AP - The Italian journalist wounded by American troops in Iraq after her release by insurgents rejected the U.S. military's account of the shooting and declined Sunday to rule out the possibility she was deliberately targeted. The White House said it was a "horrific accident" and promised a full investigation.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050306/ap_on_re_eu/italy_iraq_hostage]Read more...[/url]

Uh, huh, and if she was "deliberately targeted" do you think she'd be alive to say so?

Originally Posted by Charge_7

Uh, huh, and if she was "deliberately targeted" do you think she'd be alive to say so?

Which is exactly what the right is trying to explain to the country, man. If she was targeted she could have been killed easily. At a point it was just the soldiers, her, and the dead agent in the dark. They could have completed their "mission". But- hey- what can you pretend from a commie?

Hi,

Communism has NOTHIGN to Do with Lying .

It was a Unfornuate incident and she is using it for her personal gains ........... it might be a fault on the part of US solders or maybe the Car Driver thats a diffetrent Issue and is being Investigated ............ and the Investigation result might also be pollytacally motivated ......... oo well they all lie

Most of the Italians are Against Italy's Involvement in Iraq and this is a Perfect Oppournity for them to cash in ............ it's all aboput Politics

Lets not Debate Communism and Lying here .......... Communism as a Philosophy ... and i don't see anywhere that it preached lying .......... I have seen Demacratioc Politicians Lying more or less than anyone else

Peace
-=SF_13=-

Sure, politicians no matter what the ideology will lie their butts off. But Communism in itself is a lie. And just happens that people who are delusional enough to believe in that would be delusional enough to believe this version of the rescue story.

Hi,

Communism as a Pholisofy has never been tested ............... in Soviet Union we had Lennism and in China we had maoism?

So how can we comment Commonism the Original Philosofy when it has never been tested ?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back to Topic

Two Accounts of the Incident :

US:-- Forces fired on a vehicle that was approaching at high speed

--Troops attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots

--When the driver didn't stop, the soldiers shot into the engine block

Sgrena:

--The driver had spoken twice to the embassy and to Italy that we were on our way to the airport

--We were less than a kilometre [from the airport]... when... I remember there was shooting

--The driver began screaming that we were Italian

--We weren't going particularly fast given that type of situation

Source : BBC News

In an interview with the BBC's Newshour programme, freed Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena began by describing the conditions in which she had been held hostage for a month.

The condition of life was not bad from the material point of view but I was in a position of risk and so you can imagine it was not easy, it was very difficult and very hard to spend the days as prisoner in Iraq.

What did your captors tell you when you were hostage?

That I needed to help them to ask [Silvio] Berlusconi to withdraw the troops. They saw all what happens in Italy, demonstrations against the occupation, demonstrations for my liberation. And so they [became] aware that I was really working against the occupation and people were supporting me and so they told me: "We have seen that you are very appreciated in Italy". And that helped me to be freed.

You then became aware presumably that negotiations were going on about your possible release.


I can't say it was deliberate because we can't say if there was a lack of information

I could imagine that negotiations were going on but I can't tell you more because I was not aware of what was the object of the negotiations. And when I was freed it was the last of my problems which kind of negotiations were going on.

You do not know whether money was paid for your freedom?

No, I don't know.

Tell us about the man [Italian security agent Nicola Calipari] who came to try and secure your release.

I saw him for the first time when he came to [collect] me. He was a very special man. I immediately felt in contact with him and he gave me hope. But this was too short because he died after half an hour.

Tell us about the car journey you shared with him.

We were on our way to the airport when the tanks started to strike against us and he tried to cover me and he was shot. He died and, me, I was safe but he was dead.

When did you become aware that your car was being fired at?

We had no signal. We were just on the way to the airport. They started to shoot at us without any light or signal. There was no block, there was nothing. It was so immediate. I didn't know how I was alive after all that attack.

Why do you think the Americans opened fire?

We were not a hidden car. We were just a car on the road with lights and we were not running without any signal. So you have to ask the Americans because we don't know what happened.

Did the Americans continue to fire when your car had come to a halt?

Our car was destroyed. And then the driver got out and was shouting "we're Italian, we're Italian". So they came and they saw what happened. But I was badly injured so I can't explain exactly what happened after because I was waiting for 20 minutes on the road for a military car to bring me to the hospital.

I don't know if they knew what they were doing or not but it's a big responsibility so they have to respond to what happened because it's impossible to shoot a car on a road to the airport without giving any signal, any stop or any check.

Do you think it was deliberate?

I can't say it was deliberate because we can't say if there was a lack of information. But also a lack of information in this case is [their] responsibility because you are in a war field and you have the responsibility to pass immediately any information.

The information was given to the Italians to tell the Americans that we were on the road. Now, I can't say why they shot at us in this way but it's a very big responsibility and we ask for a response on what happened.

So what did this security agent do when he heard the firing?

When the driver said "they're attacking us", one of the [agents] tried to say we're Italians but it was impossible to get out of the car because the car was under this rain of fire.

And the other one tried to protect me and he died. I was pushing down to avoid the bullets and after I don't know how long, I found that he was dead.

He died in your arms?

Yes.

How do you feel about the man who saved your life?

I am very, very sad and feel pain for him. I'm sorry not to be able to go to the funeral because I am in hospital.

He was a brave man.

Yes.

Source

Peace
-=SF_13=-

Well at least she still admits that they did not STOP! I dont care if they were doing 10 miles an hour! They did not stop!

It's tragic, awful that soldiers lost their lives due to what amounts to lack of communication.

Communism has been tested and it failed with flying colors.
Basically it was so flawed that it simply failed on the way to Communism. What do you do in Communism? The government (basically the community organizing comittee) gets everything, the people await distribution. That is an automatic move to dictatorship. That's why it's a failure. To say the government will spread that wealth equally while the people temporarily have zero power is a lie.

Hi,

Well at least she still admits that they did not STOP! I dont care if they were doing 10 miles an hour! They did not stop!

I belive what she is talking about is that it wasn't a Permenant Check Post .............. In which you have a barracade in the Middle of the Road to slow Vehicles down............. it was one of those Surprise Road Block in which you generally park a Armored Vehicle on Road Side used for Surprice Checks.............. it easy to miss those Sometimes .......... especially when you are heading for the Airport in a hurry and you know that you are this close to geting out

Communism has been tested and it failed with flying colors.

Whether Anybody has ever Implemented True Marxism is open for debate.

Peace
-=SF-13=-

"it was one of those Surprise Road Block in which you generally park a Armored Vehicle on Road Side used for Surprice Checks.............. it easy to miss those Sometimes"

You were there then? Yeah so easy to miss. We shoot everybody who comes near those right? Puulleeaassee.