Kerry Will Campaign During Republicans' Convention
By JODI WILGOREN

Published: August 18, 2004
KETCHUM, Idaho, Aug. 17 - Breaking with tradition, Senator John Kerry plans to campaign for at least one day during the Republican National Convention, venturing to Nashville to speak at the American Legion's national convention.

Mr. Kerry's aides said that he would spend most of the Republican convention week relaxing at his family's seaside sanctuary on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts but that he would not miss the chance to speak to the veterans' group, a quadrennial ritual for presidential contenders. President Bush, who has spoken to the Legion every summer since 2000, has also been invited but has not yet confirmed an appearance.

"He's doing it because the American Legion is scheduled at that time," said Tad Devine, a top adviser to Mr. Kerry. "If it was the week before or the week after, he would do it then. We weren't looking for an opportunity to campaign during the Republican convention."

For Mr. Kerry, whose own Democratic nominating convention last month showcased his combat credentials to bolster his case for being commander in chief, the veterans in Nashville represent a critical constituency. His speech there will come two weeks after the one scheduled for Wednesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati, where Mr. Kerry plans to respond to Mr. Bush's global military realignment plan, which would pull 70,000 troops out of Europe and Asia.

"He's a member of the American Legion," Mr. Kerry's communications director, Stephanie Cutter, noted. "He was invited to come address the group, and we felt like it was an important speech to give and an important time to give it."

Campaigning during the other candidate's convention is unusual but not unheard of: Ms. Cutter pointed out that Bob Dole, the Republican nominee in 1996, also broke the unwritten protocol by flitting between rallies and the beach during a "working vacation" in California, and Bill Clinton, in 1992, barnstormed across Michigan the very day Mr. Bush's father made his convention speech.

Charlie Cook, who edits a prominent political newsletter in Washington, said Mr. Kerry's move was unsurprising, considering how close both sides believe the election will be.

"That's why all the rules get chucked out the window," Mr. Cook said. "Nobody wants to be sitting in the chair the rest of his life thinking about the 500 things they could have done differently."

Mr. Kerry is scheduled to speak to the Legion veterans on Sept. 1, when Vice President Dick Cheney plans to be in New York accepting his renomination to the No. 2 post. Mr. Kerry has responded in this campaign to attacks from Mr. Cheney by contrasting his service in Vietnam with Mr. Cheney's draft deferments.

Lee P. Harris, a spokesman for the American Legion, said Gen. Richard B. Meyers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary Tom Ridge of the Department of Homeland Security would also appear on the Sept. 1 agenda in Nashville.

As Mr. Cheney did during the Democratic convention in Boston, Mr. Kerry's running mate, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, will be on the campaign trail throughout the Republican convention, though Ms. Cutter said she was unsure of his schedule.

Mr. Kerry plans to pass most of the convention week on Nantucket. A four-term Massachusetts senator, Mr. Kerry spends far more time on Nantucket than in Idaho, but it is here that he spent the last 72 hours recovering from three weeks of nearly nonstop campaigning. Three bike rides, four restaurant meals, morning Mass and a stop at a smoothie shop made up Mr. Kerry's mini-vacation at his wife's retreat here in this resort town. Mr. Kerry said this was only his third visit to Sun Valley in summer, though he spent a week skiing and snowboarding here in March. His wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, has been vacationing here since 1966; in 1987, she and her first husband, Senator H. John Heinz III, imported a 15th-century English barn to be their home's centerpiece here.

Throughout the weekend, Mrs. Heinz Kerry greeted townsfolk by name and with hugs as the couple went to Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church and dined at Ketchum hot spots like Cristina's and Evergreen.

At Galena Lodge, where Mr. Kerry and his stepson Andre Heinz ate on Monday after a 22-mile bike ride, a large photograph of Senator Heinz points to the lodge's rededication to his memory after Mrs. Heinz Kerry donated $325,000 to keep it open.

Andre Heinz, 34, beat Mr. Kerry, 60, to the lodge by about 10 minutes. Mrs. Heinz Kerry told reporters on Saturday that she would not ride with her husband because "I bicycle like a normal human being; he bicycles on the hot rods." Her agenda, she said, was doing laundry and listening to the river that rushes by the house.

"That's all I need for therapy - no doctors, no drugs, just the water," she said. "The air's clean, the people are down to earth," she added of Sun Valley. "It's good for my soul."

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee on Tuesday put out a news release criticizing Mr. Bush, who heads to his Texas ranch on Thursday for a week's rest. The news release admonishes him for "taking vacation, not responsibility."

Aug 18, 12:03 AM EDT
Speeches to vets group offer different challenges for Bush, Kerry
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
AP Statehouse Correspondent
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- While some veterans worry about the human effect of budget cuts and hospital closings, veterans groups wrestle with the details of such proposals.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars, whose national conference John Kerry addresses Wednesday, supports a Bush administration plan to close some hospitals, a proposal Kerry opposes.

The VFW also is critical of Bush's proposed spending for veterans for the next fiscal year, spending the president defended in his speech to the same group Monday.

The Kerry and Bush campaigns downplayed differences the candidates might have with veterans groups over policy.
"Veterans are extremely savvy voters," Kevin Madden, a spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said Tuesday. "Veterans do not make decisions based on one or two policy proposals - veterans make decisions based on the leadership qualities of the candidate."

The VA announced in May it would close its veterans hospital in Brecksville in northeast Ohio and combine its services with the Cleveland VA medical center.

At the same time, the VA announced an expansion of a clinic in Columbus, part of the VA's program to streamline its facilities known as Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services.

The VFW voiced strong support for CARES while criticizing the Bush administration for its 2005 spending plan for veterans.

The American Legion, the country's largest vets group, and Vietnam Veterans of America offer qualified support for CARES, saying they have concerns about how it will be implemented and whether it will affect care for veterans. Both are critical of the president's budget proposal.

Bush pushed the benefits of CARES in his speech Monday and defended his spending on veterans' health. He said his administration has increased medical care funding 41 percent over the past four years.

Kerry opposes CARES, saying the timing is wrong with the ongoing conflict in Iraq. Kerry also is critical of the Bush VA budget and - like several veterans groups - supports making funding for the VA health care programs mandatory.

Currently, the funding is left to the discretion of the president and Congress.
There is no veterans' litmus test of what issues Kerry must support, said John Hurley, national director of Veterans for Kerry.

"I don't think any one issue would make or break Kerry's relationship with veterans organizations or particularly with the VFW," Hurley said. "Veterans understand they have a voice, an advocate, a friend and fighter in John Kerry."

The candidates' positions on helping veterans is what matters, not their differences with veterans groups, said Dan Troy, 56, of Willowick, an Army vet and Kerry supporter.

"Both need to address, 'Here's what we need to do for vets health care from this point on,'" said Troy, a Lake County commissioner and former House lawmaker. "Be level with people - if it's financially and physically impossible to address all of these things, to give Cadillac care to every veteran, then level with them."

Former soldier called up at age 49
The Jacksonville man is among several thousand the Army is recalling to fill posts abroad.
By GREGORY PIATT
The Florida Times-Union
The scene at an American Legion Post on Jacksonville's Northside one afternoon this month seemed to reflect what Gen. Douglas MacArthur said happens to old soldiers.

About a dozen veterans sat in Post 283 sipping beer or other high octane beverages as pictures of World War II battle scenes, various ships and aircraft adorned the walls. Smoke filled the air as a few of these old soldiers stood at either end of a long shuffleboard table, the kind found only in bars and bowling alleys.

Steve Talley, 49, says he "was kind of shocked" that the Army decided to recall him to active duty as part of the Individual Ready Reserve program. He asked an old landlord to send his uniform.  BOB SELF/The Times-Union    
Peanut gallery gibes were tossed about and many focused on the gray-haired Steve Talley, who was sliding a hockey puck-sized shuffleboard disk down the table.

"Sign me up, I'll go," jokes Harold Cooper, a 69-year-old Jacksonville veteran. "But Steve, keep out of my foxhole."
Come Sept. 6, Talley will defy MacArthur's words and not fade away. Instead, Talley, who will turn 50 in December, will report to Fort Jackson, S.C., for active duty.

After completing a physical, paperwork and refreshing his soldier skills at Fort Jackson, Talley is expected to transfer to Fort Eustis, Va., to update his military job specialty in logistics. Then it's off to Iraq, Talley thinks, where he'll be either a truck driver or a coordinator of Army supply convoys.

Talley was recently called back to active duty under the Army's Individual Ready Reserve program. He's one of 231 former soldiers in Florida who still have time left on their military obligations and are being recalled.

"I don't believe they're calling you back at 50," quips John Jimmerson, a veteran from Jacksonville, as a cell phone on the bar rings with the bugle sound of reveille. "We must be desperate if they are calling the old guys back."

BY THE NUMBERS  Recalling reserves  The Army said it needs 3,823reservists from 114,000 members of the Individual Ready Reserve. Here are the top and bottom five states and the number of soldiers recalled from the Individual Ready Reserve:  Top five:  New York: 348  Texas: 297  Florida: 231  Pennsylvania: 213  Ohio: 176  Bottom five:  Wyoming: 8  North Dakota: 7  District of Columbia: 6  Hawaii: 2  Alaska: 1  The soldiers recalled will not serve as combat troops but as service support personnel. Here are the top five skills the Army will seek from the Individual Ready Reserve.  About 20 percent of the call-ups are truck drivers  12 percent are specialists intracking supplies  10 percent are light-vehicle mechanics  7 percent are administrative specialists  6 percent are combat engineers  Source: U.S. Army Human Resources Command.      
It was last month when Talley got the letter saying his country needed him.
"I was kind of shocked," said Talley, a freelance industrial electrician from Jacksonville.
Last month, the Army announced it would start mobilizing 5,600 Individual Ready Reservists as one way to shore up certain military skills needed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The last large recall of the Individual Ready Reserve was during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, when 20,000 former soldiers were mobilized. As of last week, the Army said it only needs 3,823 soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve pool of 114,000 ex-soldiers.

Many in the pool are those who previously served four or six years on active duty. But a typical military contract is eight years, and enlistees have the option to serve those final years in the reserves, National Guard or the Individual Ready Reserve, an inactive reserve role that doesn't have any units and doesn't require drills.

Those soldiers are recalled when really needed and nobody should be surprised by the role of Individual Ready Reserve, said James Carafano, a senior research fellow specializing in defense issues with the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank.

"When they raise their right hand they ought know what to expect because there are no guarantees," said Carafano, a 25-year Army veteran.

According to news reports across the nation, a few of the people recalled like Talley didn't expect to wear a military uniform again.

"I didn't understand how the IRR worked," said Talley, who is asking an old landlord in Texas to send his uniform to him.

Talley served on active duty in the Army from 1980 to 1987 and left as a sergeant. He didn't want to stay in the military, but he had a wife at that time and inquired about the Army Reserve. The reserves had a slot for him as a computer programer.

He continued to drill with his reserve unit until 1999, but his electrician job kept him on the road and he couldn't make the monthly meetings, Talley said. So he stopped going.

The reserve obligation counts duty time differently than the active obligation. Troops in the reserves serve one weekend per month, plus two weeks a year on active duty.

Talley re-enlisted twice in the Individual Ready Reserve and collected points toward retirement pay but not retirement time. He isn't paid while he is in the Individual Ready Reserve, but is afforded some military benefits. According to Talley, he is a year and eight months short of full retirement in the military.

Now, instead of using his leftover time to decide how to spend retirement money, Talley will use it overseas on active duty.

"I knew four years ago I was short [of retirement]," he said. "I have been thinking about going back in the reserves to get the retirement but didn't have the time."

As Talley's American Legion buddies remind him its his shot on the shuffleboard, he said his recall couldn't happen at a better time. Talley has been unemployed for about a month.

"I am kind of glad that they called me up and that they need me," said Talley, who moved to Jacksonville five years ago. "I have never been in a wartime situation and I'd like to go."

Talley just missed the Vietnam War, since that conflict was winding down when he turned 18. He didn't get a draft number even after registering. However, his Army experience in the '80s has stuck with him, Talley said.

"I still have dreams, at least once a week, concerning the military," he said. "I feel the military is in my blood."
He may look 50, but Talley said he considers himself in good condition.
"I've also been running to get into better shape," Talley said as he sipped his beer.
Mattoon's Brody Walworth back from Boys Nation in U.S. capital
 Mattoon High School senior Brody Walworth, middle, lays his hands on a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C., as part of the Boys Nation leadership conference last week. Submitted photo     
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
MATTOON -- After a week in the U.S. capital, Brody Walworth has a renewed sense of optimism.
"There are guys out there who care about the future of this nation, that we're going to be OK, that America is going to be all right because there are people like there were at Boys Nation," he said.

And the Mattoon High School senior returned from last week's American Legion Boys Nation leadership conference in Washington, D.C., with some new friendships he expects will last a long time. He learned a few things about politics as well.

Walworth was one of two delegates from Illinois to attend the conference July 23-31. In June, he was chosen as a representative during the Premier Boys State event at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Highlights of the national conference included a trip to the new World War II memorial, a speech from a Holocaust survivor and a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, according to Walworth.

He also participated in the operation of a "mock" government, and saw the inner workings of the legislative and judicial branches of the real government.

"The motto of Boys Nation is, 'A week that shapes a lifetime,' and that's very true," said Walworth.
In fact, the experience has led him to rethink his college and career plans. He intended to become a biology teacher, but is now considering diplomacy instead.

"It gives you some pride, and makes you want to do something for your country," he said. "Who knows, maybe I'll be running for political office down the road."

On July 23, he arrived in the capital and met his roommate at Mary Mount University, where the delegates stayed and participated in a "Senate."

The simulated governing body met the next day for the first time, and each senator joined one of four committees. Walworth was elected chairman of his group.

Each delegate had drafted a "bill" prior to the conference, and the committees decided which proposed laws would make it their Senate's floor.

Throughout the week, the full group debated and voted on those measures. Walworth's bill about nationalizing healthcare did not make it out of his committee due to time constraints.

Also during the week, delegates campaigned for national offices, and the Senators elected their own president and vice president.

On July 24, the delegates dined at the Green Belt American Legion post, and posed questions to the Legion's national commander, John Brieden. The Boys Nation group also traveled to the Vietnam, Korean and Lincoln memorials.

The next day, they went to Arlington National Cemetery. Of the 96 delegates, Walworth was one of two chosen at random to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

"That was a big deal," he said. "It's very rare for anybody to get to do that."
July 26 included trips to the Armed Forces Court of Appeals, where the Boys Nation officers were sworn in, and the U.S. Supreme Court, where the group visited with Clerk of the Supreme Court Bill Suter.

"He's probably the most important man in the Supreme Court, other than the justices," said Walworth.
Later, he and a friend got a special tour of the Capitol Building.
On July 27, the delegates went to the State Department and listened to three speakers, the most prominent of whom was Undersecretary of Political Affairs Marc Grossman, third in command under Secretary of State Colin Powell.

That night, the youths heard from Messe Godin, a Holocaust survivor. "It was a very, very powerful speech," said Walworth.

"You listen to somebody who's been through it, and it brings it right to your doorstep."
The next day, the young Senators traveled to the new World War II memorial.
"It was awesome," said Walworth. "It's probably the best memorial there."
The following morning, the delegates said their goodbyes.
"The best part was the guys, the same as at Boys State," said Walworth.
"The friendships you form there always top (everything else). That's what I really came away with."
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com <mailto:nwest@jg-tc.com> or 238-6860.
Boys Nation delegate Gover preceded Walworth by almost 50 years
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
MATTOON -- Retired professor Tim Gover and high school senior Brody Walworth have more in common than just their hometown.

Although separated by almost five decades, both Mattoon residents attended the American Legion Boys Nation in Washington, D.C. And Gover believes it was something neither he nor Walworth will ever forget.

"It was a wonderful experience, one that even 49 years later I remember vividly," said Gover.
He attended the leadership conference in 1955, after being elected governor of the Premier Boys State conference that same year, when it was still held in Springfield.

Walworth, meanwhile, returned late last week from the U.S. capital, having been selected to go there during Boys State in June at Eastern Illinois University.

There were some differences in their adventures at Boys Nation, however.
The highest-ranking political official Walworth met was the third in command at the State Department. Gover, on the other hand, met President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon.

Although Walworth visited the U.S. Supreme Court and spoke with its clerk, he didn't meet any justices. But Gover's tour of the high court was led by Justice Tom Clark.

Despite these contrasts, though, both Gover and Walworth reported that the relationships with other Boys Nation delegates was what set the experience apart.

"One of the most interesting things was being able to meet with people my own age from all over the United States," said Gover, who taught finance for 32 years at EIU.

And they both developed a greater appreciation for the American system of government as a result of Boys Nation.
"I think it really caused me to have a major increase in my interest in politics," said Gover, who is current chairman of the board at First Federal Savings & Loan in Mattoon.

He served for four years on the Coles County board, and has been involved in numerous campaigns for state and local politicians.

Meanwhile, Walworth is now considering a career in politics.
Gover is also active in various civic groups. He was the district governor for the Rotary, and is the president of the Coles County Council on Aging.

And he knows Walworth personally.
"I was delighted he was able to go," said Gover. "He's a fine young man.
"He had an experience he will remember the rest of his life."
PENNSYLVANIA

'Secret Pentagon' hidden under mountain
Place where Cheney, others stayed Sept. 11

By Steve Goldstein
Knight Ridder

SITE R - Welcome to the undisclosed location.
Known familiarly to government insiders as the "underground Pentagon," this is where Vice President Dick Cheney set up shop in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and where he sometimes is when his office is being secretive about Cheney's whereabouts.

The location is a highly secure complex of buildings inside Raven Rock Mountain near Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., close to the Maryland-Pennsylvania state line and about seven miles north of Camp David.

A recent book, "A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies," by James Bamford, was credited with spilling the beans about the supposedly super-secret hideaway.

Still, there is great sensitivity about the compound, as emphasized to an uninvited reporter who was inadvertently allowed to briefly enter a guardhouse.

"I work physical security at an undisclosed location in southern Pennsylvania, that's all I can say," said a well-armed fatigues-clad Army guard as he politely but firmly told the reporter that "everything you see is classified."

There is not all that much to be seen.
Site R - also known as Raven Rock or the Alternate Joint Communications Center - is a 53-year-old facility conceived at the start of the Cold War as an alternate command center in the event of nuclear war or an attack on Washington.

Sloping, round-humped Raven Rock Mountain sprouts a thicket of antennae, satellite dishes and a microwave tower.
From state Route 16, the main road that passes the mountain, two oversize metal doors in the hillside are visible through the heavy foliage, giving it that Fortress of Solitude touch.

Information about Site R is available on the Internet, and its location - and use by Cheney - appeared in several news stories even before the publication of Bamford's book.

Cheney's disappearance to undisclosed locations - a frequent occurrence after the Sept. 11 attacks - is believed to be unprecedented for the nation's highest elected officials.

As described by Bamford, the mountain also has a helipad.
"But deep inside the hard greenstone granite mountain is a secret world of five buildings each three stories tall, computer-filled caverns and a subterranean water reservoir," he writes.

Within hours of the Sept. 11 attacks, Bamford said, five helicopters landed on the helipad, a convoy of sport utility vehicles with black-tinted windows arrived at the main entrance, and tan buses "began laboring up the steep, two-lane road to the heavily guarded, unmarked service entrance. Among those early to arrive was Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz."

The unmarked back entrance is a twisting lane off Harbaugh Valley Road. To the unknowing, the chain-link fence with a double-wide coil of razor wire might be a tip-off, as would the guardhouse and a big red "warning" sign.

Confirmation came in the form of a station wagon with a U.S. Postal Service sticker; the carrier drove up the road, delivering mail to the half-dozen houses outside the gate. He acknowledged that this was one of the "four or five" entrances to Site R.

"We don't deliver their mail," he explained.
Asked whether Site R had its own service, he smiled and said: "I would say so."
Wednesday, August 18, 2004             
Money, memories key factors as many Germans bemoan withdrawal plan

By Kevin Dougherty, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Americans' thoughts on leaving  Stars and Stripes asks: "What do you think about the planned massive pullout of troops in Europe?' "Well, you know they always talk about no threat. There is always a threat. Look where we are now. I think it is political, why they are pulling them out." - Bob Crockett, Wiesbaden, Germany "We've got ground here. It probably would be best that we stayed here." - Spc. John Harris, Tennessee National Guard "I think they should take most of them out. Everywhere you go, you see U.S. bases." - Pfc. Kenneth Ventris, Heidelberg, Germany "They move you around from left to right. They have invested a lot of money here and then leave. But I am sure someone is calling the shots and doing the right thing." - Eddie Karakas, Wiesbaden, Germany "It's going to hit the economy hard here. It's one of the benefits of being in the military, coming to Europe. Sorry to see it go." - Sgt. Nathan Lock, Hanau, Germany "I know it would probably hurt the German economy if troops leave [Europe] because we have been here so long and they have grown dependent. But, it's got to happen sometime." - Staff Sgt. Camisa Mitchell, Heidelberg, Germany "The handwriting was on the wall that they were going to do it. They talked about it for years. I hope they don't do it too fast. How are they going to transfer the families home? Will they have the infrastructure?" - Sgt. Maj. Edward Massey, Wiesbaden, Germany "From a family standpoint, a lot of people will probably be happy. They're still closer to what they call home and can see their relatives. I think moving the troops back would be beneficial." - Maj. Keith Stubbs, 16th Military Police Brigade "Close down the bases and something happens. It is a destabilizing thing. If the Germans don't want us, by all means we should leave. Maybe we have overstayed our welcome." - Jack Leverett, Bingen, Germany "The people are already away from their families as it is. I like it here and the opportunity to live in Germany." - Lourdes Pennill, Heidelberg, Germany It will be a while before it happens, but, yeah, if you want to. Really the troops don't have to be here anymore. - Randall Bell, Wiesbaden, Germany There would be a large decline in terrorist threats. A lot of the Germans would be happy; the country is overpopulated as it is. - Spc. Nicholaus Oswalt, Tennessee National Guard    
WIESBADEN, Germany - As the lord mayor of this historic German city addressed reporters Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of his constituents could be heard in the plaza below having a good wine or two.

President Bush's proposal to withdraw tens of thousands of troops from Europe over the next decade isn't sitting well with the German populace. Money and good memories are two of the reasons why many Germans are a bit apprehensive about the whole issue.

The residents of Wiesbaden have good reason to worry: It's the home base of the legendary 1st Armored Division, and about 12,000 Americans annually pump millions of dollars into the local economy. They also genuinely like Americans, often referring to them as "our good neighbors."

"We do not believe the Americans will give up Wiesbaden," Lord Mayor Hildebrand Diehl said through an interpreter after his news conference.

As he went on to explain his optimism, sounds and smells from the annual wine festival wafted up from the cobblestone streets below. Several GIs in civvies - spotted earlier - contributed to the atmosphere.

"If the 1st Armored Division does leave Wiesbaden," Diehl said, "other units or troops might come" to take their place.
The U.S. Army is spending about $45 million on various improvement projects, he said. And, perhaps more importantly, the military airfield on the outskirts of town is not something the Americans can easily replicate, at least not in Germany, he added.

However, while Diehl is feeling good about his city's chances, officials in other German cities aren't so confident.
"We've had American soldiers in Büdingen for 60 years," Mayor Erich Spamer said. The decision "is a break" from the past, he added, "I'm not happy about it."

In German towns with U.S. military bases, talk of closures and empty caserns is nothing new. Those that host 1st AD and 1st Infantry Division units have been dealing with this issue for months, if not years.

Among the communities contacted, not one seemed eager to see the troops go.
Ole Kruse, a spokesman for the district government in Würzburg, where the 1st Infantry Division is headquartered, said local leaders had been hoping for more specifics. The Würzburg district is home to three bases: Leighton Barracks, home of the 1st ID; Faulenberg Casern, headquarters of the 98th Area Support Group; and Giebelstadt Army Airfield, where the 12th Aviation Brigade and the 69th Air Defense Artillery are located.

"It's important that we really know definitely how the plans are, so we can adapt to the situation," Kruse said.
Kruse added that the district government has not made plans for the military sites, which the U.S. military, technically speaking, leases from the German government. There are some ideas, Kruse noted, but he emphasized that no one wants the U.S. Army to leave.

"We hope that as many soldiers as possible will stay, if they can," Kruse said. "The Americans here in Würzburg have a very long tradition. They are part of our community."

The picture is somewhat clearer for communities that host U.S. Air Force bases.
England, for example, is home to about 12,000 active-duty military members, spread across about 10 installations. The largest of them - RAF Mildenhall, home of the 100th Air Refueling Wing, and RAF Lakenheath, home of the 48th Fighter Wing - are in the rural region of eastern England.

If the bases leave, the regional employment picture would be jumbled, but the local government has indicated in the past that it would try to attract replacement jobs.

On the other hand, Pentagon officials have said the military community around Ramstein Air Base, Germany, home to 44,000 servicemembers, family members and civilians will remain a crucial logistics and medical hub.

The community, located near the city of Kaiserslautern, is host to the largest number of Americans outside the United States.

The status of the area's Army population - about 4,800 troops and 6,500 dependents - hasn't been specified. A spokesman for the 21st Theater Support Command, which provides logistical support to the U.S. European Command, on Monday referred questions about potential troop realignments to the Pentagon.

While Kaiserslautern is in no way typical, given its size, a look at the economic side of the ledger reveals, at least in part, what's at stake.

In fiscal 2003, the Kaiserslautern military community pumped nearly $1.29 billion into the area's economy, according to an annual economic impact report released in February.

The Kaiserslautern military community includes five Air Force installations and 10 Army installations.
The status of other bases within U.S. Air Forces in Europe, which has five main installations in Europe, is unclear.
Prior news reports have indicated that fighter wings in Germany and England may be moved. USAFE spokeswoman 1st Lt. Toni Tones noted, however, the Air Force has significantly drawn down its numbers in the past decade and there is little more room to cut.

In the coming months and years, local officials in Germany and England will no doubt make such claims.
In Giessen, Germany, which has already been identified for closure, city officials view the recent announcement as a second chance to change minds.

As mayoral spokesman Christoph Zörb spoke of the prospect of getting a reprieve for Giessen, he invoked a phrase by baseball great Yogi Berra, which shows just how deep the ties are in Europe.

"We won't give up," Zörb said. "It's not over until it's over."
August 18, 2004
Some Voters Grow Skeptical of Iraq War
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:44 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Public opinion favored President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq about 2-to-1 soon after Saddam Hussein's capture, but months of chaos and casualties have taken a heavy toll on public support for the war. Now the public is evenly divided on whether the war was the right thing to do or whether it was a mistake.

Among those increasingly skeptical about the war are older people, minorities, people with lower incomes, residents of the Northeast and Catholics, according to Associated Press polling.

The shifts in overall public sentiment reflect the difficulties in Iraq -- including a death toll nearing 950 U.S. soldiers, the violent insurgency against the new Iraqi government and U.S. forces and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, which was among the central justifications for Bush's decision to go to war.

``It was a mistake,'' said 73-year-old Mil Jenkinson, a retired schoolteacher and a Democrat from Dickinson, N.D. ``There were no weapons of mass destruction. I keep thinking it's not our place to rule the world. Everyone does not think our way of life is the right way.

``It's arrogant of us to go into a country and tell them what kind of government to have.''
Even among those who maintain their support for going to war, urban battles and roadside bombs have caused a shift in perspective.

For Jim Adams, a 42-year-old Republican from Plymouth, N.H., the decision to use force in Iraq was right and he still supports Bush, but he says the follow-through in Iraq was lacking.

``I don't think it was a mistake to go there,'' Adams said. ``But we've gone down a slippery slope.
``We had good reason to go based on the evidence at the time, but we've gone in a direction we never intended to go,'' he said. ``We've alienated the population. We wanted the population to embrace our values, and we've done exactly the opposite.''

Almost nine in 10 Republicans still say it was the right thing to do. But Democrats and independents lost enthusiasm for the war during the period since Saddam was captured in December.

Overall, about half in an August AP-Ipsos poll said they think the war in Iraq was the right thing to do.
About six in 10 feel Bush does not have a clear plan for bringing the Iraq situation to a successful solution, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll.

With Saddam in custody, U.S. military commanders expected, or at least hoped, that Iraqi insurgents would be less inclined to fight. Instead, a flare-up of violence in southern towns in April led to increased combat operations. A cease-fire with one militant group recently fell apart, leading to more clashes in Najaf.

Despite the handover of political power to an Iraqi interim government on June 30, the U.S. forces continue to lead the military fight in Iraq. In addition, U.S. weapons inspectors continue to search but have found no weapons of mass destruction.

In the August poll, those most likely to say the Iraq war was the right thing to do were Republicans, Southerners, those who earn more than $50,000 a year and young adults.

``Iraq was getting out of hand,'' said Kim Rivers, a 35-year-old Republican who works as a teacher's aide in Champlain, N.Y. ``It should have been done a long time ago.''

Yet among many different groups of Americans, a majority of people now say the war was a mistake. Those groups include minorities (65 percent), Northeasterners (60 percent), Democrats (80 percent), people who make less than $25,000 a year (57 percent) and Catholics (51 percent).

In December, support for the war was widespread among most groups, although minorities even then were about evenly split on the question.

Last December, for example, 56 percent of seniors said the war in Iraq was the right thing to do and 40 percent disagreed. Now, six in 10 say the Iraq war was wrong.

Looked at in terms of the presidential campaign, almost nine in 10 Bush supporters say going to war in Iraq was the right thing to do, while almost nine in 10 supporters of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry say it was a mistake, according to polls conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs.

While the number dubious about the Iraq war has grown over the past eight months, support for U.S. troops remaining in Iraq until the job is done remains fairly constant. Since spring, just over half in various polls have said they support staying in Iraq until it is stabilized.

The most recent AP-Ipsos poll of 1,001 adults was conducted Aug. 3-5 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, larger for subgroups like older Americans.

Joe March
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