Editorial Ta Nea: Rag

One can easily imagine what the ruling coalition parties, Syriza and the Independent Greeks, would say if any other government had invited the United States to develop permanent military bases in several Greek cities. There would be countless enraged statements about kowtowing to the Americans and innuendo about national betrayal, not to mention multiple protest marches.

Yet, the country is being transformed into an aircraft carrier by those who had politically invested in anti-Americanism, depicted themselves as heralds of national independence, and described their political opponents as “Quislings” and “German collaborators”.

One wonders how they would now depict themselves. Would it be the best “stoolie” for the United States, as the KKE Greek Communist Party said? Or would it be something more damning, and even more humiliating, like back when they were seeking power in the name of the country’s lost dignity?

The question is rhetorical. What would Greece receive in return by turning the country into a US military base? How would it be shielded in terms of defence? With what guarantees would US Army officials and equipment be stationed on Greek territory?

These answers must be given by the by the government of the “first-time left-wing” and the ultra-nationalist Right. It need not explain why there is no principle and value that they have not trampled on.

Still, it has a duty to explain with what criterion and with what objectives it is managing the country’s interests. The ideology is its own, and it can turn it into a rag.

The country, however, is nobody’s stooge.