Screw Up Or Plan? – Moon of Alabama

March 4, 2005

Screw Up Or Plan?

U.S. Fires on Car Carrying Freed Hostage

BAGHDAD, Iraq – American forces fired on a car carrying a freed Italian hostage as it approached a checkpoint in Baghdad on Friday, killing an Italian intelligence officer and wounding three others, including the just-released journalist, Italian officials said.

…

The U.S. military said "at approximately 8:55 p.m. tonight, coalition forces assigned to the multinational force Iraq fired on a vehicle that was approaching a coalition checkpoint in Baghdad at a high rate of speed."

If this was a screw up, imagine how many of these are happening every day without any reporting. If this was a plan …

UPDATE: Fresh from the ticker

AP: U.S. Secret Service Agent Shot Dead by Italian Forces in Iraq

WASHINGTON – A freed American hostage was injured and an American secret service agent killed Friday after an Italian armored vehicle fired on a car in which they were riding in Iraq (news – web sites), two news agencies reported.
(stolen from a kos comment)

What would the headlines say? And the Krauthammer’s and O`Reilly’s OpEd’s and comments?

Posted by b on March 4, 2005 at 21:45 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Hair triggers and no plan, in all probability B, just like since the invasion(liberation).
Sickening. And of course, as you say, it happens every day.

Posted by: Groucho | Mar 4 2005 22:22 utc | 1

The lack of fire control and failure of leadership has been evident from day one of the invasion. It originated at the very top. The US was going to kick ass and get payback for 9-11. Iraqis are just Sand Niggers anyway.
The USA Army is repeating the experiences of the British Army in the North American Colonies or the German Army in Occupied France; except with a Hillbilly Twang and guitar soundtrack. American officers are playing their role with typical colonial hubris and ignorance.

Posted by: Jim S | Mar 4 2005 22:45 utc | 2

Well since it is likely she was kidnapped by forces allied to Alawi, I imagine that the US forces were trying to prevent her ‘release’. The vehicle certainly had it’s doubts about stopping at a US manned roadblock and probably knew that stopping would be as suicidal as going through. This is likely to cause big problems for the shrub’s attempts at rapprochment with Europe because once again the people of Europe will force their leaders to denounce this murder of an Italian National

Posted by: Debs is dead | Mar 4 2005 23:04 utc | 3

You have to admire the capacity of some folks to spin this:
Iraq hostage hurt in US rescue

Kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was wounded by US troops during a successful rescue from her captors in Baghdad.

Incredible – US troops rescued her.

Posted by: b | Mar 4 2005 23:07 utc | 4

How about this one:
U.S. says coalition forces fired on car carrying Italian hostage in Iraq
“Coalition forces…” Italiens???

Posted by: b | Mar 4 2005 23:10 utc | 5

WaPo

Giuliana Sgrena, a reporter for the communist newspaper Il Manifesto, was on her way to Baghdad International Airport after having just been released by her abductors when her vehicle came under fire at a U.S. military checkpoint, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told a news conference.

“communist newspaper” Il Manifesto? That’s some 30 years back at least. It’s a lefty progressive paper, definitly not communist in the old sense. Mrs. Sgrena is syndicated too. In Germany she is writing for Die Zeit, a political agressive but also central paper weekly widly read interlectual paper – neither left nor right. They had quite a campaign for her. Bush’s raiting in Germany will go down by half now. From 1% agreement to 0.5%.

Posted by: b | Mar 4 2005 23:39 utc | 6

So, do you think the plan was to try to kill her before she was released and could write a scathing expose of the real situation in Iraq?

Posted by: Maxcrat | Mar 5 2005 0:09 utc | 7

Variations on a theme: Italy seeks answers from U.S. over hostage shoot-out
O.K., it mightn’t have been a rescue. Then how about a shoot-out> Yeah, that might do it, we can say our guys were just sitting around reading their Bibles and stuffing teddy bears for Iraqi orphans when this speeding car came flying up one of the most dangerous roads in Iraq where roadside bombs, ambushes and kidnappings are a frequent occurrence, a road our own State Department, along with the U.K. and Australians embassies, has warned people against travelling on, and this car, right, it didn’t stop when our guys emerged and started shooting at it. How about that? If we say ‘shoot-out’ we can give the impression that those crazy Italians began blazing away and that our guys were only defending themselves. Do you think that might do it? Better still, put out about half a dozen different statements making different claims about the incident, rescue, firefight, shoot-out, suspected suicide bomber, whatever you like. That way some of our people will swallow the rescue and shoot-out stories and think anyone who says different is a liar, right? That should do it. I tell ya, it’s not half this freakin’ complicated when we’re just talking about a carload of dead Mom, Dad, Kid and Baby ragheads. What’s all the freakin’ fuss? Is it because we can’t keep a lid on this one?

Posted by: CENTCOM truth massaging office | Mar 5 2005 0:33 utc | 8

if the car was shot on the way to the airport it can only have been on orders from above. i cant imagine that a car full with italian sisme and a just-released hostage was not advised to the people patrolling.
i suspect she saw something she was not supposed to see. a possibility is that the americans kidnapped her via some hired guys to extort the italians into keeping their troops in. her release was probably a sign of the italians giving in, but still she must have seen stuff very bad for the americans. as a journo who was opposed to the invasion and not embedded, she was expendable anyway.
my guess is that she will be silenced by the berlusconi regime. in any case, i doubt she will be writing very much about her ‘iraq experience’, just like the two NGO workers who have all but disappeared from public view.

Posted by: name | Mar 5 2005 1:04 utc | 9

I think Berlusconi is going to break every finger in Bush’s two hands–one by one by one, as the weeks and months go by.

Posted by: alabama | Mar 5 2005 1:40 utc | 10

b
what a delight to see cnn dance several times this night with different titling of this ‘situation’

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 5 2005 1:51 utc | 11

Bin Laden must have had a field day yesterday, sitting and laughing at his cave. I mean what a gift this tragedy must be to him. Terrorists treading their victims well and then the US shooting at them – wow. Well, the only good outcome might be that now Berlusconi might be forced to with draw his coalition forces. He might be a crook, but I don’t think he is a fool. I am also wondering if, Litauen (?) will now send the 1 soldier it promised.

Posted by: Fran | Mar 5 2005 5:06 utc | 12

What a pity Graham Greene is no longer with us and writing…

Posted by: DeAnander | Mar 5 2005 5:19 utc | 13

No longer writing, but he will always be with us.
I keep thinking of The Quite American whenever I hear of some of these dreadful bombing incidents.

Posted by: DM | Mar 5 2005 5:32 utc | 14

dumbass I am – The Quiet American.

Posted by: DM | Mar 5 2005 5:37 utc | 15

I can’t believe this — yes I do, of course, where can I join the tin-foil hat society…I agree, there’s a kettle of rotten fish here — unembedded journalists are targetted as Jordan said in Europe during an attack of honesty (which got him fired)
I wonder if this will even be mentioned in Denmark, or how it will be spun here if it is — Iraqi news is quite low-key and unnuanced. This is why the Danes are okay with their involvement? (they have 800 grunts staitioned just north of Basra) — they hear nothing really reflecting the situation in Iraq, other than the obvious fact that some people get blown up everyday. But they hear nothing of the way the Americans mis-manage the situation.

Posted by: Chuck Cliff | Mar 5 2005 5:52 utc | 16

NBC news station reported that the fatality was an Italian agent who threw his (her?) body across Sgrena. Sounds like aiming at only one person, and it wasn’t the driver. Also sounds like she knows enough to matter intensely to the deceased agent.

Posted by: Citizen | Mar 5 2005 6:07 utc | 17

She is back in Italy now. There where 400(!) shots fired at the car carrying her in Baghdad.

Posted by: b | Mar 5 2005 10:27 utc | 18

b
If you are still wondering if the SISMI officer is male or female, Nicola is a man’s name in Italy.
I noticed that Reuters and Voice of America lead the story with “Coalition” or “Multinational” forces having done the dirty deed whereas nearly everyone else calls them “US” forces. Even Fox!

Posted by: dan of steele | Mar 5 2005 11:04 utc | 19

b should be Citizen in post above
sorry

Posted by: dan of steele | Mar 5 2005 11:16 utc | 20

@b: What’s the source for the “400 shots” detail?

Posted by: ralphbon | Mar 5 2005 15:16 utc | 21

From today’s NYT:
“She was abducted on Feb. 4 in Baghdad after she finished conducting several hours of interviews with refugees from the decimated city of Falluja who were at a mosque on the grounds of Baghdad University. Gunmen pulled up in front of her car as she was leaving and dragged her into their vehicle. Her Iraqi employees somehow managed to escape.”
I just can’t help being suspicious about who was behind her kidnapping in the first place, and about whether the shooting just prior to her leaving Iraq was truly an accident. I imagine there are many among the Occupation brass who do not want much news about what happened in Fallujah to get out.

Posted by: Maxcrat | Mar 5 2005 15:23 utc | 22

Max: I’ve been suspicious about most of the Westerners kidnappings in Iraq.
In this case, unless proven that it was an accident, my default position is that it was deliberate and someone wanted to get her shot. In fact, it’s possible someone in high places also wanted the head of Italian secret services in Iraq dead as well.
If Berlusconi doesn’t pursue this hard and nails Bush on this, he’s in for a world of trouble in the next elections.

Posted by: Clueless Joe | Mar 5 2005 15:31 utc | 23

Corriere della sera — As recounted by Sgrena’s partner, Pier Scolari, who made the trip back from Baghdad with her:
“We were 700 m from the airport. We had already passed several American controls (checkpoints?). We had alerted everyone. Then, after a curve we were caught in a spotlight and then a hail of bullets. Three or four hundred bullets, I would say. At that point Calipari threw himself on Giuliana’s body and saved her.” All of this, indicates Scolari, “took place while we were in direct telephone communication with the Palazzo Chigi [Italian govt]. We were in contact by cell phone but at a certain point the American military made the decision to stop the communication. It was no longer possible to speak.”

Posted by: Maxcrat | Mar 5 2005 15:33 utc | 24

@ralphbon
Die Zeit a German weekly had this information. She was syndicated by that paper.
Maxcrats 10:33 comment confirms this

Posted by: b | Mar 5 2005 16:43 utc | 25

From ANSA (Italian news service)
Two members of Parliament are opening a murder investigation for the killing of Nicola Calipari. They are sending a request thru the Italian Ministry of Justice to the US Department of Justice seeking agreement on bringing charges to the Marines involved in the shooting.

Posted by: dan of steele | Mar 5 2005 16:44 utc | 26

b
read the cnn article at 18:00 – it really is a tortured piece of prose. first the title – speaks of wounded journalist – leaving it unclear who wounded whom. the the body of the article changes intention & appelation throughout – u s forces, then coalition forces then multi national forces. really a mess even for them.
i’m with maxcrat & clueless joe on this – the killing action a little roo precise to be an accident
but nothing new – the criminal crew continue

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 5 2005 17:38 utc | 27

Yeah, and the most insanely disgusting bit with “Italian hostage rescued” is that she wasn’t “rescued”. As far as I know, there have been just a couple of cases where hostages were actually rescued, the rest of the time either they were killed or bought back through some kind of negotiation – though in a few cases the official story is that the kidnappers just grew bored and fred the hostages, as with the French journalists. The US Army is totally unable to rescue anyone in Iraq, not even themselves.

Posted by: Clueless Joe | Mar 5 2005 18:59 utc | 28

Best quote ’til now: Freed Italian Hostage Recalls U.S. Shooting

Sgrena’s partner Pier Scolari, speaking outside the hospital where she is being treated, accused U.S. forces of, at best, recklessness and even suggested the troops had targeted Sgrena.
“I hope the Italian government does something because either this was an ambush, as I think, or we are dealing with imbeciles or terrorized kids who shoot at anyone,” he said.

Posted by: b | Mar 5 2005 19:01 utc | 29

U.S. attack on Italians in Baghdad was deliberate: companion

Posted by: Anonymous | Mar 5 2005 20:11 utc | 30

Walden Bello writes recently Despite large majorities in their populations opposing participation in the war, the Blair and Berlusconi governments continue to maintain military units in Iraq. Knocking Britain and Italy out of the war against the people of Iraq is the top priority in the agenda of the European anti-war movement in the next few months.
I would say the assassination attempt on the Italian journo shouldn’t help the US much with keeping Italy engaged. Or we can hope so anyway.
The revelation that the Yanks cut off phone contact between the Italians just before the shooting seems to me fairly damning — though of course “never attribute to malice what can be explained by simple incompetence” and so forth, I can’t shake the impression that the Yanks wanted her dead.

Posted by: DeAnander | Mar 5 2005 20:34 utc | 31

Old news, I know: CNNS TOP news executive has left his job abruptly after 23 years, following claims that he accused US forces of deliberately targeting journalists in Iraq.
Eason Jordan told a panel at the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, that the US military had targeted journalists during its operations.
Speaking in a discussion entitled Will Democracy Survive the Media? he said he knew of about 12 journalists who had not only been killed by American troops, but had been targeted as a matter of policy.
SocialistWorker
After Simona Pari and Simonetta Torretta were freed some press reports mentioned a ransom of one million dollars.
One example
Gossip here has it that the French journalists (Malbrunot and Chesnot) were freed after a huge ransom was paid. Paris, the French Gvmt.. has denied that staunchly.
Another, older, kidnapping (June, 2004):
Minister for Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini and Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Letta have communicated yesterday, on behalf of the government, that coalition forces have liberated the Italian hostages in an area nearby Baghdad.
Agliana, Cupertino and Stefio are in good condition and have landed today in Rome….
Link
Liberation and ransom, one report:
Link
Perps want money, the US wants silence and to induce fear and horror, all are in cahoots.

Posted by: Blackie | Mar 5 2005 21:55 utc | 32

for an old bolshie, one of the aspects of all this – that i find deeply moving is the civil servant – the ex policeman who saved the life of the journalist -& it is clear from all reports that this is what he did & i am reminded of the paradox of italy where corruption flourishes – where there are servants of the state who are for all intents & purposes – the state in abscence of one
that puppet of the mafia, giuileo andreotti, imagined himself in all his satanic vanity – as a man of synthesis – as the sole person capable in italy of doing so – but in fact the opposite is the truth
but these servants – whether they are policemen, anti mafia judges, economists have often been sacrificed like sheep at some macabre ceremony. it is not dificult to understand pasolini’s & sciassi’s fascination with them – they are heroic in an country that has essentially left its heroes out to dry
anywhere else – such a configuration – police, judges, journalist would be in the pockets literally or figuratively of the powerful & in italy to a large degree – they are not
the other hostages speak of this policeman’s humanity & i do not find it surprising – it is a humanity openly & utterly rejected by the monstrosity of american imperial power

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 5 2005 22:30 utc | 33

Some Italian headlines tonight
More than 5000 pay their last respects to Nicola Calipari, dead in Iraq for no reason l’Unitá
Autopsy shows Calipari killed by single bullet to the head ANSA
Iraqis say Al Zaqawi arrested by US according to Saudi paper Al Watan Corriere della Sera
Rumsfeld calls Martino to express regrets for the Sgrena incident, Martino is sure that the already started investigation will bring light to the circumstance surrounding the death of Calipari Corriere della Sera
Giuliana Sgrena: «I was the objective» uruknet.info
Ransom was probably paid for Sgrena says Minister of Agriculture Gianni Alemanno Reuters Italy

Posted by: dan of steele | Mar 6 2005 16:56 utc | 34

dan of steele
that autopsy reveals the most clear of facts -a sniper – & that snipers intention was without doubt, ms sgrena
it is, like the palestine hotel – murder, like the targeting of al jazeera journalists – murder
can anyone now seriouslly question the evidence in hand
of course, for the right wing bloggers & their friends in power we are all unworthy of life & our deaths of no concern whatsoever

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 6 2005 17:10 utc | 35

I really do not believe that the car which was carrying Italians did not stop or did not slow down at the check point.Americans do these kinds of things since the beginning of Iraqi War but as this time they killed an Italian and wounded other Italians world media paid a big attention to this event.I remember that Americans have killed many Iraqis several times even at their wedding ceremonies.Or I remember them killing innocent children and women by bombing their homes because they were informed that the house was a terrorist’s house.Or we all do not forget 4th of July 2003 because yes,this day is a holy day for AMERICA but at the same time it is the day which American soldiers have arrested 11 Turkish officers-Turks are their allies and they have been staying at Iraq since 1987 because of an agreement with former Iraqi government.-and kept them for 3 days putting their heads into bags.We,Turks do not and will not gorget this.Yes,our government did not do and anything and our army did not respond but our anti-american feelings and hate to America has been increasing continuously since that day.
Anyway,it is impossible to believe that Americans did not know that that car was carrying Italians.I am sure that there was or there were some American soldiers who were thinking that they were playing SONY PLAY STATION game and they wanted to score.This is that much simple.I am very sorry for all the people who have died in Iraq including this last Italian secret service officer.Regards.

Posted by: CETIN | Mar 7 2005 16:36 utc | 36

300 to 400 hundred bullets being sprayed into the car, one person killed by a shot to the head, three other persons, including Sgrena, injured, is hardly indicative of a sniper at work. Aside from shots allegedly aimed at the engine block the remainder of the flying lead and shrapnel had to go somewhere. Isn’t it enough that hundreds of bullets were pumped into the car without inventing deranged sniper theories? Where do you think the rest of the bullets were going? Were they fired by snipers who were trained to miss? Conspiracy theorists are supposed to dig out obscure facts and clues, not overlook the very real fact that the deaths and injuries occurred during a blizzard of gunshots. The autopsy reveals nothing other than the fact that Calipari was killed by a shot to the head. It does not confirm the existence of a sniper, trick shooter or duck hunter. It does not provide ‘evidence’ of a sniper. Information about the type and caliber of round causing Calipari’s death has not been placed in the public domain leaving no possibility of assessing if it was an intact round or part of a bullet that inflicted the mortal wound or whether the round was, in fact, of a type from one of the weapons of choice of U.S. army snipers. Speculation is just that; speculation. It is not ‘fact’ or anything approaching evidence.

Posted by: The man on the grassy knoll | Mar 7 2005 16:58 utc | 37

The man on the grassy knoll.
I did not understand your point of view.Yes,it is obvious that it is not a sniper attack or American snipers were drunk because of hundreds of bullets.But the truth is Americans fired to kill the Italians.Because American soldiers are now mostly in 2 mental situations.They are mostly full of adventurers who could not earn their lives in USA from any jobs,their final choice was the army.Be sure that most of the US soldiers are from the 3rd world countries who have immigrated to USA and just new US citizens.So these people are grouped as murderers and poor Vietnam syndromeds.Either of these soldiers have all noiced that they are really in a big shit and day by day this shit is increasing the height to their neck,soon or later they hae all seen that they will sink.So,in this mental situation it is normal for these US soldiers to kill civilians,Italians,UN officers,reporters,etc.

Posted by: CETIN | Mar 7 2005 20:15 utc | 38

CETIN
iyi aksamlar, nasilsiniz? memnun oldum.
My comment was simply to dismiss the ridiculous conspiracy theory posted above that argued ‘evidence’ existed that a sniper was responsible for Calipari’s death. You are right, of course the Americans shot to kill, it is what they do. They have killed hundreds of Iraqis in exactly the same way, pouring hundreds of bullets into their cars. They think they are the law and that no law can touch them. In this they are supported by the U.S. military high command and the White House administration who never take action against U.S. soldiers who murder Iraqis in this way. In the Sgrena case they shot to kill and they killed. Maybe they did not kill as much as they wished to kill but it was dark and raining and they did their best. The reason I dismiss the nonsense of snipers is because not only does no evidence exist to support such a claim but also because such claims actually try to make extraordinary a behavior that is in fact very ordinary and happens in Iraq every day. It happens every day and there is no outrage or theorizing about it.
Allahaismarladik

Posted by: The man on the grassy knoll | Mar 7 2005 20:34 utc | 39

the man on….;etc
i simply take the account of ms sgrena at her word. i am familiar with her work already & see no reason to doubt her observation since she was there
the focusing on this journalist does not necessarily hide the terrible quotidian reality of the massacring of iraquis. here & elsewhere people are trying to tell that story as much as they can in a world that would hide that information from them
if you think the people here – or me personally – use this incident to cover the more ‘ordinary’ murders of a conquered people – then you are mistaken
what you must understand is that the generation of some of us here were brought up with notions of ‘good sense’ – that we even endowed our enemies with & the current catastrophe is extremely difficult for people of good heart & honest intentions to come to terms with

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 7 2005 21:05 utc | 40

TMOTGK makes perfect sense. It is extremely unlikely that US troops were deliberately attemping to assassinate Sgrena. This was in all likelihood a case of Americans being as careless with Italian life as they usually are with Iraqi life because they mistook the former for the latter.
Barring further evidence, Occam’s razor is the prudent tool to apply.

Posted by: ralphbon | Mar 7 2005 22:07 utc | 41

ralphbon, they weren’t just careless with Italian life, they were careless with Berlusconi’s sensibilities. Or to put it another way, I think we can surmise that, from Berlusconi’s point of view, this whole thing is about Berlusconi–complicated, it’s true, by Berlusconi’s personal bond with Calipari, and by the Pope’s personal bond with Calipari’s brother. Appeasing all these folks might well require “proving”–beyond the shadow of a doubt, and quite apart from Occam’s razor–that there was really no attempt to assassinate Sgrena. I wouldn’t rule out, for example, a cross-examination of the American soldiers by Italian investigators (bearing in mind that the Italian authorities are treating this death as a murder–not as an accident).

Posted by: alabama | Mar 7 2005 22:26 utc | 42

@alabam:
I agree. It’s an outrage Berlusconi cannot ignore, much as he’d prefer to, for the reasons you cite.

Posted by: ralphbon | Mar 7 2005 22:52 utc | 43

doesn’t look like a PR victory for the Yanks in any case. “Trying to kill the Eye-talian dame? Are you kidding? This was just SOP, we do it all the time… er, ummm, let me rephrase that –”

Posted by: DeAnander | Mar 7 2005 23:35 utc | 44

& i find it highly implausible that they didn’t know who was in the car – exactly where they were going & for what purpose – the cutting of the telecommunication link for me states the obvious – you do not have to look for a conspiracy – the facts are before us – the journalist sgrena has also stated them
the error lies in the fact that they did not murder them all but i am reminded that it was other u s soldiers who finally put a stop to the my lai massacre of lt calley placing themselves in front of the vietnamese
& yes – i believe u s forces are completely capable of such heinous acts – there is a prehistory & there is this terrible present whre the facts pile up day after day
& i think alabam is correct to keep on repeating this link between the phone calls & the car & this line being cut – it was cut for a reason & the most likely reason seems to me to be an assasination described as anything you like, insurgents, bandits, or an ‘accident’ by us forces
again, i have trust in her observations but of course the right will say the bolshie bitch planned it herself

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 7 2005 23:46 utc | 45

Barring further evidence, Occam’s razor is the prudent tool to apply.
With the given evidence – i.e. warnings that the US were out to get her, then the car being riddled with 300 bullets on a secure road 700 meters from the airport after having passed other checkpoints; it could be argued that Occam’s razor would suggest that most likely someone was out to get her. A coincidental accident or unfortunate circumstance sounds like Zebras to me.

Posted by: DM | Mar 8 2005 0:01 utc | 46

TMOTGK.
Merhabalar.Teşekkür ederim.
Bu sayfalarda görüşmek üzere.

Posted by: CETIN | Mar 9 2005 14:15 utc | 47

Via WaPo Berlusconi: U.S. Military Approved Hostage Operation

The Italian agent killed by American forces in Iraq had U.S. military authorization for his operation to win the release of a hostage, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday.
In his first major address since Friday’s shooting strained relations between Washington and one of its biggest allies, Berlusconi told Italy’s Senate that the car carrying agent Nicola Calipari and hostage Giuliana Sgrena stopped immediately when a light was flashed. The U.S. military has said the Americans used hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots to try to get the car to stop.
…
On Tuesday, the top U.S. general in Iraq, Army Gen. George Casey, said he has no indication that Italian officials gave advance notice of the route the car was traveling.
…
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini went before lawmakers to dismiss the idea that the shooting was the result of an ambush, but also to dispute that the vehicle was speeding up and was ordered to stop before the shooting, as Americans have indicated.

Bush better fires Casey immediately

Posted by: b | Mar 9 2005 19:27 utc | 48

ROME – The Italian intelligence officer killed by US troops in a friendly fire incident last week had not told US authorities why he was in Iraq, Italy’s Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said Wednesday.
Fini’s comment is the first admission from the Italian government there might have been communication gaps between the Italians and their US allies on the ground prior to the shooting the claimed the life of Nicola Calipari last Friday.
“Calipari duly advised (the US authorities) that he was in Baghdad, and he didn’t advise what he had gone to Iraq to do, because we are a sovereign country,” Fini told RAI state television during a programme dedicated to the shooting.
Fini explained that Italy, in its dealings with its American allies in Iraq, had “a relationship of absolute loyalty but not of subservience”.
US not fully informed about spy’s reasons for being in Iraq: Italy

Posted by: Mixed messages | Mar 9 2005 19:57 utc | 49

fifth image down in the left column here is supposedly the vehicle w/ the italians that was shot up w/ 300-400 rounds. compare that w/ the car another six or so images down in the right column, which contained iraqis. is the RAI TG1 assertion correct? it hardly looks scratched.

Posted by: b real | Mar 9 2005 20:24 utc | 50

b real
each day – each of us i imagine tries to create something in this butchershop of a world & each day we are defeated as the amerindians before us by the barbarians before us. they do not care. their talk of hope is only another more profane way of talking of murder. their liberty is only another way to speak of enslavement
& we are enslaved. each day we permit this carnage to pass – we are imprisoning ourselves just a little bit more
i try to create a sense of decency in my life & in my life withina community but each day i become worn down with episodes like this & the episode that i don’t see – the weddings where 50 people die & rumsfield says they are in fact al quaeda. doctor after doctor? teacher after teacher. farmer after farmer. they are killing them or they permit them to be killed. & it is a slaughter either state directed or through the negligence the modern state thinks is a virtue
i am absolutely tired. so tired. of all this. & i cannot forget the people in iraq as i could not forget the vietnamese. i do not believe in their gods but they are men & women like me who try to construct a life. try to construct something & they are being wiped away & wiped away with obscene language & explanations
the indecencies are accumulating on the hour – how are we supposed to live with this – how are we to make resistance effective
i feel soiled & shamed & i am not american but i feel even in this provincial city in france i profit from these obscenities
i feel like that young german jew on finding out his whole family had been wiped out went into the germany embassy & shot an ambassadorial assistant – bu then that was used by the nazis to create the night of cristal – kristalnacht
it seems nothing short of a physical resistance will stop this criminal crew & that they will absorb & paint themselves as victims. these victims who have made our world another slaughterhouse not fit for living

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 9 2005 23:15 utc | 51

one shot, one kill

Posted by: DM | Mar 10 2005 0:14 utc | 52

I wonder about the phone calls. They phoned the embassy twice and they were, at the time of the attack, talking with Rome with Berlusconi listening in. If they used a unreliable local cell phone, a call to the Italien ambassy would probably be under surveilance. If they used (more likely) an Iridium satellite phone, a call to some official place in Rome from Baghdad should also have raised alarm. Iridium is under control of the US military.
Such networks have automatic “trap” functions. If calls are made from or to numbers in the trap file, a human supervisor is alerted, for Rome that would have been someone with Italian language skills. So if the US trapped such calls to the Iraqi embassy, Rome official places etc, they would have immediatly know that the hostage was free and where the car was going.

Posted by: alabama | Mar 10 2005 0:45 utc | 53

b, perhaps because I don’t understand the technology you’re describing here, your post has inspired an hypothesis for today. Namely this: someone in the American military was listening to Calipari talk on the phone, and since he thought Calipari was speaking in Arabic–anyone who isn’t speaking in Texan, after all, must surely be speaking in Arabic–he concluded that Calipari was an Iraqi terrorist, and sent a “kill” order to the GI’s patrolling further down the road. Is this possible?

Posted by: alabama | Mar 10 2005 0:46 utc | 54

A couple of questions still bother me about this. After temporarily “losing” the car in which Calipari was killed, the Yanks evidently “found” it again and turned it over to the Italians. Now if we are to believe the partial pictures that were printed, not so many bullets were fired after all. How can anyone know that this is the same car Calipari was traveling in?
All of the testimony of the Italians is that they were going slowly and didn’t see any advance warnings. Are we to just disregard this?
And if, in fact, the car was approaching slowly, even if it didn’t see the so-called checkpoint (which one news account said had been hastily set up only an hour or so beforehand)- why was this such an overwhelming threat that firepower had to be used on it?
Then there’s the broken phone communications – is there any plausible explanation for that which doesn’t cast the Americans in doubt?
I really don’t know what to think about this, but there are lots of unanswered questions.

Posted by: Maxcrat | Mar 10 2005 0:50 utc | 55

All this speculation. The yanks committed int’l war crimes in Falluga, the Italian journalist knew many of the incriminating details and was on her way out of the country to write them up for publication.
What would you do if you were about to be outed for war crimes? Easy – you’d commit more of the same; you’d kill the purveyor of incriminating facts. Because it was not an op under control of the well-trained corps of assassins but instead was left to the devices of regular army – by necessity this time – there was only so much you could do to cover your smelly tracks. Yeah we got the job done (almost) but the bitch still got away. Now what? The prez now has to kneel and cower the best he can before the Italians (and of course everybody else) but make it appear to be a “solidarity move”.
So I watch to see what the rovians do to silence this woman who knows way too much. Berlusconi will help to the extent he is able. He fits the amoral category better than Dub because he really has some personal power and the ability to use it. Many Italians see easily thru his scam tho; he knows this, so treads very lightly.
Our short attention span may allow him/them to let this by with no more than a bit of passing embarrassment. That (attention span) and a desperate willingness to cobble up a halfway believeable bullshit story (an alternative to the unacceptable concept of govt crime) to let the bosses off the hook. We do it all the time.

Posted by: rapt | Mar 10 2005 1:57 utc | 56

sadly, we do it all the time

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 10 2005 2:01 utc | 57

We have grown so used to absurdity that nobody seems to have paid much attention to the recent statement by US authorities that the standing rules of engagement for checkpoints could not be disclosed to avoid tipping off the enemy. Perhaps the following leaflet should be distributed to the civilian population:
HOW TO APPROACH A U.S. CHECKPOINT
Don’t.

Posted by: pedro | Mar 10 2005 7:17 utc | 58

recap of points made here by ex-intel officer: Targeting Giuliana

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.

Posted by: b real | Mar 11 2005 15:44 utc | 59

Is this issue dead ?

Posted by: DM | Mar 17 2005 6:13 utc | 60

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