Giuliana Sgrena case: read FOREIGN press, US Army LIES

The italians DID inform the "coalition forces", it was NOT a checkpoint, they DID NOT ignore warnings, they WERE NOT speeding and THE JOURNALIST HAD COMPROMISING INFORMATION ABOUT THE US OPERATIONS IN IRAQ.

"Giuliana had informations and the US military didn't want her alive", said Sgrena's husband and workmate.

MSM is not giving this information. Here's a link to El Mundo (one of Spain's most respected newspapers, but it's in Spanish):

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2005/03/05/internacional/1110029269.html

truth about anyhting?

Compare El Mundo's headline:

"The Italian journalist denies the US version that the convoy was speeding" (my literal translation)

with good-ol librul NYT:

"Italian Hostage Returns Home After Another Brush With Death"

Always get a second version -- always.

I learned very early that military will lie first -- rarely will they tell the truth and then when they do . . . who'd believe their version anyway?

We know that the US military is targeting reporters -- non "in-bed" with the military reporters, were told that they could be targeted when they used their satellite phones. Case in point the deliberate shelling of a hotel in Baghdad known to house Journalists -- and some were killed. There are other specious cases of the US "accidental" murdering journalists.

In order to "get" the terrorists -- it appears that the US Military (bushie) has become the terrorists.

I've been thinking about this a lot since yesterday.

http://www.ishipress.com/nunskill.htm

The churchwomen -- Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, Ita Ford and Dorothy Kazel -- were abducted, raped and shot to death on the night of Dec. 2, 1980. The next day, peasants discovered their bodies alongside an isolated road and buried their remains in a common grave. The van they had been driving when stopped at a military checkpoint turned up 20 miles away, burned and gutted.

The killings came as the United States was beginning a decade-long, $7 billion aid effort to prevent left-wing guerrillas from coming to power in El Salvador, and the case quickly became the focus of a bitter policy debate about Central America.

<snip>

With Congressional approval of aid to El Salvador hinging on the case, the Reagan administration also sought to discount the idea that the killings were the result of a policy of state-sponsored terrorism.

In testimony to Congress in 1981, for instance, Secretary of State Alexander Haig argued that the churchwomen might have been shot while trying to run a military roadblock. Even an official State Department post mortem on El Salvador policy that was published in July 1993 reiterated the prevailing wisdom that it was "more likely that the chaotic and permissive atmosphere at the time, not high-level military involvement, was behind the crime."

The poor kid will get it.

any condition to be aware of her surroundings when this went down.

Not in the MSM of course.

She denies that they were speeding, they had already passed all checkpoints and they just found themselves under fire without any chance to explain who they were.

She's sad and shocked that the person who saved her life TWICE (as a negotiator with the kidnappers and again yesterday) died in her arms.

But this is what I'm pretty sure it says:

She claims they did not drive particularly fast.
The soldiers opened fire suddenly, without forewarnings.
A relative (?) says she had information the Americans didn't want out.
The shots were fired from an armed vehicle, "without apparent motive". In this account, it doesn't seem like it was a checkpoint.

Strange indeed.

The relative is her husband. I think he's also a journalist.

Le Monde (www.lemonde.fr) that the Italian minister of reform is already saying he suspects they did it on purpose. My educated guess is that this will lead to an Italian withdrawal from this ghastly war...

/sarcasm off

a united Italian opposition condems the killing and demands that Italy withdraw their troops.

http://tinyurl.com/3m2ks

SGRENA IS HOSPITALIZED IN ROME
The Italian journalist and a secret agent declares that the shooting ' was not justificadó

His fiancè assures that the military did not want that she left lives on the Arab country by the information that she had.

ELMUNDO.ES | AGENCIES


Giuliana Sgrena, to its arrival to Rome. (Photo: Reuters)

    To D And M Á S...

* ' héroé Calipari | Critics of the opposition
* Nine kidnappings of Italian in Iraq



THE RELATED NEWS

ROME. - Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, released yesterday in Iraq, has denied before justice the first official version of the Army of the U.S.A. of which their soldiers opened fire against their convoy because this one went to great speed. "we did not go particularly fast for a situation of that type", explained Sgrena, that was very affected by the death in the incident of secret agent Nicola Calipari.


Its version has been endorsed before the Office of the public prosecutor of Rome, that has initiated its own investigation of the happened thing, by one of the members of the secret services that traveled next to the journalist. This one indicated that the shooting was injustificado, since the vehicle circulated at a moderate speed, without giving foot to ambiguities.

Both emphasized the judges who were not any control post, but of one patrol that shot after illuminating to them with a light, without they could be warned of the origin of the projectiles.

On the other hand, Pier Scolari, pair of Sgrena, speak openly of "ambush" on the part of the North American troops. "Giuliana had information and the American military did not want that she left lives", Scolari, that it did next to the reporter of "Open Il", of 57 years said, the trip from return to Rome.



more

seems likely to get its collective pecker caught in the wringer with this one. They deserve it.

Manipulating the mass media, planting phony gay prostitute/journalists in the White House, and paying off the press is one thing. Attempted assasination is another, if that's what this turns out to be.

and it is perhaps just as likely that it reveals a Standard Operating Procedure: shoot at anything that moves. Which is in itself revealing.

This administration's abuse of power and breach of oathes of office should be immediately prosecuted!!!!

they've assassinated 100,000 Iraqi civilians w/ no repercussions. This will not even make a dent. Smirk won't even take a break in his Tour Of Lies to address this.

ROMA.- La periodista italiana Giuliana Sgrena, liberada ayer en Irak, ha desmentido ante la justicia la primera versión oficial del Ejército de EEUU de que sus soldados abrieron fuego contra su convoy porque éste iba a gran velocidad. "No íbamos particularmente rápido para una situación de ese tipo", explicó Sgrena, que se mostró muy afectada por la muerte en el incidente del agente secreto Nicola Calipari.

Rome -- Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, freed yesterday in Iraq, has contradicted the US Army's first official version of events that soldiers fired on her convoy because it was speeding. ""We were not going particularly fast under the circumstances," explained Sgrena, who appeared to be very upset at the death of secret agent Nicola Calipari, who was killed in the incident.

"Lo siento, lo siento, lo siento", repetía a Rosa Maria Calipari, la mujer del agente secreto, la reportera, que se recupera en la cama del hospital Celio de Roma, donde ha sido trasladada. "Me hizo de escudo humano con su cuerpo y ha muerto en mis brazos", ha explicado con un hilo de voz Sgrena a la viuda, según ha informado 'Il Corriere della Sera'.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated to Rosa Maria Calipari, the wife of the secret agent, from the Celio de Roma Hospital, where he was taken in order to recover. "He acted as a human shield for me and died in my arms," she said to the widow in a matter-of-fact tone, according to 'Il Cirriere della Sera' (apparently an Italian periodical -- JR).

En sus primeras declaraciones desde que ha llegado a Roma esta mañana, Sgrena, que asegura "estar bien para el peligro que ha corrido", ha relatado a la cadena RAI lo ocurrido ayer por la noche cuando viajaba en un coche junto con Calipari y otros dos agentes del servicio secreto hacia el aeropuerto de Roma cuando tropas de EEUU dispararon contra ellos.

In her first statement since returning to Rome this morning, Sgrena, who says she "is well in spite of the danger" she was in, told RAI, the Italian Radio network, what happened last night while travelling to the airport in a car with Calipari and two other secret service agents fired on them.

"Ha sido horrible. Me ha conmocionado particularmente porque pensábamos que el peligro ya había pasado tras mi entrega a los italianos", señaló la periodista, que indicó que ya habían pasado varios controles del Ejército estadounidense.

"It was horrible. It shakes me up because we thought the danger had passed after I was turned over to the Italians," she said, indicating that they had already passed several US Army checkpoints.

"Sin embargo, de repente, se produjo ese tiroteo, fuimos alcanzados por una lluvia de fuego", relató. "Yo estaba hablando con Nicola, que me estaba contando lo que había pasado en este tiempo en Italia, cuando se apoyó sobre mí, y luego se ha agachado y he descubierto que estaba muerto", explicó. Según su versión, "el fuego continuaba porque el conductor no conseguía explicar que éramos italianos".

"However, all of a sudden we found ourselves being fired on," she said. "I was talking with Nicola, who was telling me what has been happening in Italy, when he threw himself on me and then I bent down and found that he was dead," she explained. According to her story, "they continued firing becasue the driver could not explain to them that we were Italians."

No íbamos particularmente rápido para una situación de ese tipo", explicó Sgrena, lo que contrasta con la versión oficial del Ejército estadounidense, que afirmó en un comunicado que los soldados abrieron fuego contra el vehículo porque iba a gran velocidad y su conductor no se detuvo pese a que le hicieron gestos y realizaron disparos al aire.

"We were not going particularly fast under the circumstances," Sgrena explained, in cotrast to the official US Army story, which stated in a communique that the soldiers fired because the car was speeding and did not stop in spite of signals given to the driver and warning shots fired in the air.

Por su parte, Pier Scolari, pareja de Sgrena, declaró a esta cadena que "no excluye" la posibilidad de que lo ocurrido ayer fuera una "emboscada". "De las dos opciones es una: o bien se entregaron armas a niños no preparados y aterrorizados, o bien se trató de una emboscada y según la dinámica de los hechos es algo que no hay que excluir".

"Giuliana tenía informaciones y los militares estadounidenses no querían que saliera viva", dijo Scolari.

For his part, Pier Scolari, Sgrena's companion, said to the network that the possibility that what happened yesterday was an "ambush" "could not be excluded." "There are two possiblities: either weapons were given to kids who were not prepared and were frightened, or it was a ambush and under the circumstances that cannot be excluded."

"Giuliana had information and the US military did not want her to live," said Scolari.

Para Giuliana, añadió Scolari, "las últimas 24 horas han sido un infierno: primero el alivio por la liberación y luego, con el ataque asesino del blindado estadounidense, que disparó entre 300 y 400 disparos contra su coche, sin ningún motivo aparente".

Added Scolari, "the last 24 hours hav been hell" for Giuliana, "first the relief that she was freed and then the muderous attack of armed Americans, fired 300 or 400 rounds at her car, without apparent motivation."

La periodista, liberada tras permanecer secuestrada un mes en Irak, llegó esta mañana a Roma, donde fue recibida por amigos y familiares y el propio primer ministro italiano, Silvio Berlusconi. Posteriormente fue trasladada al hospital de Celio, donde fue intervenida por una herida de bala en el hombro.

The journalist, freed after being held for a month in Iraq, returned today to Rome, where she was recieved by her friedns and family and by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. She was then take to the hospital, where she was treated for a bullet wound in her shoulder.

En el incidente fueron heridos otros dos agentes secretos italianos, uno de ellos de gravedad. El cuerpo de Nicola Calipari será trasladado a Roma a lo largo del día de hoy.

Two other Italian secret agents were injured in the incident, one of them seriously. The body of Nicola Caipari will be brought to Rome sometime today.

Entretanto, EEUU ha anunciado una investigación para esclarecer lo sucedido, después de que Berlusconi llamara al presidente del país, George W. Bush para pedirle explicaciones y obtuviera el compromiso de que iban a investigar a fondo.

Meanwhile, after Berlusconi called President Bush to ask for an explanation and get a commitment for an in-depth investigation, the US announced that there will be an investigation in order to determined what happened.

Por su parte, los líderes políticos de la oposición en Italia han condenado unánimemente el incidente y atacaron al Gobierno del país por apoyar a Estados Unidos en la guerra en Irak.

For their part, opposition politicians in Italy unanamously condemned the incident and attacked the government for supporting the United States in Iraq.

From the BBC Online
Dated Saturday March 5 14:42 GMT (6:42 am PST)

Freed Italian hostage back home

Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena has arrived in Rome a day after being rescued from her Iraqi kidnappers - and wounded by US gunfire in Baghdad.

Ms Sgrena looked weak as she got off the plane before heading by ambulance to a military hospital in Rome.

She told Italian radio of the "rain of fire" on her car, which she said was not going particularly fast.

The US military has said soldiers fired at the car after its occupants ignored requests to stop at a checkpoint.

Read more.

y dos años del español en collegio, muchos, muchos años depués.

From the BBC Online
Dated Saturday March 5

Giuliana Sgrena: "Voice of weakest"

Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena never thought she would be taken hostage telling the story of the people she deeply cared for.

A toughened war correspondent, her reports filter the impact of conflict through the lives of ordinary people - precisely what she was doing in Baghdad on 4 February when she was seized by gunmen.

The former left-wing militant has often been described as an advocate of the dispossessed and the have-nots.

She once said war correspondents "make known the reality which otherwise would just be described in official war bulletins and propaganda pamphlets".

Read more.

She sounds like somebody we should have more of in this country.

these USA, if the reporters were not really afraid of the bushes and of the gonzalez/rovian (or rovian/gonzalez)maccabre machine.

maybe some of them are really truly afraid... and some maybe simply lack principles, or courage, or integrity. we are in a sad shape when our own journalists shill for the bushes and cover up so much.

that is why i say, BRAVO HELEN THOMAS, you are made of the same fiber sgrena, amy goodman and a few others are made of.

(and thank you jack rabbit for posting the links to el mundo and to the BBC article).

services man died because he threw himself around her to protect her from the bullets. Has anyone else heard that?

Maybe it was just reflexive for him to shelter her. Or maybe he wanted to make sure she lived to tell her story.

very courageous person to react in that manner on a reflex, in that kind of situation.

Despite the degeneracy of the Italian Establishment during WWII (and a substantial proportion of every Western Establishment in the lead-up to it), the courage of the Italian people, as reported by a British sergeant-major, who had liaised with resistance outfits in every theatre of the war in Europe, was second to none. They had displayed the greatest courage that he had witnessed anywhere.

On the TV programme in which I saw him speaking on the subject, he became quite emotional recollecting it. One incident was of a young schoolboy, who threw himself on a grenade, to save his pals.

As for the Italian armed forces, the leaders on both sides concurred that their best troops were the equal of any of theirs; while the rest of them must surely have realised they would be at best bit-players, to be used as cannon fodder.

You may also recall the heroic way in which an Italian hostage met his execution in Iraq.