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Could
\n Dan Brown have invented a more bizarre and conspiratorial plot than the
\n recent wounding of Italian journalist Guiana Sgrena and
\n the killing of Italian spy Nicola Calipari as they sped to the airport
\n mere minutes after the journalist’s being freed from captivity following
\n a month at the hands
\n of the nefarious Iraqi terrorists?<\/p>\n
According to the US, the car was speeding towards an established checkpoint,
\n hand signals, loudspeakers and warning shots were fired to induce the
\n driver to stop, and as a last resort a few shots were fired at the car’s engine block. They also claim that no
\n one at the checkpoint knew that the car contained Italians, that Sgrena
\n had been rescued, or was on her way to the airport.<\/p>\n
However, the reporter, the driver and the spy who wasn’t killed tell
\n a completely different story. They say it was raining, so they
\n were traveling at a modest 30 mph, that there was no checkpoint at the
\n point where they were shot – a mere 700 yards from the airport – and
\n that they had already passed through two "real" checkpoints where they
\n identified themselves and their mission, and were assured the route was
\n cleared. They also claim there was no warning before the shooting started and they saw no signals to stop
\n until they were pinned in brilliant searchlights and blasted by over
\n 400 rounds of various calibers.<\/p>\n
Obviously, serious disconnect. A comprehensive investigation is called for to square these As expected, the foreign press is having a field day. From Al Sgrena insists the vehicles were moving at normal speed, she saw no Furthermore, she says, the convoy had passed several US checkpoints already Other details add fuel to the conspiratorial fire. Supporting those According to AP<\/a>, "U.S. troops who mistakenly killed an Italian intelligence At the very least this story points up the reality that reporting from latest story from the New York Times<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Could Dan Brown have invented a more bizarre and conspiratorial plot than the recent wounding of Italian journalist Guiana Sgrena and the killing of Italian spy Nicola Calipari as they sped to the airport mere minutes after the journalist’s being … Continue reading
\n discrepant versions of events. The Italian
\n government<\/a>, one of our
\n last reluctant allies in the theater, has called for one. Amazingly,
\n the prime evidence for any such investigation, key for proving one or the other version the truth – the
\n shot up car – cannot be examined. The US military claims it has
\n been "lost."<\/p>\n
\n Jazeerah:<\/a> "The details of the tragic
\n incident differ widely. The United States says the convoy
\n carrying
\n the
\n Italian
\n journalist
\n was
\n speeding
\n and ignored flashing lights, hand signals, warning shots and calls
\n for it to halt at a checkpoint. <\/p>\n
\n flashing lights or hand signals and neither did she hear any warnings. <\/p>\n
\n and the fact that it was carrying Italians was well known."<\/p>\n
\n who claim a plot on the part of high-ranking US officials, is appears
\n that the actual troops who ambushed the Italians were special security forces assigned to U.S. Ambassador
\n John Negroponte. The plot thickens:<\/p>\n
\n agent last week on the road to Baghdad’s international airport were part
\n of extra security provided by the U.S. Army to protect U.S. Ambassador
\n John Negroponte, a U.S. official said Thursday." <\/p>\n
\n an occupied homeland, 22 months after "Mission Accomplished," surrounded
\n by white-knuckled trigger fingers attached to war-weary teen-aged hands,
\n hearts and minds, is more dangerous than even traditional war reporting,
\n where at least the battle lines are drawn on somebody’s map, and one
\n has at least a vague idea of from which direction the killing fire is
\n likely to come. <\/p>\n