For many decades, peace groups and left-wing parties such as the KKE have railed against the presence of the NATO and US forces at the Souda naval and air bases in Chania. Any new arrival of a US warship at Souda has been the occasion for noisy demonstrations in front of the Agora, proclaiming “NATO warmongers out”, “Crete for the Cretans” and similar slogans. The often-expressed fear is that the US military presence and installations will make the base, and the city of Chania, a potential target in the event of direct US involvement in the periodic conflagrations in the Middle East.