Interview with Giuliana Sgrena tonight on 60 Minutes

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/12/60II/main687555.shtml

Tonight, April 13,  Sixty Minutes Wednesday will broadcast an interview with Giuliana Sgrena (8 p.m. ET/PT).

Most interestingly, the report does not include the claims of Sgrena and the surviving agent that the car was not speeding.  Although the U.S. Army declined requests for an interview, citing its ongoing investigation, the report presents an excuse for the shootings.  A former U.S. Marine captain, who was not present at the incident, attempts to make a reconstruction of events

This broadcast will air while Gianfranco Fini is on an official visit in Washington, where yesterday he met with Vice-President Cheney.  While preparing for a series of meetings in Washington, Fini declared that "our bilateral relations have never been so good."  

More...

Giving lie to his declaration are two sensitive issues - the shooting death of SISMI director Nicola Calipari by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and the kidnaping by CIA agents (for extraordinary rendition) in February 2003 of Abu Omar, the Egyptian Imam of a mosque in Milan.

Today Corriere della Sera announces that there will be no U.S. court martial for the soldiers at the mobile check point that fired upon the Toyota carrying Calipari, and Giuliana Sgrena near the Baghdad airport.  This revelation comes while the Italian government is waiting for a "just" punishment for these same soldiers, and actively pursuing more information from the U.S., such as the names of the soldiers who were involved in the shooting, as well as access to their car, which remains in Baghdad even though the Italian government purchased the Toyota from the Iraqi rental agency.

After meeting with Cheney, Fini told journalists in Washington DC that the work of the investigation is going ahead, and he is optimistic about the outcome.  He added that Italy was awaiting the results, and that no calendar date had been set for the end of the investigation.

A few days after the shooting, Fini related to the Italian Camera the events of the March 4 shooting which resulted in the death of Calipari, and wounded Sgrena and the agent driving the Toyota.  His presentation was based on the testimony of Giuliana Sgrena and the surviving agent, which sharply contradicts the Pentagon version of the shooting.

As a concession to the Italian government after Silvio Berlusconi publically declared that someone must be held responsible for the shooting, the U.S. allowed two Italians to participate on the panel.  However, according to Il Manifesto, the names of the two participants have not been released.  Giuliana Sgrena said in a radio interview (http://www.audionews.it/notizia.asp?id=110952) that she testified two times for the US investigation; once in writing, and once on a video conference.

And now Fini and Rice have made a joint statement saying that there is no hurry to end the investigation because it is more important to reach a good, mutual conclusion than to end in haste.

Further complicating the results of the investigation, and the timing of its release, is the devastating defeat of Berlusconi and his allies in the recent regional elections, and the accompanying calls for early elections.

If the U.S. refuses to acknowledge its fault in the shooting, it risks losing an ally in the occupation of Iraq.  Berlusconi may try to implement the withdrawal of Italian troops, if only to protect himself in the upcoming elections.  If Berlusconi decides to maintain the troops, and there are early elections, the center-left coalition could easily come to power.

http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Esteri/2005/04_Aprile/13/caprara.html

http://www.tgcom.it/mondo/articoli/articolo252315.shtml

http://www.reuters.com/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp?type=topNews&localeKey=it_IT&storyID=817243 8

http://www.unita.it/index.asp?SEZIONE_COD=HP&TOPIC_TIPO=&TOPIC_ID=42025

http://www.reuters.com/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp;:425cba56:5d4cdd199f6edeec?type=topNews&localeK ey=it_IT&storyID=8164166

•  Is she going to be commenting on...

  the pope or Schiavo?  Because if she doesn't, will it still be news?

  by jalapeno on Wed Apr 13, 2005 at 12:36:29 PM PDT

•  If the car remains in Baghdad,

  can Italian agents get access to it there? Or has it still been "misplaced"?

  by Mnemosyne on Wed Apr 13, 2005 at 12:39:52 PM PDT

  •  Toyota not misplaced

    but Italian ballistic experts are denied access to the car.

    The Roman public ministers investigating the case urged the government to strongly demand access to the car.  They fear that the US may dismantle the car before their experts have a chance to examine it.  An analysis of the bullet holes will reveal the direction(s) and number of the shots.

    To my knowledge, no photos of the rear, or right side of the car have been released, the areas that would have been most hit by the shooters.

    by venice ca on Wed Apr 13, 2005 at 12:48:39 PM PDT

    •  Photos

      Photos of the right side of the car as well as all of the seats, both front and back, were shown on RAI 3 evening news. Still prints were published the following day, if I recall in l'Unità and il Manifesto. I do not have at hand the exact date. I did mention it with a description of the bullet holes in this post of April 1st.
      To the best of my knowledge the photos are not on the web- just as much information on the case available in Italian opposition papers.
      DailyKos has done an outstanding job in covering the Sgrena-Calipari incident, by far the best in English.

      by rom wyo on Wed Apr 13, 2005 at 01:34:58 PM PDT

•  The US investigation of the incident

  is presently in a double bind situation. There are two Italian officers participating in the joint investigation. This would entail that any conclusion made by the commission has the approval of these officers.

  However the judiciary investigation in Italy has already uncovered several inconsistencies in the American version through the testimony of General Marioli, head of the Italian contingent in Iraq, and the surviving SISMI agent.
  1)    The car was not speeding;
  2)    Negroponte had passed by nearly an hour before: there was no reason for an ongoing alert at that time;
  3)    At the airport General Marioli told Captain Green that Sgrena was the passenger 30 minutes before the shooting. Green had to know her identity to arrange her passage through the checkpoints. Green most likely was not aware of the presence of the military unit outside of  the airport;
  4)    The troops opened fire without warning- and not at the engine block.

  There is nothing discretionary in the pursuit of crime in the Italian judiciary order. It's a hell of a burden but all suspected crimes must be investigated. This includes alleged crimes against Italian citizens abroad. The US, which is bound by international treaties of cooperation in criminal investigations, has no legal grounds  to prevent the Italian investigation or withhold evidence.

  The Italian government through its Minister of Justice has taken formal steps to get the car, allow a civil investigation of the incident and establish the identities of the troops involved in the shooting.

  If the joint military investigation goes with a no faults verdict, this would imply that the two Italian officers disregard the sworn testimony of General Marioli and the SISMI agent, as well as the judiciary initiatives in Italy.

  Any other verdict is impossible.

  The longer it takes to go public, the more likely it will be ignored. It's a matter of timing for minimum political damage.

  by rom wyo on Wed Apr 13, 2005 at 03:06:35 PM PDT

  •  Agree

    Fini also said today that there would be no unilateral withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

    It seems as if the ruling coalition is painting themselves into a corner.

    by venice ca on Wed Apr 13, 2005 at 04:42:34 PM PDT

•  They cover the fact that the car wasn't speeding

  Re:
  

  Most interestingly, the report does not include the claims of Sgrena and the surviving agent that the car was not speeding.

  The 60 minutes report says at the outset that the Italians say it was going 30 mph when it was fired on, and then Sgrena herself denies a list of US claims, including that the car was speeding, that attempts to stop it were made, etc., before they were fired upon.

  (I was looking for it, so it might have been easy to miss as it wasn't greatly emphasized.)

  I thought it was quite a fine piece, though I wish they'd talked more about both Sgrena's anti-war reportage prior to her kidnapping, especially regarding Fallujah, and the US opposition to negotiations with hostage-takers, both of which played a part in the suspicions that this might NOT have been accidental.

  by wont get fooled again on Wed Apr 13, 2005 at 11:59:02 PM PDT

•  different road

  sgrena was not on the 'road of death' to the airport; that is the main thing; they went thru checkpoints into the green zone and travelled the priveleged US road to the airport that negroponte and others travel on. why is this not common knowledge in US and how come '60 minutes'did not mention this?
  the joke is the rightwing blogs are calling CBS communists for having her come on and lie when in fact CBS are of course the liars, upholding the official version.

  by dieboldit on Mon Apr 18, 2005 at 02:15:42 PM PDT