Just amazing, safer with the terrists ...

Coalition forces shoot hostage
Friday, March 4, 2005 Posted: 2012 GMT (0412 HKT)

(CNN) -- An Italian journalist freed Friday after a month in captivity has been wounded by coalition forces as she was being taken to the airport in Baghdad, a military official and the newspaper the journalist works for said.

The military official said coalition forces mistakenly shot at the car carrying Giuliana Sgrena. She was wounded and is being treated at a hospital in Baghdad.

It seems quite literally true that nobody in Iraq is safe.

[ 04 March 2005: Message edited by: Rufus Polson ]

1) "Our trops did NOT do it!"

which will be followed by

2) "It was a terrible accident"

which will become

3) "We will launch an investigation."

by then the present administration will hope that the matter will disappear.

Do not expect court martials or any type of real justice.

We know the drill by now, don't we?

As I've said before, the bottom line, which the rank and file supporters of this administration believe fervently, is that American lives, and ONLY American lives are sacred and of worth. If the only way Billy Bob can make sure he returns to Tuscaloosa is to open fire on anything he feels threatens him, then by God, he will do so and that will be just fine and dandy with the folks back home.

Unless people understand that as the overriding ethic, nothing else makes sense.

Edited to add: well there is one other explanation:

Eason Jordan: Journalists Targeted

[ 05 March 2005: Message edited by: Egalitarian American ]

In a written statement, Multi-National Forces said that at 8:55 p.m. (1755 GMT) they opened fire on a vehicle that was approaching a checkpoint at a high speed.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Boom Boom:
I based my comments on the CNN article that started this thread. What other information do you have?

---

quote:

---

U.S. troops "attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car," the statement said. "When the driver didn't stop, the soldiers shot into the engine block, which stopped the vehicle, killing one and wounding two others.

---

How many times have we read this "checkpoint" scenario lately? How many more times must we read it?

How hard could it be to design a transportable and relatively inexpensive "vehicle arrest" device? One that could be deployed at a chosen location and controlled from a safely remote location. IANAE, but I'm imagining large pneumatic airbags, I'm imaginging stout bungee cords stretched between two anchors, I'm imagining gravel traps with retractable bridges ....

quote:

---

Originally posted by Loretta:
Like deploying something that rips out the tires -- don't they already have this technology?

---

quote:

---

..."There was suddenly this shooting, we were hit by a hail of gunfire, and I was speaking with Nicola, who was telling me about what had been happening in Italy in the meantime, when he leaned towards me, probably also to protect me," Ms Sgrena told Rai radio.

"And then he collapsed and I realised that he was dead."

She said the shooting continued "because the driver wasn't even managing to explain that we were Italian".

"So, it was a really terrible thing."

Asked if the car was going too fast when the US troops opened fire, she said: "We weren't going particularly fast given that type of situation." ...

---

quote:

---

...the shooting had been deliberate.

"The Americans and Italians knew about (her) car coming,"...

..."They were 700 meters (yards) from the airport, which means that they had passed all checkpoints."

The shooting late Friday was witnessed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's office which was on the phone with one of the secret service agents, said Scolari. "Then the US military silenced the cellphones," he charged.

"Giuliana had information, and the US military did not want her to survive," he added.

When Sgrena was kidnapped on February 4 she was writing an article on refugees from Fallujah seeking shelter at a Baghdad mosque after US forces bombed the former Sunni rebel stronghold...

---

quote:

---

"We thought the danger was over after my release to the Italians but all of a sudden there was this shoot-out, we were hit by a barrage of bullets," she told RAI TV by telephone.

Nicola Calipari, the senior secret service agent who had worked for her release, was telling her about what had been going on in Italy since her capture when the shooting started.

"He leaned over me, probably to protect me, and then he slumped down, and I saw he was dead," said Sgrena.

The U.S. military said its forces fired because the car was speeding toward their checkpoint.

But in comments reported by ANSA news agency, Sgrena told Rome investigating magistrates during a debriefing that the car was not going fast and there was no real checkpoint.

"The firing was not justified by the speed of our car," she reportedly said, adding it was traveling at a "regular" speed.

"It wasn't a checkpoint, but a patrol which shot as soon as it had lit us up with a spotlight. We had no idea where the shots were coming from."

snip

While moderate opposition leaders were cautious in their criticism, hardline leftists said the shooting would galvanize anti-war opinion.

"I don't believe a word of the American version," said Oliviero Diliberto, head of the Italian Communist party, part of the main left-wing block led by former premier Romano Prodi.

"The Americans deliberately fired on Italians. This is huge. All of the center-left must vote in parliament for the withdrawal of our troops."

---

quote:

---

How hard could it be to design a transportable and relatively inexpensive "vehicle arrest" device? One that could be deployed at a chosen location and controlled from a safely remote location. IANAE, but I'm imagining large pneumatic airbags, I'm imaginging stout bungee cords stretched between two anchors, I'm imagining gravel traps with retractable bridges ....

---

US Marine Sgt. Jimmy Massie left the Marines when his unit killed over thirty people due to their inability to understand when they were supposed to stop.

That was because the marines had an IMAGINARY line beyond which they simply opened fire. He had asked his superiors for a barrier such as is used to regulate access to a parking lot--maybe steel enforced, but one you could move up or down. They said "we don't have any."

Massie told me it even occurred to him to use that every-present Iraqi material, sand. You could even put the sand in bags! Then pile them up, and remove a few when allowing a vehicle to pass.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Contrarian:
EA, I bet you wrote that before seeing my post just above yours. Good nose you've got there.

---

P hotos taken from Giuliana Sgrena

Here's another AFP story:

Sgrena, A Fighter Against War and Degradation of Women

quote:

---

Her newspaper, the Rome-based communist daily Il Manifesto, is a bitter opponent of the US-led invasion of Iraq and the involvement of 3,000 Italian troops deployed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

"She is one of the rare war correspondents today," said Maurizio Matteuzzi, the newspaper's foreign editor. "She has a deep knowledge of the Islamic world and she has been very committed about reporting the condition of women in that world."

"She rejected the idea of being 'embedded' (with the troops under military supervision) and opted to do very personal reportage," said Loris Campetti, one of her editors at Il Manifesto.

In her last articles from Baghdad, she reported the story of an Iraqi woman held in the US-run Abu Ghraib prison and the run-up to the Iraqi elections on January 30 in Sadr City, a notorious fundamentalist suburb of Baghdad.

And before her own kidnapping, she wrote about the disappearance on January 5 of a fellow journalist, Florence Aubenas, a reporter for the Paris daily Liberation, and her Iraqi guide. She defended the right of journalists to do their work freely in a war zone.

War correspondents, she wrote, "make known the reality which otherwise would just be described in official war bulletins and propaganda pamphlets."

---

Not hard to see why the US military command may have had it in for her, eh?

More from Il Manifesto (translated):

Life and Death

quote:

---

When that second phone call arrived in a palace with high ceilings and wide spaces - so different from our daily working place -, we were there. And we will never be able to forget the pain of the colleagues of Nicola Calipari, how Gianni Letta was upset, even how the Prime Minister - whom we saw there and then for the first time - could not believe the news. We will never be able to forget the hectic calls, the chaos, the feeling of being lost by a place of power dealing with a power absolute and uncontrollable, the power of was, of who makes it and directs it. «Nicola died, Giuliana is wounded»: a bit crying, a bit asking for more details of the wound of Giuliana, knowing she was there, with the American guns pointing at her, bleeding who knows how, asking she would be brought immediately to the hospital. Then we heard the wound was not serious, only superficial on the shoulder, because the bullet which could have killed her had first gone through the body of Nicola Calipari. Who saved her. For the second time.

---

I keep thinking it possible that you could "break" this story and that it could in turn break the proverbial "camel's back".

quote:

---

Originally posted by James:
E.A., glad you are not letting this die. I too "smelled a rat" on this from the start. But your nose on such is far more attuned and your sources far more connected.

I keep thinking it possible that you could "break" this story and that it could in turn break the proverbial "camel's back".

Go for it ! I'll be able to say " I sort of knew him then" Carry on, then.

---

Oh, I wish I had as much power and reach as you ascibe to me! But then they'd probably be shooting at me too. Ah, well, it seems the international press is starting to crack this nut and I also think that the more leftist journalists are going to go apeshit in finding the real story, rightly thinking that one of their own had been marked for death by the US.

Here's another take from The Guardian just an hour ago:

Outrage as US soldiers kill hostage rescue hero

quote:

---

The US Army claimed the Italians' vehicle had been seen as a threat because it was travelling at speed and failed to stop at the checkpoint despite warning shots being fired by the soldiers. A State Department official in Washington said the Italians had failed to inform the military of Sgrena's release.

Italian reconstruction of the incident is significantly different. Sgrena told colleagues the vehicle was not travelling fast and had already passed several checkpoints on its way to the airport. The Americans shone a flashlight at the car and then fired between 300 and 400 bullets at if from an armoured vehicle. Rather than calling immediately for assistance for the wounded Italians, the soldiers' first move was to confiscate their weapons and mobile phones and they were prevented from resuming contact with Rome for more than an hour.

Enzo Bianco, the opposition head of the parliamentary committee that oversees Italy's secret services, described the American account as unbelievable. 'They talk of a car travelling at high speed, and that is not possible because there was heavy rain in Baghdad and you can't travel at speed on that road,' Bianco said. 'They speak of an order to stop, but we're not sure that happened.'

Pier Scolari, Sgrena's partner who flew to Baghdad to collect her, put an even more sinister construction on the events, suggesting in a television interview that Sgrena was the victim of a deliberate ambush. 'Giuliana may have received information which led to the soldiers not wanting her to leave Iraq alive,' he claimed.

Sgrena was kidnapped on 4 February as she interviewed refugees from Falluja near a Baghdad mosque. Two weeks later her captors issued a video of her weeping and pleading for help, calling on all foreigners to leave Iraq. Italian journalists were subsequently withdrawn from the city after intelligence warnings of a heightened threat to their safety.

---

quote:

---

Sgrena told colleagues the vehicle was not travelling fast and had already passed several checkpoints on its way to the airport. The Americans shone a flashlight at the car and then fired between 300 and 400 bullets at if from an armoured vehicle. Rather than calling immediately for assistance for the wounded Italians, the soldiers' first move was to confiscate their weapons and mobile phones and they were prevented from resuming contact with Rome for more than an hour.

---

She must feel incredibly lucky to be still alive.

quote:

---

What doesn't make sense to me is why would this car with these people who understand the way checkpoints operate (one a seasoned journalist, the other an Italian security agent) would charge a marked checkpoint in the manner described? It makes little sense. And what's more, the Americans knew the journalist had just been released and they were enroute to safety. Something clearly smells here.

---

quote:

---

And I think, ferchissakes, why can't the military come up with something better than bullets to deal with this problem of vehicles that don't stop where expected ?

---

Oh come on!

Reuters:
Italy Rejects U.S. Version of Iraq Shooting

quote:

---

Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena, shot and wounded after being freed in Iraq, said Sunday U.S. forces may have deliberately targeted her because Washington opposed Italy's policy of dealing with kidnappers.

She offered no evidence for her claim, but the sentiment reflected growing anger in Italy over the conduct of the war, which has claimed more than 20 Italian lives, including the secret agent who rescued her moments before being killed.

Friday evening's killing of the agent and wounding of the journalist, who worked for a communist daily, has sparked tension with Italy's U.S. allies and put pressure on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to take a hard line with President Bush.

snip

Speaking from her hospital bed where she is being treated, Sgrena told Sky Italia TV it was possible the soldiers had targeted her because Washington opposes Italy's dealings with kidnappers that may include ransom payments.

"The United States doesn't approve of this (ransom) policy and so they try to stop it in any way possible."

According to Italy's leading daily Corriere della Sera, the driver, an unidentified Italian agent, said: "We were driving slowly, about 40-50 km/h (25-30 mph)."

In a harrowing account of her ordeal, Sgrena wrote in Sunday's Il Manifesto newspaper that the secret agent, Nicola Calipari, saved her life by shielding her with his body.

"Nicola threw himself on to protect me and then suddenly I heard his last breath as he died on top of me," she wrote.

Although Italy has denied paying kidnappers in past hostage releases, Agriculture Minister Gianni Alemanno told the Corriere that "very probably" a large ransom had been paid in this case.

Italian newspapers have speculated that anything up to 8 million euros ($10 million) may have been paid.

---

Here is the google translated story from the Corriere Della Serra. The tranlation program for Italian is a little rough but you can pretty easily get the gist of it:

quote:

---

The freed Italian hostage wounded by American troops at a checkpoint in Baghdad shortly after her release said in an article Sunday that her Iraqi captors had warned her U.S. forces "might intervene."

Giuliana Sgrena, who writes for the communist newspaper Il Manifesto, described how she was wounded and Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari was killed as she was celebrating her freedom on the way to the airport. The shooting Friday has fueled anti-American sentiment in a country where people are deeply opposed to U.S. policy in Iraq.

"I remember only fire," she said in her article. "At that point a rain of fire and bullets came at us, forever silencing the happy voices from a few minutes earlier."

Sgrena said the driver began shouting that they were Italian, then "Nicola Calipari dove on top of me to protect me and immediately, and I mean immediately, I felt his last breath as he died on me."

Suddenly, she said, she remembered her captors' warning her "to be careful because the Americans don't want you to return."

---

quote:

---

U.S. troops "attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car," the statement said. "When the driver didn't stop, the soldiers shot into the engine block, which stopped the vehicle, killing one and wounding two others.

---

quote:

---

ROME - The Italian journalist who was shot by American troops in Baghdad Friday, shortly after militant kidnappers released her, has rejected the U.S. version of how her car came under fire.

---

quote:

---

In interviews published Sunday and Monday, Sgrena denies U.S. allegations that her car was speeding as it headed toward a checkpoint near Baghdad's airport and ignored repeated signals to stop.

Sgrena suggested that U.S. forces may have deliberately targeted her because Washington opposes Italy's policy of negotiating with kidnappers.

"So rapidly, a tank started to shoot at us without any sign or any light," said the journalist, who was flown back to Italy on Saturday. "It was not a checkpoint, so I can't explain it."

---

Typical American response: "Oh, that explains it. Their fault."

The article he links to is an attempt at spin by the administration organ Washington Times.

Italians kept U.S. forces in dark

quote:

---

Mr. Calipari and another senior SISMI operative concluded the deal for her release on Friday in Abu Dhabi and then flew to Baghdad aboard a secret service Falcon executive jet to collect her, La Stampa said.
At the airport, they met an Italian military liaison office,r and U.S. military authorities issued them passes allowing them to travel around Baghdad carrying weapons, the newspaper said citing SISMI sources.
The sources said the Italians explained "the terms of the mission" and "the exact nature of the operation" to U.S. officials at the airport. Sources also said an American officer was instructed to wait at the airport for Mr. Calipari and the freed hostage.
But La Stampa also quoted diplomatic sources saying vital information was withheld from the Americans.
"Italian intelligence decided to free Sgrena paying a sum to the kidnappers without informing American colleagues in Iraq who, if they had known about this, would have had to oppose it, to have impeded the operation," sources said.
"If this was the case, it could explain why American intelligence had not informed the American military commands about the operation and thus the patrol did not expect the car with the Italians."

---

Interesting. The Italians told them all about what they were doing and that they had clearance to carry weapons. That would explain why the car was fired on by heavy machine gun from an armored vehicle.

But the important thing for people here is (1) they didn't tell them they were going to pay the ransom which means they were "supporting terrorism" and (2) the reporter was a troublemaking communist whose articles may have put our troops in more danger.

quote:

---

"If this was the case, it could explain why American intelligence had not informed the American military commands about the operation and thus the patrol did not expect the car with the Italians."

---

Yeah but they'd passed all the other check points no? So why would these people be all antsy just meters away from the airport?

Giuliana Shooting, Questions Raised

quote:

---

"Nicola Calipari is becoming a hero in Italy overnight," ITN Rome Correspondent, Fabio Sermonti told the Laura Flanders Show on Air America Radio, Saturday night.

Calipari, said Sermonti, "Was a very experienced member of the anti-mafia police. He was very experienced in the area of hostage-taking, and a very valuable officer."

snip

"Italians want an explanation that's a little bit more serious than the kind of joke we've got that these people were speeding. In that car were some of the most experienced officers in Iraq who know how to deal with a roadblock."

While US military spokespeople allege that Calipari's car was speeding, unidentified, towards an Army checkpoint, Sgrena's life-partner, Pier Scolari, told Italian media that Calipari's car was a few hundred meters from the airport and already past all US checkpoints when the attack began.

Sermonti, who spoke with Scolari, says, further, that "Calipari was speaking in English with someone in the airport telling them to get ready [for Sgrena's arrival] when, just as they reached the airport, without any warning, the [US forces] opened fire."

"They're talking about 300 bullets from different weapons," said Sermonti. US military spokespeople say soldiers fired at the car's engine block. "With heavy weapons, bullets fly all over," responds Sermonti. "From the reconstruction of the events, it's a miracle everyone isn't dead."

---

OK, let's recap - the US military knew about the mission, they had to have known this car passed other checkpoints, they monitor ALL communications in the country. . .

They knew, they had to have known.

More:

quote:

---

According to Scolari, says Sermonti, Giuliana had been warned by her captives that "the Americans didn't want her to get out of Iraq."

At the time of her abduction, Giuliana was heading to an area of Baghdad where witnesses from Fallujah are staying to interview Fallujah refugees about the US assault on their city last year. Says Sermonti:

"She had some information about the use of illegal weapons by US forces in Fallujah that was very sensitive. A very hot topic. There were rumors of some use of chemicals and a number of weapons that are not legal -- like [napalm] and phosphorus."

---

I have suspected from the beginning of this episode that it wasn't so much the money paid for ransom that upset the Americans so much. I doubted they would have tried to kill her for that. It had to have been something she had seen and/or heard - and this tends to back that up. Fallujah is an episode the US wants to bulldoze over by any means possible. The US media has been complicit in the cover up but apparently, some real journalists aren't quite so willing to go with the program.

quote:

---

On the US front, pressure for a serious inquiry has yet to build, and the deadly attack on Sgrena's car grabbed little attention on the Sunday morning political talk shows on TV. President Bush made no mention of the Nicola killing in his weekly radio address to the nation. His first response was to dispatch an acting undersecretary of State to express condolences to Italy's Ambassador.

---

This backs up everything I have said up til now. The US media will obligingly keep silent or report the government's version verbatim and the American people, by and large, could care less. The Bushies will literally dare Berlusconi's government to do something about it.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Egalitarian American:

But the important thing for people here is (1) they didn't tell them they were going to pay the ransom which means they were "supporting terrorism" and (2) the reporter was a troublemaking communist whose articles may have put our troops in more danger.
Dismissed. And the Bush administration knows it. This is only a diplomatic mop up job now, not domestic.

---

Exactly correct, E.A.

Have you noticed that the Sec of State & the Sec of "Defense" have strangely been silent?

Oh, and the Italian reporter was not only a communist but a mere woman! So a few bullets, eh? Who will miss her?

Query: if they shot at the engine, how did so very many bullets go through the windows? Was that engine in some strange place?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Egalitarian American:
This backs up everything I have said up til now. The US media will obligingly keep silent or report the government's version verbatim and the American people, by and large, could care less. The Bushies will literally dare Berlusconi's government to do something about it.

Thugs. We're being run by thugs.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cueball:
I don't know about this whole conspiracy theory thing.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by James:
E.A., I take it you now regard you initail "suspicion" are now laregly confirmed? Personally I have little doubt but that this was an ordered "hit".

---

Yep.

And look, they're getting away with it, at least in the US.

As for the rest of the world, the attitude is: fuck 'em. We do what we damn well please - whose gonna stop us?

Sgrena already said she won't go back. And every other left wing journalist with think twice too, probably.

quote:

---

Originally posted by James:

In light of what is now known, could you suggest some other plausible explanation ?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Egalitarian American:

Yep.

And look, they're getting away with it, at least in the US.

As for the rest of the world, the attitude is: fuck 'em. We do what we damn well please - whose gonna stop us?

Sgrena already said she won't go back. And every other left wing journalist with think twice too, probably.

The bottom line for me is I think she saw and heard things that the US did not want to see the light of day. The ransom money was an issue, but I don't think they would have killed just for that. From what I understand,they pumped more lead into that car than the Bonnie and Clyde deathmobile. (anyone seen any photos? Accident scenes? Anything?) The Americans knew they were in the country - the permitted them to carry weapons. This security team knew what they were doing. They had already passed several other checkpoints, all connected by field radios. The Italian PM was in communication with the security agent IN ENGLISH at the time of the attack, communications that had to have been monitored by the Americans (who are listening to all radio traffic to catch terrorists). This was no accident.

---

If they wanted her dead she would be. There would have been no survivors.

Whatever she might have seen or known, would have been ignored by the US press, just as the issue of the attack is being ignored, as you have pointed out.

In fact the incident only looks bad.

[ 07 March 2005: Message edited by: Cueball ]

[ 07 March 2005: Message edited by: Mike Keenan ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Egalitarian American:
[QB]Actually, from what I understand it was at night. We have not been given the distance that the car was fired from and I would be interested in that. Reportedly they were fired on by a machine gun mounted on an armoured vehicle. At night, it was probably loaded with tracer ammo. It is conceivable that a machine gun could have fired 300 plus rounds in a given space of time but the people in the car said the fire was coming from all around them. Whatever the case, if it was at a distance of more that 100 feet, at night, it would be an extremely good feat of marksmanship to hit ONLY the engine block of a moving car with a machine gun. When you fire something up, you don't get selective, I can tell you that for sure. Aim at center mass and blast away.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Egalitarian American:
The bottom line for me is I think she saw and heard things that the US did not want to see the light of day. The ransom money was an issue, but I don't think they would have killed just for that.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by James:
I'm not one to jump to conclusions, but on the basis of information now available, I'll be waiting for evidence to convince me it was anything other that a planned and ordered "hit".

---

Yes, me too. I heard something last night on the news that Italian reporter had been an outspoken critic of Bush and the occupation.

[ 08 March 2005: Message edited by: Fidel ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by James:
I'm not one to jump to conclusions, but on the basis of information now available, I'll be waiting for evidence to convince me it was anything other that a planned and ordered "hit".

---

quote:

---

The U.S. military than said that soldiers had used "hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots" to try to get the car to stop.

But in an interview with Italian La 7 TV, Sgrena said "there was no bright light, no signal, and at a certain point, from one side, a firestorm erupted."

When The Associated Press in Baghdad asked the U.S. military to see the vehicle on Saturday, the military said it didn't know where it was.

The chief editor of Sgrena's newspaper Il Manifesto Gabriele Polo meanwhile branded Calipari's death a "murder".

---

Italy Foreign Minister Disputes U.S. Claim

quote:

---

Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini told parliament that the car carrying the intelligence officer and an ex-hostage to freedom was not speeding and was not ordered to stop by U.S. troops at a checkpoint, contrary to what U.S. officials say.

However, he also dismissed allegations that the Friday shooting that killed Nicola Calipari was an ambush - a claim made by the released hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena.

``It was an accident,'' Fini told lawmakers. ``This does not prevent, in fact it makes it a duty for the government to demand that light be shed on the murky issues, that responsibilities be pinpointed, and, where found, that the culprits be punished.''

snip

In Baghdad, a video purportedly made by the insurgents who kidnapped Sgrena claimed the group did not receive any ransom for her release.

The tape showed footage of Sgrena shortly before she was freed, and the claim was made by a man off-camera reading a statement. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the tape, which was dropped off anonymously at the offices of Associated Press Television News in Baghdad.

The voice on the tape said Sgrena was released with no ransom ``even though we were offered that.''

It added that ``the resistance refuses (to be paid). We hope that all journalists around the world would be released.''

A written statement shown on screen and read by the man off-camera alleged that U.S. forces deliberately targeted Sgrena.

``America has cheated its close ally Italy by attempting to assassinate the Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena,'' the statement said. ``The resistance has learned from its private sources in the heart of America that the CIA decided to kill the journalist.''

---

Reuters

quote:

---

Fini Tuesday gave a long account of Calipari's fatal mission to Baghdad but made no mention of any ransom. He said Rome had never considered a military swoop to free Sgrena for fear such an operation would endanger her life.

He said Calipari arrived in Baghdad Friday afternoon after establishing contact with the kidnappers. He checked in with U.S. authorities at the airport before driving off with an Italian colleague to meet an Iraqi middleman.

The middleman took them to Sgrena, who was seated in the wreckage of a car, dressed in black robes and wearing a mask.

On the drive back to the airport, the Italians left the lights on in the car to help identify them to U.S. checkpoints.

As they neared the airport, the car slowed to about 40-km/h because the road was wet and because the driver had to make a sharp turning. Half way around the curve, a searchlight picked out the car and guns opened fire for 10-15 seconds, Fini said.

The intelligence officer who survived the attack was forced to kneel in the road until the soldiers realized who he was.

"Two young Americans approached our officer and, demoralized, repeatedly apologized for what had happened," Fini said.

---

Reaction on Deutsche Welle

quote:

---

Is there any doubt that the US forces were ordered to assassinate Giuliana Sgrena? Before going any further, consider the record of US occupation forces in Iraq to begin with. Note that all the foreign journalist and TV crews murdered by US forces were not embedded ones. Note that all the embedded journalists and TV crews were safe, because they were part of the US propaganda machine, hence they were protected. It does not matter if you are a foreign journalist -- in Iraq, you will become fair game for the US forces on orders by the White House. No one should expect the Bush regime to obey international covenants, because it believes that it is above the law. -- Kenneth T. Tellis, Canada

---

Iraqi blogger - go and check the links.

quote:

---

"A few facts to consider:
1. The agent who was killed died while shielding Sgrena with his own body, according to Reuters. "He leaned over me, probably to protect me, and then he slumped down, and I saw he was dead," she said. This could mean one of two things: Either the agent was reacting as trained to the gunfire and was protecting his principle, or he saw that she was the target of the fire.
2. Pier Scolari, companion to Sgrena, has stated the attack was deliberate, according to Agence France Presse. "The Americans and Italians knew about (her) car coming," Scolari said. "They were 700 meters (yards) from the airport, which means that they had passed all checkpoints. Giuliana had information, and the US military did not want her to survive."
3. The chief editor of Sgrena's newspaper Il Manifesto, Gabriele Polo, branded Calipari's death a "murder". "He was hit in the head," he said.
4. For a journalist like Sgrena to be deliberately targeted, a motive would have to exist. An examination of the work she was doing in Iraq, particularly about the annihilation of Fallujah, makes it clear that she was disbursing information the U.S. military and civilian command structure do not want widely known.

A few examples of her reports:
Ten thousand Iraqis in US and British prisons
Napalm Raid on Falluja?
The death throes of Fallujah
Interview with an Iraki woman tortured at Abu Graib

A longer and more detailed examination of these allegations has been written by Luciana Bohne at Online Journal. Give that article a careful read."
Another Journalist Deliberately Targeted? William Pitt, March 6, 2005

Naomi Klein succinctly explains below the intent of the US occupier's policy: "In Iraq, US forces and their Iraqi surrogates are no longer bothering to conceal attacks on civilian targets and are openly eliminating anyone - doctors, clerics, journalists - who dares to count the bodies."

---

quote:

---

"Two young Americans approached our officer and, demoralized, repeatedly apologized for what had happened," Fini said.

---

It would be most interesting to hear the communication between these young soldiers and their commanders, prior to the murder*. I wonder if they were told to keep alert for a carload of insurgents (or something like the same) after the Italian car cleared the other checkpoints. Or, alternatively, if they had no communication (directly or second-hand) with the checkpoints at all?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mike Keenan:
Hmm. They lost it? That's a bit weird. I mean, it's not likely that it was stolen; I doubt it was in any condition to drive.

That does smell of a coverup, even if it's just their own incompetence and/or trigger-happiness that they're trying to hide.

---

After a cursory "investigation", it is ignored. Just boys being boys, I guess.

quote:

---

"I know the women were Iraqi. I however don't know if they were raped, or were prostitutes, or just wanted sex," one soldier told investigators.

---

And along comes an actual reporter who actually investigates such things as rapes by US forces.

quote:

---

Myself, I'm waiting to hear more of what she has to say. I still don't see the benefit in rubbing her out when, as Cueball points out, the US media would likely ignore whatever she has to say anyhow. Of course, given all the things you've pointed to, it would mean gross incompetence on the part of the Americans, but it wouldn't be the first time that happened.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cueball:

If they wanted her dead she would be. There would have been no survivors.

---

I tend to agree with this. Coalition roadblocks in Iraq are notoriously sloppy. US assassinations are notoriously secretive. I would not be surprised at all if the US wanted to take her out. But I would be shocked if spraying an Italian Secret Service vehicle at such long range was the way they did it.

[ 08 March 2005: Message edited by: vmichel ]

I doubt that any of the people wanting her dead where actually part of the group pulling the triggers. If they were, then it would be reasonable to assume that if they wanted everyone dead, they would all indeed be dead.

More likely the people doing the shooting were just ordinary soldiers doing their job, but "warned" of an imminent terrorist car bomber, or some other such "security trigger" that would have the affect of "forcing" the soldiers to believe they were facing an oncoming terrorist car bombing attack.

Guardian Political Cartoon

[ 08 March 2005: Message edited by: smokingeatingdrinkingprohibited ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by No Yards:
I think the answer to that question was already proposed above.

I doubt that any of the people wanting her dead where actually part of the group pulling the triggers. If they were, then it would be reasonable to assume that if they wanted everyone dead, they would all indeed be dead.

More likely the people doing the shooting were just ordinary soldiers doing their job, but "warned" of an imminent terrorist car bomber, or some other such "security trigger" that would have the affect of "forcing" the soldiers to believe they were facing an oncoming terrorist car bombing attack.

I'm sure the people providing the misinformation were counting on the likelyhood that there would not be any survivors.

---

I keep coming back to this:

quote:

---

Italian reconstruction of the incident is significantly different. Sgrena told colleagues the vehicle was not travelling fast and had already passed several checkpoints on its way to the airport. The Americans shone a flashlight at the car and then fired between 300 and 400 bullets at if from an armoured vehicle. Rather than calling immediately for assistance for the wounded Italians, the soldiers' first move was to confiscate their weapons and mobile phones and they were prevented from resuming contact with Rome for more than an hour.

---

Pittsburtgh Tribune Review

quote:

---

The unfortunate firing on the car carrying released hostage Giuliana Sgrena by U.S. forces in Iraq quickly devolved into an outlandish accusation by the reporter for the communist daily Il Manifesto. But consider the source and consider the circumstances.
Ms. Sgrena, 57, a veteran war scribe for a newspaper that opposes Italy's involvement in the war, was abducted by gunmen on Feb. 4 outside Baghdad University. She was released for a ransom reported to be $6 million.

---

Nothing from Hannity: News Hounds

quote:

---

The tragic story of the Italian journalist released by her Iraqi captors and fired on by American troops minutes before reaching the Baghdad airport has all the elements that H&C find compelling.Every story with similar themes have been quickly covered on H&C in the past. So why was the story conspicuously absent tonight?

Here was a perfect opportunity for Hannity to condemn an ungrateful European ally for demanding an investigation. Sgrena, a member of the left wing media elite, would have been a perfect target for Hannity's wrath. Bush was dissed by the Italians who not only negotiated with the kidnappers but also claimed that the American attack was intentional.

---

LA Times: Travelling on a Highway of Dread

quote:

---

The Americans have tried to make it difficult for insurgents to operate along the road. They have chopped down palm trees and taken down fences that the rebels hid behind. They have put up observation cameras. They have handed out leaflets and warned people who live in the area not to collaborate with insurgents. But the insurgents keep finding new ways to attack.

On Friday, a military convoy sped by. We stopped, letting it go far ahead. Next we sighted two SUVs that looked like they might be carrying security contractors. Again we slowed, for fear that insurgents might target them.

Suddenly Ahmad sped up, barreling down the rough highway at nearly 80 mph. My worries about insurgents and skittish U.S. soldiers quickly turned to fears of an accident as he honked to get cars to move out of the way.

He believed we were being followed. A burgundy car with three men in it was visible in our rearview mirror, speeding close behind us. We couldn't tell if they were armed.

Finally, we lost them and slowed down. As we drew up to our hotel, we saw the car again — it had been the chase car of another news organization. The misplaced suspicion would have been funny, if the situation had not been so dangerous.

The Italians were on the road at a far worse time. Although there are few attacks at night, there is also little visibility, and the U.S. military suspects every vehicle.

Like us, Sgrena must have been frightened of being on the road. But having just escaped from insurgents, she probably never would have thought she would be mistaken for one of them.

---

Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, Rocky Mountain News, Denver

quote:

---

Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena claims American troops fired on her vehicle after her release by Iraqi terrorists because the United States wanted her dead. And why would that be? Because, she helpfully explained, the U.S. opposes Italy's policy of negotiating with kidnappers.

In other words, the U.S. thought an oafish assassination of a freed hostage from an allied country would somehow give it more leverage in convincing that country to play by our rules. Such a claim could resonate only with someone whose reflexive disgust for America trumps her good sense. It is surely revealing that Sgrena, a journalist who writes for the Communist newspaper Il Manifesto, says that no sooner did her vehicle come under attack than she recalled her captors warning her "to be careful because the Americans don't want you to return."

Sgrena is faced with a choice of sources. Should she believe her terrorist kidnappers or the Americans who denied they knew she was in the car? Naturally, she has chosen to believe the terrorists.

---

Washington Times reprinted World Peace Herald

quote:

---

From her hospital bed, Miss Sgrena, a self-identified Communist, has helped fan anti-American sentiment within her own country and abroad by suggesting that the U.S. military targeted her for assassination. "The United States doesn't approve of this [ransom] policy and so they try to stop it in any way possible," she said. Later, she added, "If this happened because of a lack of information [as the U.S. military has said] or deliberately, I don't know, but even if it was due to a lack of information, it is unacceptable" -- a statement which doesn't make much sense. The Washington Times reported yesterday that it is likely Italian agents withheld information about negotiating Miss Sgrena's release.

Without any supporting evidence, Miss Sgrena's assertion is more than a stretch; it's absurd, as White House press secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday. For instance, if the troops manning the roadblock had been trying to kill her, why did they immediately cease fire once they realized what they had done? Also, killing Miss Sgrena hardly advances U.S. interests in the region, the push for democracy or America's relationship with Italy, so far a steadfast supporter in the war on terror.

But for the anti-American mindset, this is all consistent. Simmering in the background of this controversy is former CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan's comments earlier this year that the U.S. military has targeted journalists in Iraq. For some, Miss Sgrena's account vindicates Mr. Jordan's unproven allegation, which cost him his job at CNN. It's usually best to ignore these specious conspiracy theories, but not when they endanger the lives of American servicemen and women.

---

quote:

---

"the Americans don't want you to return." Back then, as soon as they had said that, I had judged their words to be meaningless and ideological. In that moment such words risked to take the taste of the most bitter truth away. I can't tell the rest yet.

---

quote:

---

As questions continue to mount about the fatal shooting of an Italian intelligence agent on a Baghdad highway, Annia Ciezadlo, a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, goes straight to the source: the checkpoints. U.S. forces employ a two-stage security system that, she says, is both confusing and terrifying. If you were wondering why anyone would increase their speed when approaching a checkpoint bristling with armed and shouting soldiers, Ciezadlo's piece makes it perfectly clear:

"You're driving along and you see a couple of soldiers standing by the side of the road -- but that's a pretty ubiquitous sight in Baghdad, so you don't think anything of it. Next thing you know, soldiers are screaming at you, pointing their rifles and swiveling tank guns in your direction, and you didn't even know it was a checkpoint. If it's confusing for me -- and I'm an American -- what is it like for Iraqis who don't speak English? In situations like this, I've often had Iraqi drivers who step on the gas. It's a natural reaction: Angry soldiers are screaming at you in a language you don't understand, and you think they're saying "get out of here," and you're terrified to boot, so you try to drive your way out."

Ciezadlo adds that among the myriad of reasons why Iraqi drivers might try to hurry past checkpoints is that many of them are set up outside former government ministries. During Saddam's regime, you could get arrested for even idling outside one of these buildings. Old habits continue to die hard.

---

Meanwhile, Amy Goodman from democracy Now! interviews Luciana Castellina, one the founders of Giuliana Sgrena's newspaper, Il Manifesto.

quote:

---

Talk about the attitude of people right now, what this means with a population very opposed to the occupation, but a prime minister, Berlusconi, who is very much an ally of President Bush.

Well, let's say that the population, in general, is very angry. Not because they think that this was a deliberate killing, you know. I mean, there is an inquiry of the judges. It's an inquiry for murder, bluntly, murder. They wouldn't say what really happened. Maybe would one never know. ... In Iraq, they shoot, and they shoot everybody with great arrogance, and not taking into account lives of human beings. And this is the war. This is the result of the war, of the violence which the war brings. And the majority of the Italian population has been against the war, we had perhaps the biggest demonstration for peace in Italy. So, you can imagine that now people have a sense of anger and the idea that you have to pull back the occupation, the military presence in Iraq, is very, very strong. Why should we stay there, because not only are we against the war, but ... if an American patrol can shoot a car without thinking seriously about what they were doing [we don't have a say]. This idea, of the violence which the war brings and that war never brings a new and better society, this is very strong, and people are really very angry. You can feel it in the population – I mean, among the people who were attending the funeral, this anger.

---

U.S. knew hostage was coming: Italy's PM

quote:

---

But in his first major address since Friday's shooting strained relations between the United States and Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told legislators the car carrying the intelligence agent Nicola Calipari and journalist Giuliana Sgrena was travelling at a slow speed and stopped immediately when a light was flashed.

Berlusconi said Calipari had notified an Italian liaison officer, waiting at the Baghdad airport along with an American officer, that they were on their way.

---

Berlusconi is trying to play both sides of the street. On one hand he says things that lead one to believe that this was, in fact, an ordered hit. Then he says he has faith the Americans want to get to the bottom of it.

Oh,sure.

I haven't seen anything yet that changes my perception that the US wanted to "send a message" at a very minumum. I do think they wanted Sgrena dead. And I think they're very willing to take the heat in this case. There will be an investigation with a report issued in three weeks. By then, only the Italians will remember the incident, the Americans won't.

And they seem to have found "a" car:

quote:

---

Photos aired by RAI, state TV's main evening news program, showed the light grey Toyota Corolla that Calipari and Sgrena were riding in, which is still in Iraq in the hands of the U.S. military.

The body of the car appeared to have little or no damage on its left side and front, including the lights. A few bullet holes are visible on the right side _ near the wheel and the front door.

Inside, the seats appear to be covered in glass, although the photos of the interior are grainy. A bullet hole also is evident in the back seat on the left side, where Sgrena reportedly was sitting.

U.S. officials have said American troops fired at the car's engine to stop it.

---

In the end, the US report will say it was all a tragic mistake and gee, we're sorry. We'll retrain the checkpoints. But they knew, they had to have known the car was coming. So what was the mistake? The shots didn't kill her?

quote:

---

U.S. officials have said American troops fired at the car's engine to stop it.

---

U.S. Troops Who Fired on Freed Italian Journalist Were Security for Negroponte

So they were waiting for the Viceroy? Would they have fired on HIM?!?

But wait! Why would Negroponte travel that "dangerous airport road?"

quote:

---

It was not known if Negroponte, who was nominated last month by President Bush to be the new director of national intelligence, had already passed through the checkpoint.

Senior U.S. officials such as the ambassador, who is by far seen as the most important American in Iraq, normally travel by helicopter to avoid roadside bombs and insurgent attacks along the airport road, which are frequent. But U.S. officials in Iraq often vary travel routes and methods so as not to be predictable.

---

So he would have travelled the most "dangerous" road in Baghdad? Hmm. Wonder if those troops were under his direct control. Wouldn't put anything past him.

The first thing he does is confirm something I said earlier and based on my experience in military intelligence:

quote:

---

The top U.S. general in Iraq, Army gen. George Casey, has stated that the US had no indication that Italian officials gave advance notice of the route of the vehicle in which Giuliana Sgrena and slain officer Nicola Calipari were riding. As a former Air Force intelligence officer, I would argue that this statement is absolutely ludicrous. Based upon intelligence collection capabilities of even 3 decades ago, it is reasonable to assume that the US intercepted all phone communication between Italian agents in Iraq and Rome, monitored such traffic in real time and knew precisely where Sgrena's vehicle was at all times, without advanced notice being provided by Italian officials.

---

and motivation:

quote:

---

One can only assume that the intelligence capability of the US during the past 28 years has improved significantly. Thus, the wrong questions are being asked. It is reasonable to assume that 1) satellite and aircraft intelligence (photographic and electronic) intelligence was being collected in real time and 2) that my contemporary counterpart in Iraq was monitoring this intelligence and vehicular traffic (and possibly the conversations within such vehicles) within a radius of several kilometers around the airport if not the entire city. Anomalies would be reported immediately to those in command. The question, then, becomes what communication occurred between those in command and those who fired upon Sgrena's vehicle.

I also believe that a clear motivation for preventing Sgrena from telling her story is quite evident. Let us recall that the first target in the second attack upon the city of Fallujah was al-Fallujah General Hospital. Why? It was the reporting of enormous civilian casualties from this hospital that compelled the US to halt its attack. In other words, the control of information from Fallujah as to consequences of the US assault, particularly with regard to civilians, became a critical element in the military operation.

Now, in a report by Iraq's health ministry we are learning that the US used mustard, nerve gas and napalm ­ in the manner of Saddam ­ against the civilian population of Fallujah. Sgrena, herself, has provided photographic evidence of the use of cluster bombs and the wounding of children there. I have searched in vain to find these reports in any major corporate media. The American population, for the most part, is ignorant of what its military is doing in their name and must remain so in order for the US to wage its war against the Iraqi people.

Information, based upon intelligence or the reporting of brave journalists, may be the most important weapon in the war in Iraq. From this point of view, the vehicle in which Nicola and Giuliana were riding wasn't simply a vehicle carrying a hostage to freedom. It is quite reasonable to assume, given the immorality of war and of this war in particular, that it was considered a military target.

---

quote:

---

Now, in a report by Iraq's health ministry we are learning that the US used mustard, nerve gas and napalm ­ in the manner of Saddam ­ against the civilian population of Fallujah. Sgrena, herself, has provided photographic evidence of the use of cluster bombs and the wounding of children there.

---

quote:

---

Italy will start to withdraw its troops from Iraq this September, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said, and more British troops may be deployed to fill the gap.

---

quote:

---

She told me a lot about the incident that I had not fully understood from the reports in the press. One of the most - and at first, the other thing I want to be really clear about is that Giuliana is not saying that she’s certain in any way that the attack on the car was intentional. She is simply saying that she has many, many unanswered questions, and there are many parts of her direct experience that simply don’t coincide with the official U.S. version of the story. One of the things that we keep hearing is that she was fired on on the road to the airport, which is a notoriously dangerous road. In fact, it’s often described as the most dangerous road in the world. So this is treated as a fairly common and understandable incident that there would be a shooting like this on that road. And I was on that road myself, and it is a really treacherous place with explosions going off all the time and a lot of checkpoints. What Giuliana told me that I had not realized before is that she wasn’t on that road at all. She was on a completely different road that I actually didn’t know existed. It’s a secured road that you can only enter through the Green Zone and is reserved exclusively for ambassadors and top military officials. So, when Calipari, the Italian security intelligence officer, released her from captivity, they drove directly to the Green Zone, went through the elaborate checkpoint process which everyone must go through to enter the Green Zone, which involves checking in obviously with U.S. forces, and then they drove onto this secured road. And the other thing that Giuliana told me that she’s quite frustrated about is the description of the vehicle that fired on her as being part of a checkpoint. She says it wasn’t a checkpoint at all. It was simply a tank that was parked on the side of the road that opened fire on them. There was no process of trying to stop the car, she said, or any signals. From her perspective, they were just -- it was just opening fire by a tank. The other thing she told me that was surprising to me was that they were fired on from behind. Because I think part of what we’re hearing is that the U.S. soldiers opened fire on their car, because they didn’t know who they were, and they were afraid. It was self-defense, they were afraid. The fear, of course, is that their car might blow up or that they might come under attack themselves. And what Giuliana Sgrena really stressed with me was that she -- the bullet that injured her so badly and that killed Calipari, came from behind, entered the back seat of the car. And the only person who was not severely injured in the car was the driver, and she said that this is because the shots weren’t coming from the front or even from the side. They were coming from behind, i.e. they were driving away. So, the idea that this was an act of self-defense, I think becomes much more questionable. And that detail may explain why there’s some reticence to give up the vehicle for inspection. Because if indeed the majority of the gunfire is coming from behind, then clearly, they were firing from -- they were firing at a car that was driving away from them.

---

And the Americans still won't let the Italians look at the car.

"they have eyes but cannot see, they have ears but cannot hear . . ."

Giuliana Sgrena Shooting: 'Payment' for Ransom?

quote:

---

On Sunday March 13th, the UK Sunday Times reported that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi "has yielded to American pressure and pledged that in future Italy will not submit to kidnappers' demands". In an ’off the record’ conversation, an Italian official subsequently told me, "we've learned our lesson", refusing to elaborate.

While the results of 'trigger-happy' US forces have been both deadly and well known, a number of Europeans I've spoken with have expressed concerns that the shooting was purposeful.

The Iraq support Berlusconi provided President George W. Bush apparently prompted Italy to believe it was entitled to rescue its own, as it saw fit, until now. And there is no law against the ransoming of hostages.

On 15 March Berlusconi announced Italy will begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq in September, just days after the country agreed to stop ransoming its captives.

In considering what the emerging circumstances may imply, I can recall a scene from an old black and white western film, one where a land-grabbing gunslinger contemptuosly faces some individuals who aren’t going along with his plans. Angered by their desire to go about things in their own way, he bellows, "I am the Law!", blasting away at those who had dared to defy him.

If instead of the alleged 'accident', what if facts confirm Sgrena's alleged "ambush", and so transform the heroic Nicola Calipari's death into little more than a gunslinging act of retribution, a 'lesson' as to the price Washington may now demand for even a friend's 'defiance'. While most Americans may think this absurd, a lot of Europeans I have spoken with do not.

The same week as Italy decided to withdraw its forces, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Bulgaria did so.

Whatever the reality of what happened is, Italy may well have legitimate reason to believe the truth will never be known. If any absolute certainty exists, it's in the widespread discomfort the Bush administration's track-record on truth has engendered.

---

Sgrena's car

quote:

---

The United States promised 'full cooperation' (1) to Italian authorities in their investigation of the attack on the car carrying Giuliana Sgrena to the Baghdad airport. Apparently, 'full cooperation' doesn't include allowing the Italian investigators to actually see the car in which she was being driven, as the Pentagon has barred two Italian policemen from examining the car (2). This is the respect the Americans show their ally Italy, whose citizens are dying in the place of Americans in the illegal and immoral American occupation of Iraq. Of course, the Americans can't show the Italians the car, as the bullet holes in it would clearly demonstrate that it was not the subject of some unfortunate checkpoint misunderstanding, with bullets flying everywhere from terrified American soldiers, but a carefully planned and executed ambush engineered to kill only one person, Giuliana Sgrena. The bullets were fired to stop the movement of the car, allowing the sniper one clean shot at the intended target.

---

quote:

---

Pita. Read the whole thread then enjoy your platter.

---

EA, that's not the way things work. All you have to do is believe something, state that a contradictory belief is a myth, and that's all the weighing of evidence and critical thinking you need to do. Faith-based reality; learn it, live it, embrace it.

U.S. used napalm in Iraq

And more

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hinterland:

EA, that's not the way things work. All you have to do is believe something, state that a contradictory belief is a myth, and that's all the weighing of evidence and critical thinking you need to do. Faith-based reality; learn it, live it, embrace it.

...oh, frick...maybe that's a little too sardonic for such a lovely Easter morn.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by stargazer:
Napalm used in Iraq:

U.S. used napalm in Iraq

And more

Mustard gas and nerve gas

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by PitaPlatter:
Egalitarian American- please spare us the myth making and the conspiracy theories- they were shot at running a checkpoint.

---

Do you normally believe those who shoot innocent people over the innocent people who got shot?
The US military, an organization which, given the option of telling the truth and facing the music or lying in an attempt to cover its butt, in virtually every case chooses the latter, says one thing. The people it shot at say something else. Who am I going to believe . . . Ooh, tough one.

quote:

---

Originally posted by nister:
I can't find the reference, but read an article stating the shoot-up was on a service road, not the infamous airport road.

---

You really should learn to bookmark this stuff.

Naomi Klein on a conversation she had with Giuliana Sgrena.

quote:

---

One of the most – and at first, the other thing I want to be really clear about is that Giuliana is not saying that she's certain in any way that the attack on the car was intentional. She is simply saying that she has many, many unanswered questions, and there are many parts of her direct experience that simply don't coincide with the official U.S. version of the story. One of the things that we keep hearing is that she was fired on on the road to the airport, which is a notoriously dangerous road. In fact, it's often described as the most dangerous road in the world. So this is treated as a fairly common and understandable incident that there would be a shooting like this on that road. And I was on that road myself, and it is a really treacherous place with explosions going off all the time and a lot of checkpoints. What Giuliana told me that I had not realized before is that she wasn't on that road at all. She was on a completely different road that I actually didn't know existed. It's a secured road that you can only enter through the Green Zone and is reserved exclusively for ambassadors and top military officials. So, when Calipari, the Italian security intelligence officer, released her from captivity, they drove directly to the Green Zone, went through the elaborate checkpoint process which everyone must go through to enter the Green Zone, which involves checking in obviously with U.S. forces, and then they drove onto this secured road. And the other thing that Giuliana told me that she's quite frustrated about is the description of the vehicle that fired on her as being part of a checkpoint. She says it wasn't a checkpoint at all. It was simply a tank that was parked on the side of the road that opened fire on them. There was no process of trying to stop the car, she said, or any signals. From her perspective, they were just -- it was just opening fire by a tank. The other thing she told me that was surprising to me was that they were fired on from behind. Because I think part of what we're hearing is that the U.S. soldiers opened fire on their car, because they didn't know who they were, and they were afraid. It was self-defense, they were afraid. The fear, of course, is that their car might blow up or that they might come under attack themselves. And what Giuliana Sgrena really stressed with me was that she -- the bullet that injured her so badly and that killed Calipari, came from behind, entered the back seat of the car.

---

Italian Journalist: U.S. Lied

quote:

---

Journalist and former hostage Giuliana Sgrena says that the American military is lying about the shooting at a security checkpoint in Iraq that wounded her and killed an Italian intelligence officer.

Days before the Pentagon is expected to release the results of its investigation into what happened at the checkpoint, Sgrena tells Correspondent Scott Pelley that shortly after her release by insurgents, American soldiers in Baghdad opened fire on her car without any warning.

Pelley's interview with Sgrena will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Wednesday, April 13, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

---

How the controlled US media reported it:

MSNBC

NY Post

quote:

---

Now, NBC News has learned that a preliminary report from a joint U.S.-Italian investigation has cleared the American soldiers of any wrongdoing and provides new details into the shooting.

Intelligence agent Calipari had just negotiated Sgrena's release from Iraqi kidnappers on March 4 when the two and a driver headed for the Baghdad airport in a compact rental car.

It was dark when the Italians turned onto a ramp leading to the airport road where the U.S. military had set up a temporary checkpoint.

The investigation found the car was about 130 yards from the checkpoint when the soldiers flashed their lights as a warning to stop. But the car kept coming and, at 90 yards, warning shots were fired. At 65 yards, when the car failed to stop, the soldiers used lethal force — a machine gun burst that killed Calipari and wounded Sgrena and the driver.

Senior U.S. military officials say it took only about four seconds from the first warning to the fatal shots, but insist the soldiers acted properly under the current rules of engagement.

---

How the "furriner" press reported it:

Scotsman: Row over Investigation into Iraq Shooting

quote:

---

Italy is unhappy with American investigators’ plans to clear US troops of any responsibility in the killing of an Italian security agent in Iraq last month, Italian newspapers reported today.

The reluctance of Italian members of the investigation to accept the Americans’ conclusion into Nicola Calipari’s death is holding up a joint report into the incident, the Corriere della Sera and La Stampa newspapers reported.

Another point of contention was American authorities’ refusal to allow Italian investigators to examine the car Calipari was travelling in when he was shot, the reports said.

The Italian Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the reports.

---

Wow. You wouldn't know the Italians were still upset by reading the US media and their typical coverage - "we're the US, we do nothing wrong, move along, nothing to see here, just forget about it."

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hephaestion:

Wow. So we FINALLY have confirmation of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — the Yanks are using them.

---

I read somewhere that some of our stupid bastards were actually making Napalm for the US military during the Vietnam war. Apparently, by what I've just read, Napalm generates temperatures of 800 to 1,200 degrees Celsius after igniting. I'm thinking of water boiling at 100 degrees Celsius. Ouch.

quote:

---

Napalm has been used primarily in the form of incendiary bombs, firebombs, land mines, and flamethrowers.

During World War II, firebombs, in the form of 165-gallon containers, were the primary method for the disbursement of napalm. One firebomb released from a low-flying airplane was capable of producing damage to a 2500-yd2 area.

During the Korean War, the United States dropped approximately 250,000 pounds of napalm per day.

Napalm's increased viscosity resulted in the enhanced effectiveness of flamethrowers, which were frequently used in World War II.

Because of gasoline's increased instability, volatility, and its rapid burning and self-consumption, its effectiveness was limited to within 30 yards. Napalm, through its unique properties, extended the effective range of flamethrowers to 150 yards.

After World War II, the United States conducted an intensive effort to enhance the properties and effectiveness of napalm as an incendiary agent.

This effort resulted in the development of napalm B, which substituted polystyrene and benzene for naphthenate and palmitate. The resulting substance continued to bear the name "napalm" although it lacked the 2 components of its namesake.

Napalm B provided the United States with an incendiary substance with enhanced stability and controllability and as such, became the weapon of choice during the Vietnam War.

White phosphorus, as the igniting agent, was replaced by thermite, which burns at a higher temperature of 4532°F

---

quote:

---

posted 15 April 2005 03:07 PM Profile for Bacchus Author's Homepage Send New Private Message Edit/Delete Post Reply With Quote Ahh White phosporous, the infamous willy peter of artillery with the utterly obscene FFE tactic

---

Artillery and mortars often fire in groups of two or more. The spotter is responsible for telling the FCC (Fire Control Center or FDC Fire Direction Center) where the enemy is. One gun will fire and the spotter will adjust it until it is close enough to the enemy, all the weapons will adjust with the main one. At that point the spotter will say "Fire For Effect" and all the cannon or mortars of that unit will fire a volley of shells at the target. Of course a spotter might just instruct the FDC to fire for effect without adjusting if he is sure of himself and the artillery.

Against an entrenched enemy there are usually several options. WP or White Phosphorus can burn the enemy out and other rounds can create bigger craters, which are more likely to destroy bunkers and trenches. One mean trick is to fire a minefield on top of them. The minefield consists of numerous mines that shoot out a strand of wire. After a certain amount of time the mines arm and anything disturbing that wire will cause the mine to explode.

Of course a minefield like that can be cleared but the unit underneath it isn't going to rush out to help someone nearby without heavy casualties.

sorry - link: http://www.military-sf.com/combinedarms.htm

[ 15 April 2005: Message edited by: Egalitarian American ]

Italian Opposition Slams U.S. Report on Iraq Killing

quote:

---

ROME (Reuters) - Italian opposition parties branded a report that cleared U.S. soldiers of blame for the killing of an Italian agent in Iraq an insult Tuesday and urged the government to press for a fuller investigation.

Nicola Calipari, a military intelligence officer, died in a hail of bullets at a U.S. checkpoint on March 4 as he was driving to Baghdad airport with Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena after winning her release from kidnappers.

A U.S. Army official, briefing reporters in Washington on the preliminary results of the investigation, said Monday that the soldiers had followed their rules of engagement and should therefore face no charges of dereliction of duty.

The probe was conducted jointly with the Italians but the Army official said Italy, a close ally in Iraq, had balked at endorsing the report. Rome disagreed with its findings on the car's speed and whether the Italians kept U.S. troops informed.

The Italian Foreign Ministry declined comment, saying the report was still not official.

Giuseppe Fioroni, a leader of the opposition center-left Margherita party, urged the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to demand full cooperation from the U.S. authorities to determine who was responsible for Calipari's killing.

"A one-sided conclusion absolving anyone of blame that the Italian side does not accept is an insult to the truth and to the memory of Nicola Calipari apart from being a serious act of arrogance toward Italy," Fioroni said in a statement.

Gigi Malabarba, of the Communist Refoundation Party, alleged in a speech in the Italian Senate that the U.S. ambassador in Iraq at the time, John Negroponte, wanted Calipari killed for negotiating with hostage-takers. He admitted he had no proof.

Greens member of parliament Laura Cima called the findings "a big slap in the face for the Italian government" and said it should press for the truth "if it can find any pride at all."

---