Italy's Prodi squirms after U.S. base vote blunder

[Strengthandhonour]

Italy's Prodi squirms after U.S. base vote blunder
By Silvia Aloisi
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's centre-right opposition demanded on Friday that Prime Minister Romano Prodi resign after his coalition suffered a setback in a parliamentary vote over a U.S. airbase in Italy, but Prodi shrugged off the call.
Prodi's lawmakers could not agree on Thursday on a Senate motion in support of Defence Minister Arturo Parisi's decision to allow the expansion of the base in northern Italy, opposed by many on the left of the nine-party coalition.
Seeking to embarrass the Prodi government, which has a one-seat majority in the Senate, Silvio Berlusconi's centre right stepped in and presented its own motion of support for Parisi. It passed by 152 votes to 146.
Berlusconi said the vote had exposed how vulnerable the government was to squabbles constantly dividing its Catholics-to-communists members.
"I honestly believe that after this vote the prime minister has no choice other than to step down," Berlusconi said.
"A government that does not have a majority on foreign policy issues lacks political legitimacy," he said.
Trying to minimise the damage, Prodi said he would call a government meeting "to reaffirm the foreign policy directives contained in the government programme".
But he rejected the resignation calls. "Berlusconi always asks for resignations. The fact that he did it again now could show that nothing new has happened," Prodi said.
"Resignations happen when there is a real and profound crisis. Today, that is not the state of things," he said.
A cabinet meeting on Friday also said Italy would respect its commitments within NATO, a reference to the next parliamentary hurdle facing the government -- the refinancing of Italy's military mission in Afghanistan.
Last week three leftist ministers refused to back a government decree that allows financing to continue for the 1,900 Italian troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of a NATO force. The decree needs to parliament's approval by the end of March.
Prodi's centrist allies, some of whom voted with the opposition on Thursday, signalled growing impatience with the coalition's leftist members.
"The limit has been overstepped", Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli said on Friday, referring to the Senate vote.
"If this was an alarm bell, then it should be the last."
But Prodi faces threats of revolt from the moderate wing of his government too.
Justice Minister Clemente Mastella has said he would vote against plans to recognise same-sex unions, saying he would rather see the government fall then see a bill he considers immoral passed.



source: http://in.today.reuters.com/news/new...archived=False

[Caesar Princeps]

I would call two millions marines in italy, just to upset Communists.
Certainly better than Muslims! In fact I thought Commies wanted to let extracomunitarian (such Americans) come in, not out.

Anyway, I have an idea. We will gladly retreat our troops from the Middle East and substitute American troops in Europe, so that they can mobilize more troop for Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Originally Posted by Caesar Princeps

I would call two millions marines in italy, just to upset Communists.
Certainly better than Muslims! In fact I thought Commies wanted to let extracomunitarian (such Americans) come in, not out.

Anyway, I have an idea. We will gladly retreat our troops from the Middle East and substitute American troops in Europe, so that they can mobilize more troop for Afghanistan and Iraq.

Americans are occupiers of Europe. As long as they stay here, there won't be any nationalist revolution anywhere.

European Communists operate in the system created and upheld by the Americans. George Bush was the first statesman to congratulate Prodi for his victory at elections. All governements of Eastern European countries are in hands of "reformed" Communists (with the exception of Poland), who are firmly supported by the Americans. In almost all countries of Europe we have the same situation. Choosing between Americans and Communists is false dilemma.

Some Communists and socialists are allegedly anti-American. This can fool many people. They babble about American imperialism, but never question the American domination over Europe. Issue of one military base more or less is just a petty dilemma. There are so many of them in Europe anyway. As soon as lefties take over government, they go to Washington to bow before the emperor.

Very often I have the impression that this allegedly America-hating European left is also somehow part of the American domination and control over Europe. American-Masonic system needs some internal "opposition" in order to create illusion that we live in freedom and choose our governments. But infact we don't.

As for Muslims, well, I am not sure. Muslims haven't airplanes, A-bombs, military bases. It will be easier to expel them when the time comes, than to expel American occupiers.

You were referring here to Italy, I am not sure about the exact situation there, but I was speaking about Europe in general.

I can say only one thing for sure: there will be no true nationalist policy anywhere in Europe, until this artificial left-right divide is demolished.

(I understand you are being ironical in this post, but just for the reference...)

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Anyway, Commies and American imperialists, through their combined and coordinated efforts, destroyed practically everything that was beautiful, good and worth in my country and in the whole of Europe. My stomach churns whenever I think about any of these two, whether it be American military power in Europe, or the Marxist "intelligentsia" (Academia, press, NGOs), which is re-educating us for the new world order.

It seems that 62 years of this double tyranny (Americanism and Marxism) annihilated the complete 3000 years of Greco-Roman-Christian civilization. All over Europe, whether in the post-commmunist east, or in the west, north and south, people have the same twisted "ideals", birth rates are extremely low everywhere, degeneracy of customs is omnipresent....

[Caesar Princeps]

Originally Posted by prometheus

Anyway, Commies and American imperialists, through their combined and coordinated efforts, destroyed practically everything that was beautiful, good and worth in my country and in the whole of Europe. My stomach churns whenever I think about any of these two, whether it be American military power in Europe, or the Marxist "intelligentsia" (Academia, press, NGOs), which is re-educating us for the new world order.

It seems that 62 years of this double tyranny (Americanism and Marxism) annihilated the complete 3000 years of Greco-Roman-Christian civilization. All over Europe, whether in the post-commmunist east, or in the west, north and south, people have the same twisted "ideals", birth rates are extremely low everywhere, degeneracy of customs is omnipresent....

It is not so easy, decadence had already started since a long time... but probably the widespreading omnipresence of these two totalitarianism resulted in a huge corrupting power, which accelerated the thing.