Posted on 03/08/2005 10:13:31 AM PST by Crackingham
Gianfranco Fini, the Italian Foreign Minister, increased a diplomatic row with the United States today by demanding that Washington identify and punish those responsible for the shooting of Rome’s top intelligence agent in Iraq. Signor Fini dismissed the American version that a lack of communication was responsible for the death of Nicola Calipari, who died in a hail of gunfire from US troops as he escorted a freed Italian hostage to Baghdad airport on Friday. Signor Calipari had made "all the necessary contacts" with US authorities in Baghdad, the minister said.
In his account to parliament of the shooting, which has sparked a diplomatic row with the US, Signor Fini said: "The reconstruction of the event does not coincide fully with what the American authorities have told us."
He said that the car carrying Signor Calipari and the freed hostage, Guiliana Sgrena, to freedom was not speeding and was not ordered to stop by US troops, as American officials have indicated. He also dismissed as "groundless" a suggestion from Signora Sgrena, the hostage in question, that American forces had ambushed the car because they disagreed with Italy's policy of paying the ransom demands of Iraqi kidnappers.
Italy reportedly paid more than $6 million (£3.1 million) for Signora Sgrena's release, which was negotiated by Signor Calipari himself.
"The car was travelling at a velocity that couldn't have been more than 40 kilometres (25 miles) per hour," Signor Fini said.
Rejecting the ambush claim, Signor Fini said: "It was an accident. 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.
"We ask for truth and justice."
The minister took pains to point out, however, that Italy has an "old and empathetic friendship" with the United States, adding: "We hope that that within the next few hours this affirmed wish for loyal co-operation will yield its first major concrete result.
"We hope that this is not an opportunity to whip up political campaigns and to sow anti-American sentiment in public opinion, which certainly have no reason to exist."
Our troops involved with this incident had the duty to make a split second judgment call....it was an unfortunate situation...but praise the Lord, our troops involved are still alive.
When you're supposed to be slowing to a stop, 25 mph is deadly so far as guys who are trying to stay alive is concerned.
They really need to get off it. This isn't even a blip on the radar in 98 percent of American's lives. And for the other 2 percent of us that are aware, we couldn't give a rat's ass either.
This is from the Guardian so take it with a grain of salt.
"Mr Fini was responsible for transforming the neofascist Italian Social Movement into the more moderate National Alliance, encouraging its followers to eschew stiff arm fascist salutes and distance themselves from the likes of France's Jean-Marie Le Pen. Now the deputy prime minister, he was still dogged by the memory of his notorious 1994 interview with the Turin daily La Stampa, in which he praised Italy's wartime dictator as "the greatest statesman of the century". "
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0%2C7792%2C638579%2C00.html
So, let's let the Italians handle some of the checkpoints and see how they react in the same situation.
I won't condemn the Italians in general, but the stinking anti-American Communists and those who buy Giuliana Sgrena's propaganda are despicable.
Why did the Italians try to run that checkpoint? Inquiring minds want to know...
hmmm...they were within 1000 yards of Baghdad Airport. They had an appointment in Rome to get their teeth cleaned?
Now, if I was the least bit suspicious, I'd venture to guess that they wanted to get out of town without answering any questions or providing any information that might lead to the apprehension of the 'kidnappers'.
"Calipari didn't die "in a hail of bullets." He died from one fired at very close range, probably from a hand gun. And, she probably pulled the trigger! We'll know once the forensic examination has ended."
Where does this come from? Is there a link?
This so-called ' reporter" is obviously covering for her jihadist friends, i think the dead Italian Agent and everyone else, deserves to know who they were, what they told this women, and why she is covering for them.
I just hope we know the answer to that, even if we aren't making it public.
I second that. The Italians don't seek the truth, they can't handle the truth. I wish the President would demand the autopsy report of the dead agent. I hope that b*tch takes a celestial dirt nap soon. She is EVIL and will burn in Hell.
The vaugeness of this statement indicates that Calipari did not tell the U.S. Military that he would be driving into that checkpoint on the day of this accident. If he had told us, the foreign minister would have said so in a very specific statement. This general kind of statement indicates that Calipari told the U.S. Military he was working on the hostage release, but he did not keep our military informed about the timing of the hostage release and he didn't discuss the proper procedures for approaching the checkpoint on the airport road. Thus the Italians didn't know what signals we would use to tell them to stop their car and they missed the flashing lights and warning shots from the American soldiers. The Italian foreign minister sounds like he's covering up for Calipari's mistakes and the embarassment this screw-up would cause for his government.
This looks like a tragic comedy of errors by the Italian agents. Iraq is no place for one-man James Bond missions. Everyone has to coordinate their activities with the U.S. Military.
I saw a photo of the vehicle carrying the Italians. The front end is badly crimped, the hood is buckled, but the car seems otherwise intact with little damage. No obvious bulletholes in windows or side doors. What do you experienced people conclude from that ...
And in a country where car bombs are as common as dirt, if you do not stop when told to, consider 25 to be your cruising speed toward certain death.
So do I. When there's this much folding cash involved in a 'deal' (whether it's 1 million or 6 million, depending on which version you read), darned near anything is possible.
That's very interesting. I'd like to know the distance from this car to the Bradley vehicle that hit it with machine gun fire. If the Bradley was firing from fairly close range...say 70 meters or less, then I think the gunner would have been able to confine his fire to the front end of the car and not hit anyone in the passenger compartment. The Bradley has a 7.62 mm machine gun with a high-quality sight and the vehicle was proably standing still at the time, so the gunner should have been able to take only accurate shots at the engine block area. This case is looking more suspicious all the time. I wonder if someone inside the car grabbed the agents gun and shot him either accidentally or intentionally. This could be an Italian "friendly fire" accident.
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