More cowboys from the USA acting like big shots and killing innocent people. Out of Iraq stupid american cowboys:



BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Italian journalist wounded at a Baghdad checkpoint shooting involving U.S. troops told an Italian TV station Saturday that she is doing well but is "upset" by the death of the security agent who was killed saving her life.

Giuliana Sgrena, a newspaper reporter who was struck by shrapnel in her left shoulder Friday night, told Rainew24: "I was particularly upset [by his death] because we thought we were out of danger after my handover to the Italians. Instead, there has been a sudden shootout. We were hit by a barrage of bullets.

"I was talking to Nicola [Calipari]. He was filling me in on what had happened in Italy in the meantime, when he leaned over me, probably to defend me, and then he slumped down and I saw he was dead. And the fire [of bullets] continued ... because the driver couldn't even explain that we were Italians. It has really been a terrible thing."

Calipari was killed when he tried to shield Sgrena from gunfire as they approached a U.S. military checkpoint near Baghdad International Airport.

Speaking from Rome's military hospital, Sgrena, 56, said she was doing well.

The two other Italian security agents in the car were also wounded. According to Reuters, one returned to Italy with Sgrena on Saturday morning, and the other, who was seriously wounded, is being treated in Iraq.

President Bush has promised the United States will investigate the incident, which occurred shortly after Sgrena was released following a month in captivity in Iraq.

In a written statement, multinational officials said that at about 9 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) U.S. soldiers opened fire on a car that was approaching a checkpoint at high speed.

U.S. troops had "attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car," the statement said. "When the driver didn't stop, the soldiers shot into the engine block, which stopped the vehicle."

However, Italian magistrate Franco Ionta said Sgrena disagreed with the military account.

"It wasn't a checkpoint, but a patrol that shot as soon [as] they lit us up with a spotlight. We didn't know where the bullets were coming from. We had not met other checkpoints before. Our car was absolutely not traveling at high speed," she said.

Rules of engagement permit coalition troops to use escalating levels of force if they feel threatened. They can use lethal force, for example, if a car refuses to stop for a checkpoint.

The road where the incident took place is particularly dangerous.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi summoned U.S. ambassador Mel Sembler on Friday night and demanded a full investigation, and took a telephone call from Bush, who expressed his regrets.

"This was a call to reach out to a good friend and express our regret about the incident," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, according to Reuters.

"The president assured Prime Minister Berlusconi that it would be fully investigated ... We're cooperating closely with Italian authorities."

Berlusconi is a staunch Bush supporter, backing the U.S.-led invasion and sending in the Italian troops after Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003.

He said the two other agents in the car contacted his office after the incident and "they were in disbelief at the fatality at the end of a brilliantly concluded operation." (Full story)

Sgrena's partner, Pierre Scolari, blamed the shooting on the U.S. government, even suggesting the incident was intentional.

"I hope the Italian government does something because either this was an ambush, as I think, or we are dealing with imbeciles or terrorized kids who shoot at anyone," he said, according to Reuters.

CNN's Alessio Vinci reported that Saturday's Il Manifesto newspaper, Sgrena's employer, had accused U.S. forces of "assassinating" Calipari.

Italian vigils
Sgrena was kidnapped outside a mosque in Baghdad on February 4. Later that month, she was shown in a video pleading for her life and urging her government to work for an end to the foreign occupation of Iraq.

The tape was shown on the same day that Italy's Senate voted to extend the funding for the deployment.

Sgrena also asked Scolari to show pictures she had taken of Iraqi children being hit by cluster bombs.

Il Manifesto is a left-leaning newspaper that has long opposed the Iraq war.

Thousands of Italians took part in vigils calling for Sgrena's safe return home.

At least eight Italians have been taken hostage in Iraq. Another journalist, Enzo Baldoni, was seized in August 2004 and later killed by his captors.

Berlusconi's government at the time said it would try to secure her freedom but, as in past hostage cases, refused to withdraw Italian troops in Iraq, as hostage-takers have often demanded.

Italy has about 3,000 troops in Iraq, the fourth-largest foreign contingent after U.S., British and South Korean forces.

Despite the release of Sgrena, there was no news about French journalist Florence Aubenas, who was seized in Baghdad on January 5.

Aubenas made a desperate appeal for help in a videotape released by Iraqi insurgents Tuesday.
nomorenarcs Reviewed by nomorenarcs on . GI Joe shoots freed hostage More cowboys from the USA acting like big shots and killing innocent people. Out of Iraq stupid american cowboys: BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Italian journalist wounded at a Baghdad checkpoint shooting involving U.S. troops told an Italian TV station Saturday that she is doing well but is "upset" by the death of the security agent who was killed saving her life. Giuliana Sgrena, a newspaper reporter who was struck by shrapnel in her left shoulder Friday night, told Rainew24: "I was Rating: 5