March 09, 2005

Giuliana Sgrena's Lies, Inconsistencies, and Treason

Giuliana Sgrena's version of events leading up to the death of Italian secret service agent Nicola Calipari are inconsistent and just don't add up when compared with the physical evidence. But Sgrena's crimes are far worse than the minor infraction of being a propagandist with a political axe to grind against the US. Giuliana Sgrena is a traitor to the Italian people. While Italian troops were in a shooting war with Iraqi insurgents, Sgrena worked to bolster the spirits of those attempting to kill her fellow citizens. An Italian Tokyo Rose, Sgena used the tools of her trade to undermine the morale of Italian soldiers and bolster the spirits of the terrorist forces they were fighting.

Was Giuliana Sgrena a neutral observer reporting both sides of the conflict or was she actively working to undermine Italian efforts in Iraq?

Here is Sgrena in her own words on the plane taking her to Iraq courtesy of a translation by Zacht EI:

Be careful not to get kidnapped,' I told the female Italian journalist sitting next to me in the small plane that was headed for Baghdad. 'Oh no,' she said. 'That won't happen. We are siding with the oppressed Iraqi people. No Iraqi would kidnap us....

'The Americans are the biggest enemies of mankind,' the three women behind me had told me, for Sgrena travelled to Iraq with two Italian colleagues who hated the Americans as well...

'You don't understand the situation. We are anti-imperialists, anti-capitalists, communists,' they said. The Iraqis only kidnap American sympathizers, the enemies of the Americans have nothing to fear.

Sgrena admits being an enemy of America. How can one be the enemy of America in a war in which Italy and America are on the same side and yet remain loyal to Italy?

Wouldn't it have been treasonous for an American to work for the German conquest of Russia during WWII? Would such a traitor be able to claim, "Hey, I'm not against America's war with Germany. I just hope Germany defeats Russia." more...

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Islamic Army in Iraq Releases Video of Sudanese Hostages

UPDATE: This is an archive page. For the latest information on terrorist communiques and videos, please go to the MAIN PAGE here.

UPDATE 4/23/05: Islamic Army in Iraq releases video of downed civilian helicopter, murders American survivor. Story, images, and video HERE.
-------------------------

The Islamic Army in Iraq has released a video of two Sudanese truck drivers now held hostage. The names of the hostages are Mohammed Haroun Hamad and Maher Ataya, Reuters reports. In the video the truck drivers plea with other Muslims to stay out of Iraq. Images from the video will be posted here later.

In similar videos in the past, the jihadis execute the truck drivers after forcing them to 'confess' to the 'crime' of working with the Coalition or with the Iraqi Interim government. The helpless victims are then branded apostates. Under Islamic law the maximum penalty for apostasy is death.

"This work is an abandonment of Islam. I advise others to leave any work with the occupying infidel because the hand of justice will reach them wherever they are," the hostages said, reading from a statement." (Reuters)

The two said they worked for a Turkish firm driving out of a base in Northern Iraq. Scores of Turkish truck drivers have been murdered by terrorist forces in Iraq, many of them have been beheaded.

The Islamic Army in Iraq is allied with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Mesopotamia (Iraq) terrorist organization. What is odd about this video is that The Islamic Army in Iraq generally operates in areas south of Baghdad. The Sunni triangle and borders of Kurdistan are usually the territory of Ansar al-Sunna or Zarqawi's al Qaeda.

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March 08, 2005

Images of Sgrena's Car (Updated-now fortified with essential Sgrena lies!)

UPDATE: Clearer images via AP (hat tip: House of Wheels)

UPDATE: Welcome minions of Glenn Reynolds, Reason and NRO's The Corner (thank you Jonah!). Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, Blogroll The Jawa Report! and come back often for all your commie-propagandist fisking needs.

UPDATE 3/09: A new post is up documenting Giuliana Sgrena's Lies, Inconsistencies, and Treason.

Italian television station Tg1 is running images of a car purported to be the one used by Giuliana Sgrena. If this is the car then it would contradict earlier reports that Sgrena's rescuers had used a truck. If accurate, the condition of the car would also directly contradict the story told by Sgrena in which she claimed 300-400 bullets were fired, one of which hit Italian secret-service agent Nicola Calipari. Earlier reports of what was purported to be Sgrena's get away car proved inaccurate.

UPDATE: I am inserting these AP photos because they are much clearer. I found them via House of Wheels who in turn got them from Charles Johnson. more...

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Terrorist Choice in Vehicles Used for Sgrena Escape Plan: A Truck!

UPDATE 4:05 Central time: Italian television station Tg1 reports that a car was used. I have pictures up here. Not sure which report to believe yet.....

This important and overlooked new detail arises. If you have seen as many jihadi videos as me then you know that the vehicle of choice is the small Japanese pickup truck. Check this WaTimes article out:

The left-leaning Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported yesterday that Mr. Calipari decided not to use available escort protection from the elite commandos who protect ItalyÂ’s Baghdad embassy.

Instead, he rented an inconspicuous pickup truck to recover Miss Sgrena, wrote La RepubblicaÂ’s top investigative reporter, Giuseppe DÂ’Avanzo.

A freaking truck? Are you kidding me? You rented a pickup truck to drive down a road where terrorist are known to attack daily?!?!!

The vehicle has been located and a preliminary investigation reveals that "Something that car did caused the soldiers to fire."

hat tip Charles Johnson

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Italy Demands Justice in Sgrena Incident

Italy's Foreign Affairs minister announced today that he believed the version of events offered by Giuliana Sgrena in a dispute over the facts on what really happened when American soldiers openned fire on the freed hostage's vehicle. The incident left on Italian secret-service agent, Nicola Calipari, dead near the Baghdad airport.

Giuliana Sgrena is a known anti-American propagandist and liar with a history of accusing the United States of the most outlandish crimes. In the past Sgrena has claimed the US used napalm on civilians, massacred thousands, and tortured children. Sgrena has even hinted that the U.S. used nuclear weapons during the Iraq invasion. Sgrena's lies and propaganda are documented here.

In a bizarrely contradictory statement, the foreign minister claimed the incident was both an "accident" yet that some one needed to be punished.

"It was an accident," Fini told lawmakers. "This does not prevent, in fact, it makes it a duty for the government to demand that light be shed on the murky issues, that responsibilities be pinpointed and, where found, that the culprits be punished." (AP)

The Italian minister also bought one version of Sgrena's story.

"The car was travelling at a speed that couldn't have been more than 40kph," Fini said. He said that a light was flashed at the car after a curve and that the gunfire -- lasting 10 or 15 seconds -- started immediately afterward, disputing US military claims that several attempts were made to stop the car.

Sgrena, in one version of the story written for Italian audiences disputed a US claim that lights were flashed at the car to warn it to slow down. However, in an English language interview with the BBC she admitted lights had been flashed.

In another version of the story Sgrena also claimed the vehicle she was driving in was speeding so fast in the rain that the driver almost lost control.

The US claims to have shot warning shots at the car, something Sgrena denies. However, Sgena does claim that between 300-400 shots were fired. A single bullet hit one of the three passengers making it all but certain that the US version of events is accurate and that Sgrena is intentionally lying to make the US look bad.

In comparison, Bonnie and Clyde's car was hit with a comparable number of bullets, 300-400, yet both were hit about 50 times. It is likely that the initial shots Sgrena heard were warning shots. The incident happened on a rainy night.

Sgrena has called the incident an "ambush" and has alluded to the US trying to send a message to anti-war reporters. Sgrena made a similar claim during the US invasion when the hotel she was staying at was hit by coalition fire causing minor damage.

The incident has heightened the unpopularity of Italian participation in the US led occupation. Italy has about 3,000 troops in Iraq. Sgrena is not only openly anti-war but also openly anti-American. Her communist newspaper, Il Manifesto, has used the incident to rally anti-war sentiments. An anti-war protest has been scheduled by Il Manifesto to honor Sgrena's release.

UPDATE: Jack Lewis also documents Sgrena's contradictory stories here.

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March 07, 2005

Giuliana Sgrena's Blood Libel Against the US

Giuliana Sgrena is a propagandist for the Communist daily rag Il Manifesto. Her writings do not reveal a bias, they reveal that Sgrena is an enemy of the United States of America and responsible for supporting terrorists and the murder of American soldiers and civilians.

She accuses the US of complicity in mass murder, the use of napalm on civilians, the targetting of journalists, and the torture of children.

Since the MSM has now reduced itself to reporting Sgrena's contradictory stories as fact, shouldn't we be examaning he track record?

One of Giuliana's friends dropped us a line and assured us that Sgrena is above reproach.

The following is evidence that Sgrena is a lying propagandist who issued blood lible reports. Her reports are so disgusting that a reader of them, if they were to be believed, would be morally bound to fight the US.

From a German article in Die Zeit we learn that this is not the first time Sgrena has accused the US of targetting reporters (more on Die Ziet's bias here and here):

What we believed was impossible has happened. The Americans have not spared even the mythic Hotel Al-Rashid [where reporters were staying]. It was only scratched. Was that a mistake? Or was it supposed to be a message?
It only gets worse from there.

Sgrena was documenting 'US war-crimes' against residents of Fallujah when she was 'abducted' by terrorists. Here is what Sgrena was writing about shortly before she was captured:

The massacre in Falluja continues .
By massacre, Sgrena means the US invasion of the city, not the massacre of innocent civilians by terrorists. Here is evidence of what Sgrena calls 'the resistance' was up to in Fallujah. Check out the entire slide-show.

Remember, al Jazeera admits that Sgrena had "very good contacts in Baghdad, including with the ulamas [Muslim clergy]" and was interviewing refugees at a mosque said to be the center of insurgent activities in Baghdad when she was 'abducted'. more...

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Giuliana Sgrena Admits to Helping Terrorists, Lies About Shooting (UPDATED)

Here is some of Sgrena's interview with the BBC. You be the judge:

--What did your captors tell you when you were hostage?

That I needed to help them to ask [Silvio] Berlusconi to withdraw the troops. They saw all what happens in Italy, demonstrations against the occupation, demonstrations for my liberation. And so they [became] aware that I was really working against the occupation and people were supporting me and so they told me: "We have seen that you are very appreciated in Italy". And that helped me to be freed.

--Tell us about the car journey you shared with him.

We were on our way to the airport when the tanks started to strike against us and he tried to cover me and he was shot. He died and, me, I was safe but he was dead. [Sgrena now changes her story. It was tanks that fired on the car?]

Editorial update---Check what Sgrena says in this account:
The Americans shone a flashlight at the car and then fired between 300 and 400 bullets at if from an armoured vehicle.
As Charles Johnson says it "Three hundred to four hundred rounds from an armored vehicle ... and there were survivors? OK, go ahead, pull my other leg." Update within an update: Digger notes that the Bonnie and Clyde car was shot about the same number of times but the bodies had 50 bullets in each. Compare that to the man who died. A single wound to the head.

Further, this contradiction from one story to another. BBC:

They started to shoot at us without any light or signal.
vs Guardian
The Americans shone a flashlight at the car and then fired.

More from Sgrena:

--Do you think it was deliberate?

I can't say it was deliberate because we can't say if there was a lack of information. But also a lack of information in this case is [their] responsibility because you are in a war field and you have the responsibility to pass immediately any information.

However, look at what Sgrena says here in her own publication (via Chad at In the Bullpen):
"Everyone knows that the Americans do not like negotiations to free hostages, and because of this I don't see why I should exclude the possibility of me having been the target," she said.

And writing in her left-wing Il Manifesto newspaper, she said upon her release her kidnappers warned her to be careful 'because there are Americans who don't want you to go back'."

Off to edumacate the masses. Will update later.

UPDATE: CNN translates Sgrena's Il Manifesto article (ht: Secure Liberty who got the link from Captain Ed):

I learned to understand what was going on by the behavior of my two guards, the two guards that had me under custody every day. One in particular showed much attention to my desires. He was incredibly cheerful. To understand exactly what was going on I provocatively asked him if he was happy because I was going or because I was staying. ...

I experienced a strange sensation because that word evoked in me freedom but also projected in me an immense sense of emptiness. I understood that it was the most difficult moment of my kidnapping and that if everything I had just experienced until then was "certain," now a huge vacuum of uncertainty was opening, one heavier than the other.

Sounds like your life was really threatened to me. The Italian people deserve to know if the $6 million spent (via Pirate's Cove) on her release came from private or public sources. How is spending that much money justified if she was not in any danger at any time? Further, the money will now be spent on IEDs and other devices which will lead to more death and destruction.

Sgrena's article continues:

They came back: "We'll take you and don't give any signals of your presence with us otherwise the Americans could intervene." It was confirmation that I didn't want to hear; it was altogether the most happy and most dangerous moment. If we bumped into someone, meaning American military, there would have been an exchange of fire. My captors were ready and would have answered. My eyes had to be covered. I was already getting used to momentary blindness.
Notice how she equivocates here? The terrorists would simply fire back....they were forced to put a blind fold on her...none of this is their fault...it is the fault of the Americans.
The car kept on the road, going under an underpass full of puddles and almost losing control to avoid them. We all incredibly laughed. It was liberating. Losing control of the car in a street full of water in Baghdad and maybe wind up in a bad car accident after all I had been through would really be a tale I would not be able to tell.
As Captain Ed rightly notes "So they drove through Baghdad fast enough to almost lose control of the car, never slowed down as they approached a checkpoint they knew to be ahead, and the "rain of gunfire and bullets" apparently only hit two of the three people in the car -- hardly likely if the intent was to assassinate everyone in the vehicle. "

Further, this Washington Times article says that the Italians deliberately kep the US in the dark on the whole thing.

They told me that we were less than a kilometer away...when...I only remember fire. At that point, a rain of fire and bullets hit us, shutting up forever the cheerful voices of a few minutes earlier.
This contradicts other versions of her story where she claims she knew they were not approaching a checkpoint.
The driver started yelling that we were Italians. "We are Italians, we are Italians." Nicola Calipari threw himself on me to protect me and immediately, I repeat, immediately I heard his last breath as he was dying on me. I must have felt physical pain. I didn't know why. But then I realized my mind went immediately to the things the captors had told me. They declared that they were committed to the fullest to freeing me but I had to be careful, "the Americans don't want you to go back." Then when they had told me I considered those words superfluous and ideological. At that moment they risked acquiring the flavor of the bitterest of truths, at this time I cannot tell you the rest.
Another admission of what Sgrena's paper has been saying all along. Sgena was deliberately shot by US troops to shut her up.

More on the "harsh conditions" of her captivity:

But the months that I spent in captivity probably changed forever my existence. One month alone with myself, prisoner of my profound certainties. Every hour was an impious verification of my work, sometimes they made fun of me, and they even stretch as far as asking why I wanted to leave, asking me stay. They insisted on personal relationships. It was them that made me think of the priorities that too often we cast aside.
Yeah, sounds like a real "life lesson". I think Wuzzadem sums up my thoughts on her "ordeal".

Here is another interesting exchange where Sgrena tells them they should be kidapping pro-war reporters and American troops, not a fuzzy loveable anti-American like herself:

"Yes because you go speak to the people, we would never [ed: meaning, can't] kidnap a journalist that remains closed in a hotel and because the fact that you say you're against the war could be a decoy." And I would answer almost to provoke them: "It's easy to kidnap a weak woman like me, why don't you try with the American military." I insisted on the fact that they could not ask the Italian government to withdraw the troops. Their political go-between could not be the government but the Italian people, who were and are against the war.
Ok, if Sgrena was really held 'hostage' how did she know where she was and how was it that she was able to describe what the roof of her 'prison' looked like?
Like when it was a first Sunday after the Friday they kidnapped me, in the house in Baghdad where I was kept, and on top of which was a satellite dish they showed me the Euronews Newscast.
Great. I wonder if she got ESPN, cause she might have just missed a few football games. Oh wait, her gentle captors also were fans of Italian football:
"Come watch a movie on TV" they would say while a Wahabi roamed around the house and took care of me. The captors seemed to me a very religious group, in continuous prayer on the Koran. But Friday, at the time of the release, the one that looked the most religious and who woke up every morning at 5 a.m. to pray incredibly congratulated me shaking my hand, a behavior unusual for an Islamic fundamentalist -- and he would add "if you behave yourself you will leave immediately." Then an almost funny incident. One of the two captors came to me surprised both because the TV was showing big posters of me in European cities and also for Totti. Yes Totti. He declared he was a fan of the Roma soccer team and he was shocked that his favorite player went to play with the writing "Liberate Giuliana" on his T-shirt.
And finally, from Cox and Forkum (via Confederate Yankee):

Another update: Michell Malkin finds this nugget:

"Don't believe a word of the U.S. version," said Oliviero Diliberto, secretary of the Italian Communist Party. "There's an attempt to mask what actually happened. The Americans deliberately fired on the Italians."
Another UPDATE:Paul at Wizbang has the DU reaction. No surprises there.

Because of the large numbers of trackbacks, I have not been able to check out what every one in the blogosphere is saying. Also, the man is keeping me down by making me do this thing called 'work'. If you have further Sgrena related info, it is better to e-mail me right now until things cool off.


UPDATE: New post is up on Giuliana Sgrena's Blood Libel Against the US which explores Sgrena's past anti-American utterances; including the accusation that the US was targetting journalists (said long before she was taken hostage), had used mustard gas on civilians, and tortured women in Iraq, and was complicit in the massacre of thousands in Afghanistan.

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Sgrena Mia Culpa

After taking Sunday to think about this, let me do a couple of "take-backs."

I implied in this and an earlier post that the troops firing on Sgrena's vehicle was somehow part of Sgrena's bigger plan.

The accusation that this is wingnuttery are actually right-on. I'm embarassed that I made it. My apologies.

Now that would require some sort of conspiracy between Sgrena and the men who had negotiated for her freedom (at a price-tag of over $1 million from what we are now hearing.)

I feel stupid for having implied that such a conspiracy existed.

The most likely explanation is that Sgrena's driver simply did not follow orders to halt.

Now, why did Sgrena's driver not follow these orders?

Two hypothoses come to mind:

a) It was dark and the driver was confused about the identity of the soldiers mistaking them for insurgents

b) The driver believed the anti-American rhetoric of Sgrena and her likes. If the US is as Sgrena describes then why would you stop? Remember, for a large number of people in the world who watch al Jazeera or read left-wing newspaper's US soldiers are terrorists.

If the latter is true than the shooting incident becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Don't stop at an American chekcpoint because they shoot reporters. The reporters get shot because they don't stop at a US checkpoint.

However, for Sgrena to have been complicit in her own kidnapping requires no such grand conspiracy. It takes one reporter cooperating with the mujahadin council or other friends of the terrorist forces. That's it.

PS-Just to clarify I am apologizing for implying that the shooting was somehow part of a conspiracy to maker the US look bad.

I am not apologizing for earlier posts which alleged Sgrena was in no danger and may have been cooperating in her own captivity.

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March 05, 2005

The Great Giuliana Sgrena Hostage Hoax

Update March 07: I have a new posts following the Sgrena story "Giuliana Sgrena Admits to Helping Terrorists, Lies About Shooting".

Suspicion continues to mount that Giuliana Sgrena, the journalist for the Italian Communist paper Il Manifesto, either faked her own abduction or became an accomplice after the fact with her jihadi captors.

Today Giuliana Sgrena told her version of the dramatic story contradicting US military claims that her car was fired upon when it failed to slow down at a Coalition check point. Bloomberg:

``It wasn't a checkpoint, but a patrol that started shooting after pointing some lights in our direction,'' the Ansa news agency cited Sgrena as telling the prosecutors. ``We hadn't previously encountered any checkpoint and we didn't understand where the shots came from.''
As if on cue, Sgrena then goes on to say what we at The Jawa Report had been predicting she would say all along:
``I was never treated badly,'' Sgrena told her colleagues at Manifesto upon her arrival in Rome, according to Ansa.
The Italian left-wing, as predicted, has siezed upon Sgrena's ordeal today. The headline at Sgrena's own Communist paper shouts the headline that the Italian secret-service agent who had negotiated her release had been "Assassinated" by America.

UPDATE: NPR now reports that an anti-war rally is planned to celebrate Sgrena's release.

The Jawa Report has been predicting from day one that Sgrena would be released unharmed, and that on her release she would blame the US for her ordeal. The fact that her driver did not stop at a US checkpoint on a road scattered with checkpoints is more than a little odd--it is canny.

How does a driver in Iraq not know that the rules of engagement for Coalition forces are to fire upon any car which does not stop when ordered to?

While the Italian people wish to know why the US fired upon Sgrena, we in the US want to know why it was the Sgrena's car did not stop when ordered to do so?

Sgrena, continues her anti-Amricanism (Reuters):

"We thought the danger was over after my release to the Italians but all of a sudden there was this shoot-out, we were hit by a barrage of bullets," she told RAI TV by telephone.

Nicola Calipari, the senior secret service agent who had worked for her release, was telling her about what had been going on in Italy since her capture when the shooting started.

"He leaned over me, probably to protect me, and then he slumped down, and I saw he was dead," said Sgrena.

Doesn't this whole incident seem more than a little odd?

Sgena was kidnapped by her admitted friends in Iraq.

She was kidnapped while on the phone with another journalist.

A tape was released of her begging Italy to cave to the terrorists demands of pulling Italian troops out of Iraq the day before the Italian Senate was to vote on that very issue.

On the tape Sgrena appears to tell the 'terrorist' holding the camera to stop. He follows her order as if she is directing.

The tape came exactly two-weeks after she was captured.

One month to the day after her abduction she is released.

On the day of her release her car speeds toward a US checkpoint, fails to stop when ordered, fails to heed warning shots, and the car is ultimately fired upon.

In the end, who looks like the bad guys? The terrorists? The jihadis? The 'insurgents'? No, the US.

And what possible motivation, as I am frequently asked, might Sgrena have in being complicit in this whole thing?

Wired:

"I don't believe a word of the American version," said Oliviero Diliberto, head of the Italian Communist party, part of the main left-wing block led byformer premier Romano Prodi.

"The Americans deliberately fired on Italians. This is huge. All of the center-left must vote in parliament for the withdrawal of our troops."

If one actually believes in the Left-wing version of the world than aiding Michael Moore's 'Minuteman' is not only the right thing to do, but a moral imperetive. Sgrena holds the world-view, as evidenced in her body of journalistic work, that America is the cause of all the problems in the world. She believes the US is exactly as Ward Churchill describes it. America is just like Nazi Germany.

And Iraq? Iraq is an imperialistic move motivated by greed, the desire for hegemeny, and to bolster the Zionist-imperialists in Palestine. Iraq has been a blood-bath with tens of thousands of children dying so that the US could gain control over Mideast oil.

Normally we don't go in for conspiracy theories. We hate them. We despise them. But the speculation that Sgrena collaborated with the 'minutemen' of Iraq in demanding that Italy withdraw from that country does not involve layer upon layer of cover-up. It requires a few people, none of them working in an official government capacity.

Remember Benjamin Vanderford or John Adam?

And if you really believed all that the Left says about the US in Iraq, wouldn't it be your duty to fight the occupation? And if it is morally acceptable to kill in that resistance then surely the lesser crime of lying is also acceptable.

Guliana Sgrena, you are a liar and a propagandist. Why should we trust you now?

UPDATE: I oringinally wrote this from my 28k connection at home and have corrected some of it.

This is speculation and I could be wrong. Speculation, though, is the foundation for any hypothesis testing. I hope Italian and US investigators do not simply take this enemy propagandists word for it. In my book, she is every bit a suspect as she is a victim.

Jeff Goldstein adds his two-cents here.

Let me also remind readers that Sgrena's car was shot at night. The DU is now filled with posters claiming Sgrena was shot because "she was brown, like the Iraqis" or that "the US will shoot any brown person".

The soldiers could not have known who was in the car. They had no idea a hostile journalist was in the car (sorry Eason Jordan, your hypothesis doesn't wash) and they could have had no idea there was a 'brown person' in the car (sorry DU and Ward Churchill)

UPDATE: Let me clarify a few points responding to comments.

1) Nobody is accusing the Italian secret-service to have been in on this. No one is saying that a giant conspiracy exists. What we are saying is that Sgrena was amongst friends if her hostage takers were terrorists. That a ransom was paid makes Italy a victim, not a co-conspirator.

2) When the word of a propagandist is pitted against the word of a US soldier, I am inclined to believe that of the soldier.

3) If the speculation that the whole thing was a hoax is wrong, so be it. However, ample evidence exists that Sgrena was really in no danger if it was jihadis responsible for her kidnapping. If however the kidnappers were simple criminals, then all this is wrong.

UPDATE March 07: After taking Sunday to think about this, let me do a couple of "take-backs."

I implied in this and an earlier post that the troops firing on Sgrena's vehicle was somehow part of Sgrena's bigger plan. The accusation that this is wingnuttery are actually right-on. Now that would require some sort of conspiracy between Sgrena and the men who had negotiated for her freedom (at a price-tag of over $1 million from what we are now hearing.

I feel stupid for having implied that such a conspiracy existed.

The most likely explanation is that Sgrena's driver simply did not follow orders to halt.

Now, why did Sgrena's driver not follow these orders?

Two hypothoses come to mind:

a) It was dark and the driver was confused about the identity of the soldiers mistaking them for insurgents

b) The driver believed the anti-American rhetoric of Sgrena and her likes. If the US is as Sgrena describes then why would you stop? Remember, for a large number of people in the world who watch al Jazeera or read left-wing newspaper's US soldiers are terrorists.

If the latter is true than the shooting incident becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Don't stop at an American chekcpoint because they shoot reporters. The reporters get shot because they don't stop at a US checkpoint.

However, for Sgrena to have been complicit in her own kidnapping requires no such grand conspiracy. It takes one reporter cooperating with the mujahadin council. That's it. more...

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March 04, 2005

Italian Hostage Released, Shot by US Forces (DU says Eason Jordan vindicated)

Giuliana Sgrena, the female Italian hostage held in Iraq since Feb. 4th, has been freed. The Communist daily Il Manifesto has reported that the Italian secret-service had notified them of their employee's release. Update: Sgrena was wounded as her driver sped toward a US checkpoint near the Baghdad airport. Do not believe MSM reports on this as they are all being fed information through the Communist Il Manifesto.

Sgrena's vehicle was warned to stop but continued speeding toward a US checkpoint on a road which has been the scene of frequent terrorist attacks. US soldiers signaled for the car to stop, flashed lights at it, and then fired warning shots at the vehicle before opening fire on the car. The troops then shot the car's engine block, not the passengers. The car spun out of control. It was the car accident which killed one occupant and wounded Sgrena. UPDATE: Apprently Sgena did suffer a shrapenal wound, but this is consistent with the soldier's version of the story that the engine block was shot which would cause metal debris.
-----
Reuters reports that an Italian Foreign Ministry spokesperson says, "I can confirm it 100 percent. She should board a plane in the coming hours and should be back in Rome later tonight."

Scroll down for updates and world reaction....(Update: be sure to scroll down and see DU reaction--Eason Jordan vindicated!)

The Jawa Report has been assuring readers from the beginning that Sgrena would be releaed unharmed. Sgrena was an anti-American reporter in Iraq to bolster the terrorist insurgency. She was abducted while interviewing refugees from the battle of Fallujah who were camped outside a Sunni mosque near Baghdad University. Il Manifesto has reported in the past that Sgrena was close to radical anti-occupation clerics. Update: Not that we're questioning the timing (as Ace implies) but Chad Evans just e-mailed me noting that Sgrena had been released exactly one month after being captured.

Update: Leftist media already blaming US of interfering with hostage release, as if stopping at US checkpoint was more dangerous than, say, her time with the alleged terrorists. London Times:

Ms Sgrena was wounded when US troops opened fire on a convoy carrying her to safety, and an Italian negotiator who help negotiate her release was killed, her newspaper Il Manifesto said.
What Il Manifesto forgets to mention is that Sgrena was taken by the evil American forces to a US Army hospital for treatment. Right, very unafe.

UPDATE: "I've driven that road to [Baghdad International Airport] many times and everyone knows that Big Army does not tolerate being ridden up on suddenly or at a high rate of speed." *

AP:

"Multinational forces fired on a vehicle that was approaching a coalition checkpoint in Baghdad at a high rate of speed," Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

"The recently freed Italian journalist was an occupant in the vehicle and was apparently injured. Though details are unclear at this point, it appears that a second person in the automobile was killed," Whitman added.

The incident is under investigation, he said.

In Rome, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called on the United States to explain how U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) had killed an Italian agent and someone had to take responsibility for the shooting.

Responsibility? How about placing it on the idiot trying to speed passed a roadblock set up by the Coalition and manned by soldiers with 50 caliber guns on their humvees!! Eason Jordan, eat your heart out.

Another VERY CRITICAL Update within an UPDATE 3:57 P.M: The early reports left out some very critical information out of the military press release:

U.S. troops "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, killing one and wounding two others."
Read--US forces shot the car, but it was the speed of the car which crashed which killed one passenger and wounded Sgrena!

Developing......updates are continious. more...

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March 02, 2005

Army of Ansar al-Sunna Murders Two Turkish Drivers

The Army of Ansar al-Sunna has claimed responsibility for the murder of two Turkish drivers in Northern Iraq. more...

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Swedish Hostage In Iraq Pleads for Life on Video

A new video showing Minas Ibrahim al-Yussufi (also al-Yousifi, Yusefi) the secretary general of Iraq's Christian Democratic Party and a man who has been held hostage for a month, has been delivered to AFP. On the video, al-Yussefi begs for the intervention of the Pope and to the King of Sweden.

"I appeal to (Sweden's) King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Pope John Paul II, the international union of Christian parties and the Committee of Muslim Scholars... to work for my release and enable me to complete my national mission," he says.

Al-Yussefi also makes this heart-wrenching appeal, "I have been transferred to the execution unit of the Iraqi Vengeance Brigades, which certainly means my death and execution."

On a February 18th video Minas Ibrahim al-Yussufi made a similar appeal. He is to be beheaded unless his captors are paid $4 million dollars.

Al-Yousifi fled Northern Iraq in 1984 and emmigrated to Sweden. He returned to Iraq after the US led invasion to found a Christian politcal party. His wife and family remain in Sweden.

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Iraqi Minister Claims Italian Hostage Release Imminent

Agenzia Giornalistica Italia reports that a low level Iraqi minister announced yesterday that the release of Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena was 'imminent'. The newspaper that Sgrena worked for, the Leftist Il Manifesto was cautiously optimistic on hearing the initial reports. Italian government officials, though, seem less optimistic and doubt the veracity of the report.

Il Manifesto made the cryptic claim that they believed, "Giuliana will arrive from nowhere just like she disappeared".

Yesterday a hunger strike was coordinated between the Catholic and Muslim communities in Italy in support of Giuliana Sgrena's plight. The protesters, so concerned about Sgrena focused much of their attention on calling for the US to end its attack against terrorists in Ramadi.

Developing....

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March 01, 2005

American Child Held Hostage in Iraq ID's Kidnappers

alSaadi.jpg

Yesterday we reported that an American child was rescued from his kidnappers in Iraq [earlier story here]. The boy's name is Hussein al-Saadi. The ten year old boy is an American citizen and was taken hostage two weeks ago in Basra, Iraq. Yesterday, the Iraqi police discovered the boy and arrested his captors.

The above AP photo via (Daily Tribune) shows young Hussein al-Saadi pointing at his captors, now in custody. Not so tough now, eh?

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French Hostage Video Emerges

French journalist Florence Aubenas has appeared in a new video pleading for her life. Unlike other hostage videos, no clear demands were reportedly made for her release.

She is described in the video as looking in poor health and her clothing filthy. The one-minute video is in English. Al Jazeera reports Ms. Aubenas as saying:

My name is Florence Aubenas. I'm French. I'm a journalist with Liberation....

Please help me. My health is very bad. I'm very bad psychologically also...

Reuters adds that Aubenas makes a direct plea to French Member of Parliament, Didier Julia, a member of Jacques Chirac's UMP party:
I ask particularly for the help of the French deputy Didier Julia. Help me Mr Julia, help me. It's urgent.
Mr. Julia went on a special mission to Iraq last fall in an effort to free two other French journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot. The two were eventually freed, reportedly for ransom.

Because Florence Aubenas comes from a country that opposed the war in Iraq, it is presumed that her captors are simply seeking ransom. Common criminals and terrorist groups have resorted to hostage taking as a way of funding their activities in Iraq.

(Image: AFP)

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