U.S. bars Italians from examining victim’s car

[UpInArms]

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-740304.php

ROME — The U.S. military command in Iraq has blocked two Italian policemen from examining the car in which an Italian intelligence agent was shot to death in Baghdad, a newspaper said Wednesday.

Corriere della Sera said that the policemen were about to leave when the Italian Embassy in Baghdad received an order from the U.S. command on Monday to abort the mission for security concerns.

The embassy in Baghdad reportedly alerted Rome authorities, who called off the trip.

The car, a Toyota Corolla, is reportedly still in American hands, at Baghdad airport where it was originally rented.

<snip>

Italian authorities say that examining the vehicle is key to assessing what happened on March 4, when U.S. troops opened fire on the car carrying secret service agent Nicola Calipari, another intelligence officer and journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had just been released after a month of captivity in Iraq.

...more...

[freedom_to_read]

1. nothing to see here, move along

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[lebkuchen]

9. Why not swap out the car in question with a BMW Z4

let the Italians test drive it and call it a "typical day in US politics"?

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. But it's not that anyone has anything to hide... n/t

[ladjf]

3. Thugs.

[saigon68]

19. Yes, your new modern military at work

They do pretty much whatever the Fuck their handlers (The Bush Criminals) tell them.

[Demit]

4. Unbelievable arrogance. What else is this but a coverup?

[BlueEyedSon]

5. Does this not scream "assassination"?

[Robeson]

60. Does to me....

[Dhalgren]

6. The car, for forensic purposes, is worthless now.

Any investigation of the car will have to take into consideration the chain of custody and the possibility (fact) of tampering. The US has absolutely no standing left in the civilized world. This holding of the evidence makes me even more sure that the killing was deliberate - regardless of reasons behind it.

[flyarm]

51. oh yeah..and the italians can't count gun shot holes right?? n/t

[bemildred]

7. Glad they have "nothing to hide".

:puke:

[sui generis]

8. well, I honestly thought that this whole thing was a bit screechy

UNTIL NOW. What are they hiding? There is only ever one reason you pull a stunt like this if you're the military or government, and that is if you have something to hide.

[clem_c_rock]

22. And boy do they have a lot to hide about Falluja

Napalm, Chemical weapons, shooting civilians waving white flags, blowing up hospitals, shooting at ambulances.

What the fuck is going on here?

Tactics like these prove they are there to win at any costs.

[all.of.me]

10. this speaks volumes about our guilt!

where is my canada sweatshirt?

[cthrumatrix]

11. seems to be a trend with shrubby --- cover ups

[rodeodance]

12. we continue to be so stupid and turn around and say we are cooperating

[librechik]

13. what about those photos of the car that emerged a few weeks ago?

what about the report that the car was being shipped to Italy as evidence?

I don't trust anybody about this. Both sides have changed their stories, and both sides are known liars.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

24. And those photos were from the left side. The reports say the car was shot

on the right side. What's up with that?

Sure, they have nothing to hide.

[leftchick]

14. If Silvio does not pull the troops out now....

I don't know how long he will be able to show his face around Rome. The Italians are Pissed enough about this.

[w4rma]

15. guilty as charged. (nt)

[clem_c_rock]

16. This is completely maddening how so many DU'ers

Were fighting tooth and nail about how the US was telling the truth and there was no US coverup going on.

Why can't we wake up out of this patriotic stupor and actually admit what's really going on in Iraq?

[saigon68]

20. I have fought with these nitwits here for over 2 years

First the troop apologists, for taking the military to task for blasting children from their houses

Then the mass destruction Zombies who insisted the Chimp and Colon Bowel had Saddam's weapons depot.

Then a new group of TROOP APOLOGISTS who said we would never torture anyone.

I am sick of this SHIT

[jasop]

21. Are these people really DUers? I am beginning to wonder.. n/t

[clem_c_rock]

23. Yeah - how could people on DU be so naive?

[DulceDecorum]

26. Hang in there

I got your back.

[leftchick]

27. we have each others....

all of us here in LBN who read through the bullshit from the US Military, pentagon and state dept. not to mention the WH** day after day. Now they are starting to count Iraqi bodies much like Vietnam. See??? We are Winning We Killed 86 today!!!!! It is going to take the draft to wake folks up I am afraid.

[jasop]

28. I wonder if even the draft would wake people up?! n/t

[leftchick]

29. It would take a few years...

and have to affect a LOT of lives before it did. :(

[raccoon]

31. I think it would,

at least all those who were subject to it themselves, or else their close family members were.

[reality based]

17. Surprise! Surprise!

[daleo]

18. The Baghdad airport has to be one of the most secure locations in Iraq

After all, the chimp delivered a plastic turkey there once. So, the security concerns explanation is bogus. Bushco just hasn't decided whether to fake the evidence or stonewall indefinitely.

[MadisonProgressive]

34. After all, the chimp delivered a plastic turkey there once.

I'm having a bad day at work, but I laughed out loud when I read this line. :headbang:

[leftchick]

46. I am betting it was only reallly secure...

for that one day...till the real turkey left!

[0007]

53. The heat should be put on John Negroponte, 'The Death Squad Master'

Negroponte did these types of things in Nicaragua. Remember the six nuns?

Of course junior knew what was going down!

[Ezlivin]

25. They'll see the car as soon as Terri Schiavo drives it to them

I guess the next thing we're going to hear is that Congress has authorized only Terri to drive the car to the Italian embassy.

[DulceDecorum]

32. With Elian

as security consultant.

[all.of.me]

35. in the italian newspaper

il manifesto, there is an article about schiavo. translated, terri schiavo means 'Enslaved Lands' - boy, is THAT appropriate!

[mimitabby]

48. Schiavo - slave

Terri doesn't mean lands. it means Teresa.
Terre means lands

[all.of.me]

49. that was how they translated it in their headline

i thought it was ironic

[Matariki]

30. does anyone know -

In whose custody journalist Giuliana Sgrena was in? If he was in a place like Abu Ghraib it might go some way towards an explanation??

[all.of.me]

36. giuliana sgrena is a woman

she said she was kept in a house, and an older woman took care of her.

you can read her writings here:

http://www.ilmanifesto.it/pag/sgrena/en/

on the left side of the page are links to her articles.

[NYC]

37. She was not in U.S. custody,

and not in a U.S. run prison. She was kidnapped by ???. I have forgotten, but I think they were Iraqis. Sgrena was definitely not in a U.S. run prison.

[Zerex71]

33. Ballistics and forensics test might turn up evidence we want to cover up!

[NYC]

38. Keep this information circulating.

This is the same car they reported to have "lost", even though it never left the airport? This car was supposed to be shipped to Italy quite a while ago.

What security problem? They can't put the car on a cargo plane, and fly it out of Iraq? It isn't necessary for the Italians to go to Iraq. Nobody can verify the chain of custody now, anyway.

[DemoTex]

39. This too shall fail. Stupid, stupid decision by Rummy-Dummy.

The total B/S of this situation is readily apparent to the world.

[Lori Price CLG]

40. U.S. bars Italians from examining victim's car

U.S. bars Italians from examining victim's car

ROME — The U.S. military command in Iraq has blocked two Italian policemen from examining the car in which an Italian intelligence agent was shot to death in Baghdad, a newspaper said Wednesday.

Corriere della Sera said that the policemen were about to leave when the Italian Embassy in Baghdad received an order from the U.S. command on Monday to abort the mission for security (sic) concerns.

The embassy in Baghdad reportedly alerted Rome authorities, who called off the trip.

The car, a Toyota Corolla, is reportedly still in American hands, at Baghdad airport where it was originally rented.

<snip>

Lori Price
http://www.legitgov.org/

[NNN0LHI]

41. Bet it looks like the death car from Bonnie And Clyde

Looks like a hunk of Swiss cheese. Nothing to see here. Move along now.

Don

[pinniped]

43. Exactly. I saw the car at Whiskey Petes at Stateline, NV and it was...

an eerie sight.

The Italian 'death car' probably has .50BMG holes in it. Hell, it probably does since they don't want anyone inspecting it.

[Junkdrawer]

42. Shit, you'd have thought they would have found used Corolla parts by now

What's taking them so long???

[shadowknows69]

44. hey Italy

how's it feel to know you're our bitch. I can't believe the gall we have. isn't this car Italian property?

[NNN0LHI]

45. They know exactly how it feels after being under US occupation for 60 years

Our Italian subjects know to keep their mouths shut They ought to be used to it by now.

Don

[mimitabby]

47. i think it was an airport rental car

[daleo]

50. Business is a bit slow, but it might pick up.

Perhaps they can use the car to ferry "embedded" journalists to the Green Zone, as a little reminder of what happens to unreliable elements.

[Nothing Without Hope]

52. Outrageous! The forensic evidence must be so extremely damning

that they are risking reliance on the compliance of the US press in keeping the story stifled, like so many others.

For example, THIS one, well known OUTSIDE the US but blacked out here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3316529
Thread title: Secret US plan to derail European fight against illegal rainforest logging

So many important stories are being buried by all the Schiavo noise. List of some of them here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3331728
Thread title: List Some Non-Shiavo Stories That Are Important Here:

[ConcernedCanuk]

54. I thought Iraq was "Free" now - guess they just have a new Diktator - eh?

.
.
.

and from what I'm seeing -

WORSE than the one Dubya replaced

Isn't Iraq supposed to be making their own decisions now?

Isn't what all this carnage was about?

ah

silly me

I keep furgetting

US needs oil

not JUNIOR'S fault gawd put HIS oil on the wrong continent . . .

:eyes:

[sampsonblk]

55. Let's give * a pass on this, so we can seem more moderate!

NOT

[Robeson]

61. Don't give Joementum and Hair Plug Guy any ideas......

[Donailin]

56. and there goes my blood pressure

so much for getting that one day a week break where this country doesn't outrage me enough to chill out and recoup my energy.

[leQ]

57. has anybody come up with figures on how many soldiers....

were killed at checkpoints by oncoming suicide bombers?

seems to me, all our casualties are mostly by IEDs.

[Merlin]

58. I suspect the car will soon wind up "stolen" by Iraqi terrorists

How sad that these evil terrorists will wind up steeling this critical evidence. Just shows what kind of mendacity we are up against.

If only others would conduct themselves with the purity of purpose which we abide by.

[Robeson]

62. Or, do I smell "car bomb"....

[NNN0LHI]

66. This car is already at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Promise n/t

[bobthedrummer]

59. Conspiracy kick.

:dem::kick:

[Rex]

63. Full transparency my ass!

nt

[Rex]

64. dup post

nt

[Straight Shooter]

65. "in which an Italian intelligence agent was SHOT TO DEATH."

Nothing indicating an accidental round of friendly fire in that sentence.

Shot. to. death.

Somebody is sneaking in a subliminal message, eh?

[Blue_Tires]

67. are you people trying to say our beloved military is involved in a coverup

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[kitkatrose]

68. 'Cause the best way to show you're innocent

is to deny access to evidence... :eyes:

[GetTheRightVote]

69. do not touch, do not look, do not notice how we turn you away from truth

:kick:

[leesa]

70. Now ain't that special...maybe the patches and the new paint aren't dry.

[Salome Maloney]

71. Naomi Klein interviews Sgrena: "Shot from behind, on a secure US route."

On Democracy Now, Naomi Klein has just interviewed Giuliana Sgrena. This is the first interview since the sole available surviving witness to the attacks was released from hospital. Ms. Sgrena says the car was:

a) shot from behind;

b) on a specially secured road reserved exclusively for ambassadors and top military officials;

c) without warning.

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

(Naomi Klein's interview really deserves a whole separate thread to itself, but as this is my first post, I can't start one. It should also be sent to every mainstream journalist in the Western world. Maybe I'm unduly optimistic, or too furious to see clearly, but I think this story could actually bring down the Bush Gang, if it's not allowed to die. They are ever more blatantly criminal, but they might just have gone too far this time.)

-----

NAOMI KLEIN: 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.

And the other thing that Giuliana told me that she's quite frustrated about is the description of the vehicle that fired on her as being part of a checkpoint. 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.

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

[oasis]

72. Naomi Klein is an impressive, credible journalist. (eom)