-US-military movements have flared up in many places -- Okinawa, Panama, the Philippines, South Korea, Vieques, etc. I don't think that the Arab masses are politically dumber than Asian and Latin American masses. US bases and troops bring with them a host of problems to the masses of the nations whose rulers sell out to the USG: toxic environmental pollution, deafening noise pollution, terrifying military accidents, culture of sexual exploitation, extraterritorial powers that keep American criminals out of the indigenous court systems, etc., to say nothing of the US military's direct and indirect support to indigenous rulers. Even without US military bases and troops, politicized segments of the masses in the Middle East surely are not blind to economic, military, and political support that the USG gives to their local _Arab_ oppressors. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://solidarity.igc.org/>