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Outrage as US soldiers kill hostage rescue hero
The Observer ^ | Sunday March 6, 2005 | Philip Willan Rome

Posted on 03/05/2005 6:21:41 PM PST by Lessismore

Bush promises Italian leader a full investigation

The Italian journalist kidnapped in Iraq arrived back in Rome yesterday as fury and confusion grew over the circumstances in which she was shot and one of her rescuers was killed by American soldiers. The shooting in Iraq on Friday evening, which occurred as Giuliana Sgrena was being driven to freedom after being released by her captors, was fuelling anti-war activists in Italy and putting pressure on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

'The hardest moment was when I saw the person who had saved me die in my arms,' she said. Her poignant words and weak, haggard appearance as she had to be helped from the jet that brought her back from Baghdad are fuelling national rage.

Berlusconi, a staunch ally of the US who defied widespread public opposition to the Iraq war and sent 3,000 troops, took the rare step of summoning US ambassador Mel Sembler to his office.

He demanded that the US 'leave no stone unturned' in investigating the incident. President George Bush called Berlusconi to promise a full investigation.

Sgrena, 56, a journalist for the Communist newspaper Il Manifesto, was hit in the shoulder when US soldiers opened fire on the car she was travelling in as it approached a checkpoint less than a mile from Baghdad airport. The Italian secret service officer who had negotiated her release was killed as he shielded her from the gunfire. Two of his colleagues were also hurt.

Berlusconi prides himself on his close personal friendship with President George Bush, but he was grim-faced when he told reporters that someone would have to take responsibility 'for such a grave incident'.

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.

Italian newspapers reported yesterday that Sgrena had been in the hands of former Saddam loyalists and criminals, and that a ransom of between £4 million and £5 million had been paid for her release. The military intelligence officer who lost his life, Nicola Calipari, 51, was hailed as a national hero.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: allies; berlusconi; bush43; checkpoint; communists; hostages; iraq; italy; journalist; probe; sgrena; sheisacommunist
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To: A. Pole
I start to wonder if such attitude could be the motive.

Again, what is your point? You're just sounding silly.

41 posted on 03/05/2005 6:49:10 PM PST by saquin
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To: Lessismore

bullshit.


42 posted on 03/05/2005 6:51:11 PM PST by johnb838 ("You Have Ruled, Now Let Us See You Enforce" Need some wood?)
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To: DTogo
The Americans shone a flashlight at the car and then fired between 300 and 400 bullets at if from an armoured vehicle.

Now there's a very credible story. /sarc

This was her naive impression or emotional exageration. She is not a professional soldier and there is not way she could have be able to count these bullers. I take her statement as meaning multiple bullets/rapid fire.

43 posted on 03/05/2005 6:53:02 PM PST by A. Pole (CEO of CISCO: "What we're trying to do is outline an entire strategy of becoming a Chinese company.")
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To: A. Pole

Motive for what? Implicit in that statement is the idea that because some posters here are chagrined by this whole deal (and a raw one at that) that yes, there was a Conspiracy to kill this silly woman. Do you really believe that?


44 posted on 03/05/2005 6:53:55 PM PST by hleewilder
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To: montag813

Yeah, I don't know who the agent was, but I suspect he's worth 10 of the communist bitch. I'm swearing, but this is starting to really hack me off. We're going to end up with another grab abu media frenzy and I'm sick of it.


45 posted on 03/05/2005 6:54:02 PM PST by johnb838 ("You Have Ruled, Now Let Us See You Enforce" Need some wood?)
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To: saquin

they should have used a Vulcan


46 posted on 03/05/2005 6:54:27 PM PST by injin
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To: Lessismore

How about a complete investigation into the ransom paid to terrorists to better fund them for future activities, eh, ol' Silvio? Whatcha think about that? There's a reason these dirtballs target eurotrash hostages these days.


47 posted on 03/05/2005 6:54:46 PM PST by Kitten Festival (The Thug of Caracas has got to go.)
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To: A. Pole

So what? Are you trying to claim that the US soldiers were aiming directly at her? That sounds a lot like the CNN biggie who claimed the US military was deliberately murdering journalists. Is that your opinion?


48 posted on 03/05/2005 6:55:23 PM PST by ozzymandus
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To: Lessismore

The agent had been in the area since shortly after the invasion he knew full well the rules and procedures -- HE BLEW IT! Get over it Italy --- HE BLEW IT!


49 posted on 03/05/2005 6:56:38 PM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: Lessismore
Note to self: When in a War Zone, stop at all checkpoints. How obvious is that??

Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighting Troops

50 posted on 03/05/2005 6:56:56 PM PST by bray (Iraq has political Freedom, now Pray for Religious Freedom)
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To: CaptainAwesome2

yeah, what you said. Europe is worthless. Turd world sh!thole.


51 posted on 03/05/2005 6:57:11 PM PST by johnb838 ("You Have Ruled, Now Let Us See You Enforce" Need some wood?)
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To: Lessismore

Well if a car is careening towards a checkpoint and isn't slowing down and ignoring troops, and my son is manning the position, I damn sure want that vehicle stopped by any means necessary.

I'm sorry this guy was killed, but it's a war zone, you have to play by the rules.


52 posted on 03/05/2005 6:58:28 PM PST by Leto
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To: Lessismore

Anyone else wonder if she told the driver "Hey I just talked with the Americans on my cell phone, they said to hurry to the airport - there is a flight for Rome leaving in 30 minutes and we are cleared go on through."

She got the money for her terrorist friends, maybe they convinced her that their cause was lost without a "martyrdom" operation.


53 posted on 03/05/2005 6:58:51 PM PST by ko_kyi
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To: Lessismore

Italian drivers - is there anything like 'em?


54 posted on 03/05/2005 6:59:40 PM PST by Kitten Festival (The Thug of Caracas has got to go.)
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To: Lessismore

I am outraged that our troops aren't being praised for doing an exceptional job at that check point.

Thank you troops, by God, I for one am extremely proud of you!


55 posted on 03/05/2005 7:00:14 PM PST by F.J. Mitchell (When the left hates you, rejoice, for you are right!!!!!)
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To: A. Pole

How were they supposed to know who was in the car? And how many of them would have known who this sgrena bitch is anyway? She is the Rachel Corrie of Baghdad, and yes I wish she had been killed cuz it would have shut her stupid communist mouth.


56 posted on 03/05/2005 7:00:16 PM PST by johnb838 ("You Have Ruled, Now Let Us See You Enforce" Need some wood?)
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To: DTogo
The Americans shone a flashlight at the car ....

Translation, they tried to stop by waving a flashlight..

and even these bobos admitted

They THEN sprayed THE CAR with 300-400 bullets.

Yup. they tried to stop them, then started shooting...and the passengers, instead of stopping, counted the bullets...

As if it were an armoured car

Nope, as it it was a suicide bomber

They then took our cellphones so we couldn't call

No, they then took cellphones so they couldn't set off a bomb by remote control

Sorry, I'M OUTRAGED they gave terrorists 5 million dollars...no one mentioned this so far....

57 posted on 03/05/2005 7:01:48 PM PST by LadyDoc (liberals only love politically correct poor people)
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To: shellshocked
"Most of Europe has been at peace for too long and Europeans have lost the basic skills to survive in a battlefield."

When did Europe ever have the basic skills to survive in a battlefield? In WWII they became territories of Germany within days or weeks of being invaded.

When last I checked, the Germans were Europeans. ;-)

As for the Italians, once upon a time, long, long ago, they were the most fearsome fighting machine that Europe has ever produced with the Roman Empire extending from Britain to what is now Iraq.


58 posted on 03/05/2005 7:02:04 PM PST by Polybius
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To: ko_kyi

I imagine she was screeching "Andiamo, Andiamo. Presto, Presto, Presto" BLAM!


59 posted on 03/05/2005 7:02:46 PM PST by johnb838 ("You Have Ruled, Now Let Us See You Enforce" Need some wood?)
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To: shellshocked

"...When did Europe ever have the basic skills to survive in a battlefield? In WWII they became territories of Germany within days or weeks of being invaded..."

Germany is the heart of Europe. BTW - the other Europeans had wonderful hard fighting soldiers and heroes too. The Poles i.E., who fought the German Wehrmacht for 6 years, lost about 20% of their inhabitans in that time. Just imagine America losing about 20 % of its inhabitants in a current war. You would never make jokes about "basic skills to survive in a battlefield" anymore.

This incompetent BS is just unbelievable.


60 posted on 03/05/2005 7:04:16 PM PST by Atlantic Bridge (Quis, quid, ubi, quibus auxilius, cur, quomodo, quando?)
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