Posted on 03/05/2005 4:42:38 AM PST by Truth666
Lots of information pouring in:
13:04 Sgrena contradicts the US: the car wasn't speeding
13:11 americans knew we were coming -they were 700 meters away from the airport, which meant they passed already all the controls
13:19 shooting took place while italians had the italian government (Palazzo Chigi ) in the mobile phones
I thought that was the case. You can't trust a stinkin' pinko.
Not only that, but signs with the phrases "DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED" and "KILL ZONE" in English and Arabic are up on roads leading up to the the checkpoints and on the backs of the Humvees and other vehicles that go out into the Red Zone.
I want to hear the msm lamenting our troops shooting at a speeding car. But, I want them to answer one question, are our troops suppose to wait till the car blowsup before opening fire? The media has to be stopped before they turn it into an anti-american propaganda tool. Especially since they are itching for revenge for the CNN firing. (saying troops target journalist)
So what the heck were the Italians thinking? What would have possessed them to try to run a checkpoint? All I can think is that they must have been trying to hide something.
Well they just reported that the Italians PAID a ransom to get her out.
Following this story also.
Simple advise: Do not try to run through an armed checkpoint during a period of hostilities and increased terrorist activity...doesn't matter who you are. Might prove fatal.
I believe the President issued a statement of regret for the incident and I concur... that's about all that can be done.
Fox News Radio reported this morning that soldiers at the checkpoint flashed white lights, then fired warning shots in front of the car, before taking out the car's engine block with, I assume, a Bradley's main gun.
If that's what they did, that's just plain stupid.
Anybody with half a brain knows you don't screw around with those checkpoints.
I've been stopped for random K9 vehicle searches at checkpoints near Baghdad Airport twice and I'm always as accommodating as I can be. They have guns. I don't. ;-)
Just a point not relevent to the checkpoint incident.
It'll be interesting to see who we send to the agent's funeral. I'd guess it'll be someone pretty high up, given Berlusconi's friendship.
LOL! Ask the question, "Do Italians exaggerate?"
Worse than that, and behind this entire mess is the fact that she is a anti-war activist journalist, who likely staged this entire event.
It all fits into the international controversy about the U.S. intentionally killing journalists, and the hype in Europe that Bush had Dan Rather and other CBS journalists fired.
They really believe this nonsense.
We know, we know. Well, some of us do ;)
Re: Ransom
snip....
Meanwhile, more and more details of the tragic occurrence have become known: According to the "Repubblica", the Italian secret police Sismi had been working with two teams for Sgrena's release. In Baghdad, Calipari , who was later shot, had contact with the kidnappers. The second team stood ready with ransom money in an neighboring Arabian state, Kuweit or Saudi Arabia. Yesterday morning, the message came through that Giuliana Sgrena had been taken to the capital from her hiding place near Ramadi, 200 kilometers west of Baghdad. After quite a number of delays the exchange finally took place near a mosque in the afternoon around 5 p.m.. Because it already growing dark, Calipari decided to go to the airport immediately.
It still isn't known up to now whether a second safety vehicle was set aside for the secret service personnel. It is unclear, as well, whether or not the Italians informed the American Centcom headquarters of their arrival at the airport, or whether this message was passed on by the Americans to the checkpoints in time. The U.S. soldiers at the checkpoint in front of the airport had just arrived in Iraq. They were newcomers, who still had an attack on the same checkpoint the week before on their minds.
So, three unfortunate factors seem to have met: Darkness, miscommunication and the inexperience of the control positions. The checkpoint was approximately a kilometer from the airport area after a curve.
The road to the airport in Baghdad is considered as the most dangerous street in Iraq. Almost daily there are incidents and attacks by snipers, who aim at drivers and allied soldiers. The U.S. soldiers at the checkpoints on this road are correspondingly nervous.
The responsible 3rd U.S. infantry division in Baghdad is offering an explanation now, too: The car in which Sgrena was to be taken to the airport by Italian special agents, was driving towards the roadblock at high speed and had repeatedly ignored calls to slow down, they explain. "U.S. soldiers have killed a civilian and injured two others when (the driver of) their car, driving at high speed, refused to stop at a checkpoint, it says further.
At first, the driver had been asked to stop by signals and flashing lights. The soldiers then fired off warning shots, and only after that aimed at the engine block of the car.
....snip
"Spiegel-Online"....Tödliche Fehler auf Iraks gefährlichster Straße
Translated by longjack
The question may be "what the the Italian communists been up to."
Any video or recording devices at these outposts?
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