AS dribs and drabs of information emerge on American proposals to use Bulgarian military bases, arguments for and against the plans have tended to focus on the geo-political aspects of moving US forces closer to the Middle East and Central Asia. Will the bases compromise Bulgaria's independence? How will Russia react? Why move forces out of Germany and other West European countries?

Closer to home, discussions about the issue focus on how many millions of dollars Sofia will receive from Washington as lease payments or for improved tanks, planes and equipment.

In both cases, the little guy seems to have been lost in the shuffle.

We journeyed to Yambol and Tundja, cities near the Bezmer air base, and Kotel, near the Novo Selo artillery range, to ask their mayors and citizens what they thought about their part in the Pentagon's restructuring of US forces abroad. While the mayors were enthusiastic about infrastructure improvements, they warned that the government wasn't doing enough to educate them and their citizens about the American proposals. Citizens' concerns reflected that lack of information.

Yambol

Yambol Mayor Kiril Todorov said he was convinced the expansion of Bezmer Air Base was crucial for Bulgaria's participation in NATO. Arguments that the proposal heralded more Bulgarian involvement in joint-US military expeditions that would only result in trouble missed the point, he said. "We are all about peace," Todorov said. "We are making these bases to keep the peace."

With 80 000 residents and 13 per cent unemployment, the region needs investment, said Yambol Deputy Mayor Milen Gadarov. Besides expected spending on infrastructure - roads, utilities, and revamped hospitals, for example - the base will put Yambol on the map and help the town attract additional foreign investment. Gadarov was especially keen on plugging Yambol's 1 700-year-old history.

"The fact that there is an American military base here will assure [tourists] that this region is democratic and civilized," Gadarov said. "I hope it will bring more people here to visit us."

The people

Regular folks walking on Yambol's main pedestrian thoroughfare expressed mixed emotions about the expected arrival of US soldiers.

Some people, while cautious about inviting foreign troops onto their soil, nonetheless echoed the rhetoric of American politicians who frame everything strategic in terms of the so-called war on terror. "On one side, it restricts the independence of the country," said Georgi Rusev, a young man who said he was interested in becoming a professional soldier. "On the other hand, it's good to help fight Islamic fundamentalism."

Others were openly suspicious. "There's no reason to defend Bulgaria from Greece and Turkey. They are in NATO. There are no enemies around us," said Dora Gocheva. "It will affect the ecology. There is a lot of noise from the airport. A lot of bad effects."

The majority of citizens interviewed saw the pluses and minuses of the bases and, perhaps cynically, decided they were a forgone conclusion that, while not altering life severely, would bring at least some financial benefits to the area. "Money will come into the country," said Krastio Stanchev, a heavy machine operator. "Expertise will come, more technology for the troops and more discipline."

"But nobody knows where the money is going to," added Gocho Dimitrov, a pensioner who spent his career in the army's signal corps. "The government spends a lot and the people won't see any of it."

Tundja

Mayor Georgri Georgiev of Tundja, a municipality next to Yambol with almost 30 000 residents, said his town suffered over the past decade as the military scaled down activities at Bezmer. "If you take this as a big company, all the taxes from the workers are very important to the development of the region," he said.

Unemployment is more than 20 per cent in Tundja, Georgiev said. The town needs investment, especially new roads. The money the US has already poured into the air base as part of Bulgaria's NATO membership proves that it might again serve as an engine for the local economy, he said.

"This military base has been in this region for 53 years," said Georgiev. "It has to continue existing. It has to be kept according to the new national security of Bulgaria. It's obvious the military bases have to be reconstructed. I'm just thinking totally practically on behalf of the municipality."

The mayor brushed aside questions about Bulgaria compromising its independence. Such fears stir people's emotions, but they're based on unrealistic views of the world. "No country can escape from the influence of larger countries," he said.

Those fears have dominated the debate over the proposed bases because people lack information about the negotiations between Sofia and Washington, Georgiev said. Add that dearth of knowledge to his constituents' poor prospects for employment, and one sees why the critics' voices are most easily heard. The quiet majority of Tundja residents, he said, are reserving their judgement until they have solid facts from which to form an opinion.

"For the past 15 years, our citizens have known one thing: positive change comes slowly, not easily, not with a magic wand, at once," he said. "It's very easy for something to be destroyed. It's hard for things to be reconstructed or to make new things."

Georgiev said Tundja actively lobbies Sofia on the bases, prodding politicians to speed up acceptance of a plan to allow US troops to use them as soon as possible. However, that lobby also reminds Sofia that many fear the US won't take the same environmental precautions at Bezmer that it would at a base on US soil.

"I think the citizens who have doubts about the ecological problems, they are right," he said. "When the government makes a decision about military bases, they should consider this."

Kotel

Other than the annual mushroom season, when locals pick caps sought by chefs as far away as France and Japan, Kotel - a half-hour ride north of Sliven - has little economic activity, even though it hosts the enormous 230sq km Novo Selo artillery range. "I can't say at the moment that the firing range has influence in the region now," said Mayor Georgi Dedov.

The town of nearly 8000 people has 26 per cent unemployment, Dedov said.

Not that the range could ever be a cash cow. Novo Selo is essentially a big field where tanks and cannons practice shooting at the side of a mountain. It's not, and probably never will be, a facility hosting thousands of technicians or specialists. "We expect there will be some kind of employment" from a renovated range, the mayor said. "Not that big, but a small proportion."

Dedov is pinning his hopes on new roads and water pipes, a new dump for trash generated by both the base and town and maybe some funds to complete an unfinished sports complex that both US troops and local residents could enjoy. Improved infrastructure will generate jobs and investment, he said.

He admitted that some of his constituents wouldn't welcome Americans. "Twenty years ago, we used to have training here with other countries from the Warsaw Pact," Dedov said. "Some of the old people are not ready to accept foreign troops. They want it to be used by the Bulgarian army only."

He also reiterated residents' fears of toxins leeching from the firing range into the local air and water supply. He's heard that the US army uses uranium-tipped shells, for example. "The ecological issues are the main negative thing," Dedov said. "People are worried about the army using chemical missiles. But last year they saw the Americans training and saw the ecology wasn't harmed."