Hurray! The Yanks Coming to Romania

As No Left Turns points out, the Romanians are very excited about having a permanent U.S. base in its country. As part of an agreement that Condi Rice signed with Romania in December, the U.S. will station approximately 2,000 soldiers in the former Soviet country. According to the WaPo:

"We think the establishment of an American base here will be an opportunity for our little town for development," said Vice Mayor Gheorghe Ciocoiu, a former Romanian air force pilot who flew MiG-29s at the base for 13 years before retiring to "this place we love."

"We could feel something happening economically in the community," he [resident Catalin Gheondea] said. "They created jobs and opened shops. It was different -- people had money."

Just like jobs in the private sector of its economy, Germany is finding out that American bases can also be outsourced to friendler countries in Eastern Europe.