[budster101]

Originally posted by Nicko:
Yes, kill first, think later. I suppose this is true for most soldiers of the world.

Soldiers are trained to do something that is unnatural by most civilian's standards. This is what makes them SOLDIERS. Reaction time is all they have to save themselves and those around them. Their JOB is not to overthink situations and waste valuable *time* that may end in tragedy given they fail to do their jobs.

This may sound brutal, but better ONE innocent die in a car that was potentially a bomb on wheels, rather than part of a platoon of soldiers defending a road. What if it was a bomb, and then another car followed behind, thereby being able to pass through the check-point? Then more casualties would have been the case, and you would all be railing against the soldiers for not doing their jobs! Can't win with you people.

Hmmm. Indeed.

[badidea]

Originally posted by Troll:
... or Italy?

Yes but the Italians didn't shoot in her direction!

[Troll]

Originally posted by badidea:
Yes but the Italians didn't shoot in her direction!

My point is that she lives in Italy and clearly isn't biased against her own country. Why would she be biased against the USA? I think the concept of communism being at war with the USA is completely outdated. Anyway, I may have overreacted because reading the right wing websites linked to on here, it's as if people are justifying her being attacked by virtue of her political leanings.

[moodymonster]

Originally posted by budster101:
Soldiers are trained to do something that is unnatural by most civilian's standards. This is what makes them SOLDIERS. Reaction time is all they have to save themselves and those around them. Their JOB is not to overthink situations and waste valuable *time* that may end in tragedy given they fail to do their jobs.

What is their job? to merely kill - why not forego soldiers altogether and just nuke places/carpet bomb?

If they don't do their job a tragedy, such as killing innocent civillians or allies, will happen.

Their job is be a soldier, which is something other than a mere killing machine.

On the same day a Bulgarian soldier was killed by US gunfire at another checkpoint.

The US army have asked the British to show US troops what they look like, due to the number of incidents of US troops firing on British soldiers. 32 times this year.

Its not the best situation to be in, but if you chose to be there you have to take responsibility for your actions. Saying its tough is not an excuse.

[badidea]

Originally posted by Troll:
My point is that she lives in Italy and clearly isn't biased against her own country. Why would she be biased against the USA? I think the concept of communism being at war with the USA is completely outdated.

My point was not communism being at war with the USA but more or less the likeliness of her being a strong opposer of the war in Iraq!

[Troll]

Originally posted by moodymonster:
Saying its tough is not an excuse.

If the excuse is good for the goose, it's good for the gander.

[Troll]

Originally posted by badidea:
My point was not communism being at war with the USA but more or less the likeliness of her being a strong opposer of the war in Iraq!

Yeah well something like 95% of the people on this planet are against the war in Iraq so the likelihood of anyone who's captured being anti-war is relatively high irrespective of whether they're commies or not.

[Joshua]

U.S. Only Partially Informed About Italian

U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) were only partially informed about last week's Italian intelligence mission to release a hostage, which ended with a shooting on the road to Baghdad airport and the death of secret service agent Nicola Calipari, Italian newspapers said Friday.

While U.S authorities were informed of the presence of Calipari and a colleague, they did not know that the mission was aimed at freeing Giuliana Sgrena, a journalist who had been kidnapped in Baghdad on Feb. 4, Italian dailies La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera reported.

Calipari's killing by American forces on March 4 shocked Italy and prompted Premier Silvio Berlusconi and other top officials to demand a full explanation from Washington.

A candlelit march was to be held later Friday at Rome's Capitoline Hill in memory of Calipari.

Both newspapers cited a report by Gen. Mario Marioli, an Italian who is the coalition forces' second-in-command. The report has been given to Rome prosecutors investigating the killing.

According to the newspapers, Marioli informed U.S. officials that Calipari and the other Italian officer were there, but not that the mission was aimed at releasing Sgrena.

The papers had conflicting versions over how much Marioli knew: Corriere said he knew the Calipari was working to have the hostage released, La Repubblica said he didn't. ...

[moodymonster]

Originally posted by Troll:
If the excuse is good for the goose, it's good for the gander.

yeah but the goose gets away with it, the ganders don't.

Mistakes only count at the bottom - the big mistakes aren't mistakes - newspeak

[demograph68]

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21460/

[SimeyTheLimey]

Surprise surprise, the "journalist" lied:



AFP

US satellite recorded checkpoint shooting, shows speed of Italian car: CBS

Fri Apr 29,12:28 PM ET
A US satellite reportedly recorded a checkpoint shooting in Iraq last month, enabling investigators to reconstruct how fast a car carrying a top Italian intelligence official and a freed hostage was traveling when US troops opened fire.

The report, which aired Thursday on CBS News, said US investigators concluded from the recording that the car was traveling at a speed of more than 60 miles (96 km) per hour.

Giuliana Sgrena has said the car was traveling at a normal speed of about 30 miles an hour when the soldiers opened fired, wounding her and killing Nicola Calipari, the Italian agent who had just secured her release from a month's captivity.

US soldiers said at the time of the March 4 incident that the car approached at a high rate of speed and that they fired only after it failed to respond to hand signals, flashing bright lights and warning shots.

The conflicting accounts were among a number of differences that have prevented US and Italian authorities from reaching agreement on what happened.

CBS, citing Pentagon officials, said the satellite recording enabled investigators to reconstruct the event without having to rely on the eyewitness accounts.

It said the soldiers manning the checkpoint first spotted the Italian car when it was 137 yards (meters) away. By the time they opened fire and brought the car to a halt, it was 46 yards (meters) away. CBS said that happened in less than three seconds, which meant the car had to be going over 60 miles an hour.

CBS said Italian investigators refused to accept that the Americans were justified in shooting so quickly, arguing among other things that the checkpoint was not properly marked.

[budster101]

Yes it is. Kill first before you are killed. Duh. It's called a WAR zone. Shit happens.

[PacHead]

That lying communist woman reporter is a nice piece of work. Thanks to her, Italy lost one of their agents, and for what ? to rescue that woman ? Not to mention, the actions of this irresponsible woman, who never believed that she would ever be kidnapped, has contributed to financing the terrorists with new cashflow, so that they can continue to kidnap other people. Many other people will suffer in the future because of the actions of that one woman. Is that commie woman reporter worth more than the other people who will be possibly killed, using the money that was used to pay her ransom. Where did that money come from by the way ? From the Italian govt (the italian people) I assume. I'd be mad as hell if I were an Italian and my tax money was wasted on such worthless causes.

[budster101]

Send Jane Fonda over to Iraq to negotiate with the insurgents....