More new information concerning Sgrena shooting

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/25/1516242

Naomi Klein Reveals New Details About U.S. Military Shooting of Italian War Correspondent in Iraq

"One of the things that we keep hearing is that she was fired on on the road to the airport, which is a notoriously dangerous road. In fact, it's often described as the most dangerous road in the world. So this is treated as a fairly common and understandable incident that there would be a shooting like this on that road. And I was on that road myself, and it is a really treacherous place with explosions going off all the time and a lot of checkpoints. What Giuliana told me that I had not realized before is that she wasn't on that road at all. She was on a completely different road that I actually didn't know existed. It's a secured road that you can only enter through the Green Zone and is reserved exclusively for ambassadors and top military officials. So, when Calipari, the Italian security intelligence officer, released her from captivity, they drove directly to the Green Zone, went through the elaborate checkpoint process which everyone must go through to enter the Green Zone, which involves checking in obviously with U.S. forces, and then they drove onto this secured road."

<snip>

"She says it wasn't a checkpoint at all. It was simply a tank that was parked on the side of the road that opened fire on them. There was no process of trying to stop the car, she said, or any signals. From her perspective, they were just -- it was just opening fire by a tank. The other thing she told me that was surprising to me was that they were fired on from behind. Because I think part of what we're hearing is that the U.S. soldiers opened fire on their car, because they didn't know who they were, and they were afraid. It was self-defense, they were afraid. The fear, of course, is that their car might blow up or that they might come under attack themselves. And what Giuliana Sgrena really stressed with me was that she -- the bullet that injured her so badly and that killed Calipari, came from behind, entered the back seat of the car. And the only person who was not severely injured in the car was the driver, and she said that this is because the shots weren't coming from the front or even from the side. They were coming from behind, i.e. they were driving away. So, the idea that this was an act of self-defense, I think becomes much more questionable. And that detail may explain why there's some reticence to give up the vehicle for inspection. Because if indeed the majority of the gunfire is coming from behind, then clearly, they were firing from -- they were firing at a car that was driving away from them."

I've never heard about this other road but it makes sense that it would be there since the main road is so dangerous.

the front view.

or a botched assasination attempt.

Even the European photos of the car only showed the front. I assumed the bullets entered through the windshield, not exited.

Here's how it's being depicted in the Italian press:





http://www.tgcom.it/mondo/articoli/articolo246213.shtml#

I hope it doesn't get lost among the Schiavo hog wallow threads that have proliferated on GD.

I was wondering if there was any new info so thanks.

Here's a :kick:

Oh, yeah, how silly of me: There's no feeding tube involved.

It also blows out of the water the contrived story of an emergency checkpoint set up for Proconsul Negroponte, since it would probably be the most secured road in Iraq.

Did it go through her shoulder and then enter Calipari's head? All previous reports indicated the opposite.

Question from the devil's advocate: Why would he shield her body from bullets coming from behind? Did he not place his body in front of hers?

I maintain that the U.S. is grievously at fault for this incident. But it's important that the facts reported remain consistent.

edited for clarity

The first reaction of a bodyguard would be to cover the other person's body. It would seem easy that a bullet could then enter from one body to the other. We really don't know what bullet killed Nicola Calipari. It's speculation at this point with two differing stories of the events. The speculation is fueled by the US refusing to let Italian authorities inspect the car.

We simply cannot trust the events as told to us now. To assume anything will not further the cause to find the truth.

However, it would explain why the driver wasn't hit. One would think that the driver would be the first target to slow the car, and that would require a shot from the front or from the side.

Too much doesn't add up, and it usually, from past experiences, comes from the US side. We've been duped by the minions of this current US Administration so many times, and now more dragging on the part of the US for a true independent investigation.

all about her diganosis from video..but gee wonder if Frist would bother to check out this story?? hey Frist can you please tell us how this car was shot at and why?? when our authorities knew the car was coming and who was in the car..and a plane was standing by ready to wisk them out of bagdad for italy...or can tom delay please use his clairvoiance and tell us how this was allowed to happen..instead of reading tea leaves of a brain dead woman??

Agreed, we cannot trust the stories being given to us of the events.

Apparently Berlusconi thinks something is hinky, though, to be pulling out the troops. I think the murkiness of this episode added enough weight on top of the Italians being opposed to being in Iraq in the first place, such that he decided bush would not politically cuckold him in his own country.

and will ONLY release pictures from the front and left side of the car.

the rest of your post looks like unclear speculation :shrug:

peace

:kick:

if they just released the car. It's more than a little suspicious that they won't. It's sad that I trust what anyone else says before I trust the US "official" story, but that's what this country has come to for me. I believe NOTHING official anymore, and I put NOTHING past Bushco.

This story is VERY IMPORTANT!!

nominated

• Why they made it through all the other checkpoints
  
  
• Why there was an official delegation waiting at the airport to see her off
  
  
• Why there was little damage to the front of the car
  
  
• Why there was little damage to the driver of the car
  
  
• Why the U.S. changed their minds about turning the car over to the Italians
  
  
• Why the investigative team is being led by an American military offical
  

Now, all I need is an explaination as to why the Italian troops haven't been pulled out yet!

:headbang:
rocknation

:kick:

:kick: and nominated.

Accident, my arse! They KNEW she was coming.

If you haven't watched the 1993 Academy Award-winning documentary called 'The Panama Deception,' do so. I rented it at the video store on VHS

http://www.empowermentproject.org/pages/panama.html#panamaorder
http://clickit.go2net.com/search?pos=5&ppos=1&plnks=1&uplnks=19&cat=web&cid=264871&site=srch&area=srch.noncomm.askjeeves&shape=textlink&cp=info.dogpl&cluster-click=0&pd=0&coll=1&query=the+panama+deception+film+trent&rawto=http://tm.wc.ask.com/r?t=an&s=dp&uid=24296024442960244&sid=34296024442960244&qid=93B46384B1647A47B63995E67A4ECA20&io=1&sv=za5cb0df1&o=0&ask=the+panama+deception+film+trent&uip=42960244&en=te&eo=-100&pt=The+Empowerment+Project%3a%3aThe+Panama+Deception&ac=24&qs=121&pg=1&ep=1&te_par=102&te_id=&u=http://www.empowermentproject.org/pages/panama.html
http://clickit.go2net.com/search?pos=2&ppos=0&plnks=1&uplnks=19&cat=web&cid=239171&site=srch&area=srch.noncomm.google&shape=textlink&cp=info.dogpl&cluster-click=0&pd=0&coll=1&query=the+panama+deception+film+trent&rawto=http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4078.htm

http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/search/web/the%2Bpanama%2Bdeception%2Bfilm%2Btrent

The new post-Vietnam method of eliminating knowledge and record of war crimes was employed here with a vengeance.

4000 poor civilians were killed in the invasion and entire neighborhoods burned to the ground. MASS GRAVES, some of them on US military bases hid the evidence of George H.W. Bush's war crimes.

Journalists were kept out of the area and the few Panamanian journalists who troops encountered were killed. The film shows the body of one of them with a camera around his neck dead in a pool of his own blood.

I hesitate (only briefly) to also cite Kosovo in 1999 because I get attacked as a GOP/Serbian/Marxist by certain DU-ers who are enamored of a certain member of the US military who is now a 2008 Democratic candidate.

Some things do not change.

For instance, the Serbian state television office was bombed to rubble during a broadcast, while it was full of workers, all of whom were killed. It was acknowlegded that it had indeed been targetted because NATO was not pleased with its bias (as it happens, I was in Croatia at the time and we watched Serbian TV a lot, it was generally more informative than the CNN, until the screen went black). This clearly constitutes a war crime and someone (let's not name any names, wink wink) should have answered for it before the Yugoslavia tribunal at the Hague.

I think the person which you didn't mention has in fact already been in The Hague, albeit as witness, and for some reason it was a private session ...

Other war crimes include the bombings of car and cigarette factories, of market places, bridges and trains, and other civilian targets. I don't recall the exact number, but I believe there were hundreds of such attacks.

I have no idea if anybody would seriously believe that the US don't have current maps and the addresses of foreign embassies in countries they bomb? If so, the Chinese embassy and several dead personnel may not count.

However, the most horrible claim is that refugee columns were targetted deliberately if they were headed the wrong way, i. e. back home instead of to the border. I believe the physician who treated the wounded. He testified to this effect just recently in The Hague. But the US will always claim that it was just a regrettable mistake. Since they were unlucky and journalists found shells with numbers and stamps proving US origin. Otherwise they would probably have stuck to their initial claim that it was the Serbs who threw these bombs on the refugee columns.

I remember those other cases very well, but I've never heard those allegation concerning the refugee columns before. How utterly horrible if there's anything at all to that. It's ironic that they accused the Serbian TV of being a propaganda outlet and as such a part of the Serbian war machine, when the CNN performed that exact function for the other side. I wonder what they would have said at the daily NATO press briefings if the Serbs had targetted CNN journalists out of the same logic.

:kick:

I really appreciate Naomi Klein.

The US side's story:

"As you know, in a situation where there is a live combat zone, particularly this road to the airport, has been a notorious area for car bombs, that people are making split-second decisions, and it's critically important that we get the facts before we make judgments," Bartlett said on CNN's "Late Edition."

The U.S. military has said the car Sgrena was riding in was speeding and Americans used hand and arm signals, flashing white lights and warning shots to get it to stop at the roadblock.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050307/ap_on_re_eu/italy_iraq_hostage