18 Permanent Bases in Iraq...I ran into one of the anti-war activists in the neighborhood and she was grousing as to how come none of the pundits have commented on the fact that we are building 18 permanent military bases in Iraq. I heard Kerry say it during the debate, but no one has said anything about it anywhere I've looked. A commentator on NPR on Friday did remark that we will probably have US soldiers guarding oil fields, refinerys and pipelines all over the world for most of this century, until we work out some alternate fuel. It is true that once we establish permanent bases we tend to stay a long time, and a whole culture and presence springs up around our overseas bases. Once its safe, we build US style hospitals, housing developments, supermarkets, gas stations. hotels and recreational areas, and even snack bars along the highways for US citizens with Department of Army ID cards. Spooks and counter spooks establish them selves, US insurance agents and lawyers set up shop, and we establish schools for the American children. When I visited Heidelberg in 2001 I was surprized to see that our presence at that time, over 50 years after WWII, was even greater than it was during the "cold war." I lived over there for almost 10 years in the sixties and seventies and worked varioiusly for the Heidelberg Opera Company, the Festspeil at Bayreuth, and for the US Military doing plays and musicals at Roadside Theater in Mannheim, and touring to various bases in Germany. Another job was as the Protesant chior director at the Mark Twain Village Chapel " on Roemerstrasse in Heidelberg. That Church was ( and is) across the street from Headquarters US Army Europe, "USAREUR" and the American army as well as all the civilian employees and dependants had a big presence in Germany and an impact on the economy and culture. USAREAR Headquarters in Heidelberg is not only on the site of the old Roman garrison (Roemerstrasse- get it?) but also in the Nazi Wehrmacht buildings that we took over after WWII. On the red sandstone gates you can see the bar relief of German Soldiers with their distinctive helmets. I thought all this would be gone when I returned for a few weeks in August 2001 , but there seemed to be more Americans than ever. My landlady,Frau Beck, ( I had rented a small studio apartment for the few weeks) agreed and when she drove me to the supermarket she pointed out all the new apartments buildings occupied by US Department of Army civilian employees, US service people and their dependents, and a plethora of other US citizens living in Heidelberg who had employment connected to the American military, schools, or companies that serviced the military in some way. One of the first modern terrorist acts I remember against our country took place in Heidelberg in 1972. A terrorist war protester drove a car loaded with explosives into Headquarters USAREUR and it exploded about 5:30 in the afternoon. Thankfully, just after most of the employees had left. I was at my garden in Handschuhsheim about three miles away and heard the explosion. Nixon was President. We thought we'd be safe after the war was over and he resigned.