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View Full Version : Talk about a crappy visit to Iraq.


Fasterthanyou
03-05-2005, 06:18 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/international/europe/06rome.html

Geeze, and to think some people probably are going to blaim the soldiers for doing their jobs...


If the link doesn't work but no pictures;
Italian Reporter Arrives in Rome Amid Questions
By JASON HOROWITZ

Published: March 6, 2005

Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena arrived at Rome's Ciampino Airport on Saturday.


U.S. Fires on Car Carrying Freed Hostage
The Italian journalist was wounded in the shooting and an Italian intelligence agent was killed.


ROME, March 5 - Giuliana Sgrena arrived in Rome on Saturday, a day after American troops at a checkpoint in Baghdad fired on the car taking her to the airport following her release from kidnappers.

Ms. Sgrena, a 56-year-old journalist for Il Manifesto, a leftist Rome daily, was assisted off the plane in a wheelchair at Rome's Ciampino airport, where she was greeted by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and her relatives.

An ambulance then took her to a military clinic for on operation on her collarbone, where she was hit by shrapnel during Friday night's shooting, in which an Italian secret service agent, Nicola Calipari, was killed trying to protect her.

According to the Italian news agency ANSA, Ms. Sgrena told a friend, "The most difficult moment was when I saw the person who had saved me die in my arms."

The American military said the car carrying Ms. Sgrena and the Italian agents was speeding to the airport as it approached a checkpoint. Soldiers shot into the engine block after trying to warn the driver to stop by "by hand-and-arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car," a statement said.

But on Saturday, some members of the Italian opposition, which has fiercely criticized the presence of Italian troops in Iraq, expressed doubt about the American version.

"I don't believe a word the Americans are saying," said Oliviero Diliberto, a Communist deputy in the lower house of Italy's Parliament. "I think there is something really dirty about all this business. Next week we will once again propose a measure to pull the troops out of Iraq."

Last month, Italy's Senate voted to approve funding to keep Italy's roughly 3,000 troops in Iraq.

Koll
03-05-2005, 06:20 PM
post the story (you gotta be registered)

Fasterthanyou
03-05-2005, 06:46 PM
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600116447,00.html

A more descriptive story.

ar0ck
03-05-2005, 06:46 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/international/europe/06rome.html

"I don't believe a word the Americans are saying," said Oliviero Diliberto, a Communist deputy in the lower house of Italy's Parliament. "I think there is something really dirty about all this business. Next week we will once again propose a measure to pull the troops out of Iraq."


Two things...

Look at who is saying what about american forces in Iraq. Â*A Commie.

From what I hear this happens alot. Â*People try to run through barricades and get shot at. Â*Thats what happens when you dont follow the rules set forth by the Military. Â*If you have heard stories about those car bombers, thats exactly what they do, they approach at a high speed not heading any warning and then they blow themselves up. Â*If I was in the shoes of a US soldier I would probably shoot at the car like that too.

skorpion317
03-05-2005, 07:29 PM
It was the Italian's fault for not stopping like he should have.

BigAls87Z28
03-05-2005, 08:52 PM
I understand why they shot at them, and I can only assume that they knew damn well that speeding twards an American or any military checkpoint without stopping would warrant a few rounds.
What I want to know is why didnt they stop? I mean...what was gunna happen, Americans were gunna arrest them?
Soldiers, especialy ones in Iraq, are not going to let speeding vans fly past them without a few (hundred) rounds go off. Most dont want to be there, and most of them are scared of this EXACT thing.
Stupid move on the Italian's driving the van, plain and simple.

skorpion317
03-06-2005, 12:20 AM
all they had to do was stop the van, show the soldiers their credentials, and be on their merry way.

Fasterthanyou
03-06-2005, 09:15 AM
I have a feeling that this is going to come back and bite the Italian's in the ass. Just speculating here but I bet their attitudes got the best of them. It's not uncommon for main land Europeans to have a superiority complex when it comes to America's international influence so they probably thought they could just blow through the checkpoint... dumb da dumb dumb.