Comments on: Italy Rejects U.S. Version of Sgrena Shooting

By: Luciano

Luciano — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 18:38:22 +0000

I'm proud to be ITALIAN. I'm proud that in my country there was a man like the agent Calipari. He has given his life for the journalist Sgrena and you must respect them, together. Are you not shy for this war? Do you have culture enough to understand what's happening?
To the persons writing such words in the post, i would like to tell that they have a very dirty conscience and they are like murders.

By: mrybill

mrybill — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 23:50:02 +0000

This comment is not about the shooting, but about the curious circumstances regarding the hostage-taking and ransom.
It's clear that the Italians taken hostage thus far (Sgrena, and the two Nicolas earlier) were all true believers in the "insurgency" and were doing what they could to promote it. One might think that would make them unlikely hostage targets to begin with - but if they knew their government would pay a large ransom for their release if they were kidnapped, and they believed no harm would come to them from the terrorists...wouldn't arranging your own kidnappings make sense?
Evidence? None that I know of. But this makes more sense than a lot of the theories I've seen floating around.

By: The Key Monk

The Key Monk — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 16:35:51 +0000

Press Frenzy and Italian Idiocy
Sgrena is a communist who writes for a Leninist newspaper in Italy (yes, they still have those). Her tale of what transpired in the vehicle when the American soldiers shot at it is harrowing.

It is also palpably FALSE.

By: Lance

Lance — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 16:25:00 +0000

I've read many "quotes" attributed to Sgrena. Frankly,I believe the vast majority of these are at best paraphrased. One of the first that I read-if true-is very telling to me.

"they shouldn't have stopped us because we were not speeding"

To me, this statement displays utter contempt for the authority of ANY military or police personel to stop ANY car or person at ANY time or ANY place for ANY reason.

I find it implausible that she and her companions were ignorant of this REALITY.

By: IrvinT1@Hotmail.com

IrvinT1@Hotmail.com — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 15:34:37 +0000

I think I've read just about everything Miss Giuliana Sgrena has said on this story thus far. Does anyone know when the final draft will be released?
Tommy

By: Am I A Pundit Now?

Am I A Pundit Now? — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 15:31:11 +0000

Italian Journalist versus Occam's Razor.
Spoiler alert: the Razor wins.

The discrepancies between the story told by italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena and that of the guards at the checkpoint that fired upon her vehicle seems very wide, but perhaps Solomon can split the baby with Occam's...

By: JackLewis.net

JackLewis.net — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 15:21:10 +0000

The flight of the Italian grouse
From FoxNews: Giuliana Sgrena, who was abducted Feb. 4 in Baghdad, spoke from a Rome hospital where she was recuperating...

By: LJD

LJD — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 12:37:42 +0000

Ken,

Yeah. Right. A bunch of guys out looking for a car to fill full of lead, just for kicks.

Perhaps you would like to sit on a checkpoint, perhaps one of the most diffiuclt jobs in the world, not knowing who has a car packed with explosives.

You really are a jerk; move out of my country.

By: Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 11:25:12 +0000

THE ITALIAN HOSTAGE JOB
The biggest story of the weekend, which continues to spill all over today's headlines, is the Giuliana Sgrena debacle in Iraq. LGF , OTB, and the Jawa Report, among many others, have done great jobs covering the twists and turns....

By: Ralph

Ralph — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 22:28:52 +0000

This whole story stinks of red herrings. If it is true that Italy paid ransom for this woman's release, what is Italy doing? What kind of ally gives money to the enemy? Can there be any doubt but that the enemy will use this money to buy more things that go bang?

By: JakeV

JakeV — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 21:33:03 +0000

Well, Scolari and Sgrena are being total idiots by claiming that this was a purposeful shooting, and there's no shortage of idiots ready to follow them. However your "two basic stories" summation is tendentious. You seem to be excluding the possibility that while the shooting was accidental (an obvious truth for anyone who isn't consumed with irrational and ignorant America-hatred), the car wasn't really "speeding towards a checkpoint" and didn't receive appropriate warnings-- i.e., that this was an unfortunate, if understandable under the circumstances, error on the part of US troops. Is that not possible? Have you forgotten about other instances where the official military version of an event was wrong-- like Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman? Have you forgotten about other incidents that clearly weren't the fault of those killed-- like that time the US plane clipped the Italian ski-lift? This "two basic stories" idea isn't nearly as stupid as the garbage being spouted by Scolari and Sgrena, I'll say that much for it. But it hardly bespeaks an open-minded and thoughtful attitude about this incident.

By: hj

hj — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 19:54:58 +0000

I'ld say Americans had all the rights to shot her. Cause they rule Iraq and the world. ...idiots!

By: John Anderson

John Anderson — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 19:24:25 +0000

"They had already passed through a couple of US checkpoints..." Er, uh, Sgrena has been quoted as saying they had gone through NO checkpoints. But then, she was also quoted as saying it was a patrol, not a checkpoint: oh? On what basis? She also says that the driver was shouting "We're Italian": in an air-conditioned car? OK, it may have been simple panic on the part of the driver to not hit the brakes. One account noted that it had been raining - perhaps he skidded?

By: The Rambling Commentary of Mr. Hawaii

The Rambling Commentary of Mr. Hawaii — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 19:11:26 +0000

For those of us who are, ya' know, sane
Great job, could it be any more clear whose side at least some of the media leftists are on? The U.S. manning a checkpoint? Completely ludicrous. The story of the of Communist with something to gain by lying? Absolutely fine, third door on the left to ...

By: The Road to Surfdom

The Road to Surfdom — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 18:53:03 +0000

Rescue me, why don't you
A commenter raises the issue of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena who was wounded when the car taking her to freedom was fired upon by US soldiers after apparently speeding through a security check point. My inclination was, and is, very...