When Camp Bondsteel was first built in Kosovo, by levelling two hills and filling the valley in between, it was touted as the prototype of the military bases the United States planned to set up in Iraq. That was obviously a long time ago. I've been "covering" Camp Bondsteel since 2005 and writing updates on the blog, as well as DailyKos, from time to time--most recently here.
There has not been much action to attraction U.S. media attention in this part of the world. Which is a good thing. And because good things deserve to be noticed, here's an update, provided by what is, presumably, the public relations arm of the Pentagon. Note that waste treatment, recycling and conservation are prominently addressed.
Camp Bondsteel was one of the first places Vice President Biden visited in 2009. He said then, as reported in the National Journal:
...I was here before it was built, I was here while it was being built, and I keep coming back — one, it’s been built — because, damn, I love the food. (Laughter.) Do they still have ice cream in the mess? Well, that’s why I came, I just want you to know. (Laughter.)
...
A few years ago — as was mentioned, I have a son in Iraq, but a few years ago another Biden visited here as a member of the Justice Department, the United States Justice Department’s sole representative here in Kosovo, right after the war while things were still kind of dicey — and they’re always dicey — trying to help them put together rule of law, train their judges, and train their prosecutors — that was my son, Beau.
...
I’ll never forget going into Romania early on, meeting with the Romanian President, and him saying, “You’re the only nation that’s ever come, conquered, and left without taking anything.” Ladies and gentlemen, that’s America. That’s who we are. And that’s who you — that’s who you advertise to the whole world who we are.
I think the little video attests, even though it's already a year old, that the Vice President's intent is being accomplished.