Dossier: Shooting of Italian War Correspondent in Iraq by U.S. military

[tatra]

Conform the pact I made with Highsea, who is moderating this section, I am re-opening the topic of the incident in Iraq in which US forces fired upon a car on the way to Bagdad airport, containing Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena (who had been released by her hostage takers) and her Italian secret service escorts. The head of Italy's Foreign Military Intelligence Nicola Calipari was killed in the attack when he shielded Sgrena from the bullets.

I would like to use this thread to bring together information on the issue from various sources (e.g. from official US, Italian, and other reports). No speculation, no comments, just information or links to information. The idea being that everyone can judge that info for themselves to form an opinion. I invited Highsea and other moderators to monitor the thread and enforce this 'rule' as they see fit.

To start, I am posting a link to a transcript of an interview with Naomi Klein, award-winning journalist and author, who met with Giuliana Sgrena in Rome recently: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/25/1516242&mode=thread&tid=25

 

[highsea]

Hmmm, Tatra, I was hoping you would at least start off the thread with something a little better than you did. The interview is just a hearsay account- not even a statement from the reporter involved in the shooting. It would be better if at least we quoted official statements, or articles with interviews of officials or people actually involved.

The initial accounts of the incident contained a lot of wild speculation, and since there is an official investigation underway, unfortunately there is not a lot of information available.

A couple points- the press has reported that the US military was aware of the operation to rescue the reporter, and repeated in the article in the OP. This has been contradicted by the Italian General in charge.

...According to newspaper La Repubblica, Gen Mario Marioli helped the two Italian secret service agents obtain a special badge from the coalition forces on their arrival in Baghdad.

But Gen Marioli, who is the coalition forces' second-in-command, reportedly was unaware that the officers were on a mission to free Ms Sgrena, and so the information he passed on to US officials was incomplete.

Gen Marioli's testimony is crucial because he is the man who was keeping the US forces informed of the car's arrival before the fatal shooting, in which a US patrol killed the secret service agent and injured Ms Sgrena and a second officer.

Gen Marioli's version, as reported by the papers, also contradicts a reconstruction by the Italian government and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who said the US military had been advised that Ms Sgrena was on board the car.

The US military have said they had no knowledge of the rescue mission.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the US had set up makeshift checkpoints along the road to the airport the night of the fatal shooting because the outgoing US ambassador, John Negroponte, was travelling on the same road.

Italian media have been speculating that Italy might have deliberately kept the mission wrapped in secrecy because the US did not approve of the ongoing negotiations with the kidnappers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4341387.stm

Now I don't know why they didn't stop at the checkpoint, and I don't want to speculate on the reporter's motives for making her statements. We all understand where her feelings are regarding the war. However, one claim, that is repeated in the interview linked in the OP, is that the car was fired on "300-400" times. Here are some photos of the car after the shooting:

 

[highsea]

Here is one more picture of the car. All I can see is two bullet holes, it doesn't look like any car that has taken 300-400 .50 cal hits or any "tank rounds".

 

[highsea]

I just thought I would add this, which was relayed to me by a Master Seargeant at SOCOM this morning:

...one new item released by PAO yesterday: the two NCOs that were in charge of that checkpoint, and jointly gave the 'open fire' order, have been returned to full duty status, including leading soldiers and bearing loaded weapons.

This is not definitively a statement that they are not guilty, but it indicates that the Army and their entire chain of command considers them trustworthy with soldier's lives and judicial use of lethal force. BOTH of those things are about as great a responsibility as one can well imagine.

The investigation is not over with yet, and it will probably be two or three weeks before it is completed, but when it is, it will be made public. I will post any new info to this thread as I recieve it.

 

[tatra]

Highsea, I agree, I could have posted something else as opener. Pressed for time today, sorry

About the images of the car, if most of the fire was from the rear, then that's were I'ld want to look for the bullet holes. Nonetheless, I agree it doesn't look like it was peppered with an M1 commander's HMG or even loader GPMG.

 

[highsea]

No problem.

I was pointing out the inconsistencies between the reporters version and the official statements. If all of the shots were from the rear, then one would have to assume that the car was being chased down, or had already blown the checkpoint? That doesn't square very well with the reports that the car was fired on when it approached the checkpoint. The soldiers manning the checkpoint are not going to wait for the car to pass through before opening fire.

And I think we can both agree that 300-400 rounds from an M1's HMG would turn that little car into swiss cheese, whatever angle it was coming from, nor would there have been any survivors.

Edit to add: I'm going to break a rule here just to add something.

This is speculation on my part, but it may have been a contributing factor. I have heard descriptions of some of the checkpoints from other reporters in Iraq, and I know there has been confusion in the past. Many checkpoints are manned by Iraqi forces, followed by coalition forces several hundred meters further down the road.

The Iraqi forces are not always as diligent in the way they man the checkpoints as the American forces. So a car may approach the checkpoint and get waved through by the Iraqi troops, and the driver may assume he is cleared to continue past the American troops without stopping. Now I don't know if that was the case in this incident, but I do know it has happened in the past. Obviously this creates a dangerous situation, as all cars are stopped by the Americans, no matter what.

If the Italian driver of the car was initially waved through by Iraqi troops, he may have assumed that the Americans down the road were not expecting him to stop. If this was the scenario, the Iraqi forces may have opened fire on the vehicle after they heard the warning shots from the Americans. This would explain any bullet holes in the rear, if the car was fired on from behind. And of course, the natural reaction for the driver would be to speed up and try to get away if he was taking fire from the rear.

Again, this is just a guess, we won't know what actually happened until the investigation is finished.

 

[Pendekar]

one more thing left from consideration is the warning pass by the kidnappers to sgrena before they release her. is it a coincidence or they really knew it for real.

so who's really screw up? whoever they are, this incidents could only means more pressure to italian government to withdraw their troops from Iraq. if it was the americans was on the blame, the the patriotisme will take over and italians will demand that the Italian government to stop collaborating with the killer of the italians, not just a common tourist but an important figure. if it was the italians who was to be blame, then surely berlusconi will take the heat and risk losing popular support from italian peoples, and the only way he can get back the popular supports is of course, by doing what most of the italian peoples have demanded all along. "Bring back the troops".4