U.S. base expansion plans were kept hidden from affected local citizens

Evidence

In May 2006, around the time the Army was asking Congress for Dal Molin construction funding, a Vicenza city official and U.S. military representatives finally presented a detailed plan for the new base to the city council. The presentation came complete with PowerPoint slides, documents, maps, and pictorial renderings, and for many it confirmed suspicions that the mayor and the city council had known about the project for some time. Many believed that it was “deliberately hidden from the citizenry,” Lanaro said. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 904

Categorization

• QUESTION: How did the city council learn of Dal Molin well before the public — and did secrecy feed the protest surge?