Basically, Italians admit that they had not pre-warned the Americans that they were coming through the checkpoint. There is no controversy here.
Bruce NEWS HOUR WITH JIM LEHRER PBS TV 6:00 PM MAY 3, 2005 Controversy over Death of Italian Secret Agent JIM LEHRER: Next, the conflicting American and Italian reports on the death of an Italian agent in Iraq. Kwame Holman begins with some background. KWAME HOLMAN: Some facts are not in dispute. Nicola Calipari, an Italian secret agent, was killed in March by U.S. troops at a highway checkpoint on the notoriously dangerous road to the Baghdad Airport. Calipari was escorting an Italian hostage he had just helped free, journalist Giuliana Sgrena. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi presented the news to a country that just was beginning to celebrate Sgrena's release. ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER SILVIO BERLUSCONI [Translated]: The car came to an American checkpoint. A crossfire started. Several shots hit the car. The chief police officer, Nicola Calipari, covered Ms. Sgrena with his body and was unfortunately hit by a mortal bullet. A piece of shrapnel hit Ms. Sgrena on her left shoulder. HOLMAN: The Italians were outraged at Calipari's death and mourned openly at vigils around the country. UNIDENTIFIED ITALIAN MOURNER [Translated]: This person who died had a deep sense of duty, and we need people like that. He was not a hero. He just was a hard worker who had a deep sense of duty. And that's very important. HOLMAN: His funeral became a state occasion and drew the nation's leaders and massive crowds to Rome. The national reaction put added pressure on Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi to withdraw Italy's 3,000 troops from Iraq. Two weeks later, he suggested some phased withdrawals might begin later in the year. Initially, the U.S. and Italy launched a joint investigation into the shooting as both Americans and Italians took turns searching the bullet-ridden car for answers. But they could not agree on conclusions and issued separate reports. The American report was issued Saturday with many portions blacked out for security reasons. Because of a computer glitch, the entire document soon was available on numerous websites. It exonerated seven U.S. soldiers at the checkpoint and said Calipari's car was speeding and its driver ignored a warning shot. But Giuliana Sgrena, who was a passenger in the car, disputed that. GUILIANA SGRENA [Translated]: The Pentagon says that the American soldiers have no responsibility since they respected all the rules. They also affirm that they used every possible means to stop us and we didn't, so they shot us. This is absolutely untrue. There was no alert. HOLMAN: The Italian government report issued late last night dominated the Italian press today. It blamed American troops, describing them as stressed and inexperienced, and it criticized the American roadblock procedures. LEHRER: And to Margaret Warner. MARGARET WARNER: For more on the competing versions of this event, we turn to two reporters covering the U.S. and Italian investigations. Ann Scott Tyson covers the Pentagon for The Washington Post. And Maurizio Molinari is a columnist for the Italian newspaper La Stampa. Welcome to you both. Ann Tyson, should we read the U.S. report as a complete exoneration of what the American soldiers did that night? ANN SCOTT TYSON [The Washington Post]: I don't think you could say it's complete. I mean it did not recommend any kind of punishment of the soldiers. That wasn't really its intent. It did, though, say that there should be a thorough review of checkpoint procedures to insure that there were clear warning signs, and as well as the procedures for setting up what they call blocking positions to stop vehicles at a adequate distance and give them appropriate warning. So certainly that was a major conclusion of the U.S. investigation. WARNER: And Maurizio Molinari, the Italian report went further and really faults the soldiers themselves. MAURIZIO MOLINARI [La Stampa]: Yes, this is correct. According to the Italian report, the responsibility of the soldiers was in the fact that they lacked the essential experience to manage this kind of checkpoint. WARNER: Meaning what? That they overreacted? MOLINARI: No, that they were not able to deal with an emergency situation. According to the text, the Italian text, we are speaking about a group of soldiers that almost just arrived in that position, and they had no experience to deal with a surprise situation. And more than this, the other thing that the Italians are pointing out is that in the proximity of this checking point, there were not enough clear signs showing that the soldiers were there, so meaning that the car that was coming with Nicola Calipari and Giuliana Sgrena, the other 007, had no way to know that the soldiers were there. WARNER: And Ann Tyson, how does the American report deal with this question of whether these soldiers were too young, were inexperienced in that field? TYSON: Well, it doesn't indicate that they were young or inexperienced. I mean the U.S. report presents a context. It does describe in great detail the dangers that U.S. troops have faced on that road, the number of times - and some of this is in a classified section that was inadvertently released - the number of attacks that this unit and others had experienced on the road. It also provides some interesting detail in saying that the unit was to establish a blocking position for the passage of the U.S. ambassador. And they were also in that position for much longer than they expected to be. Now, that did contribute to a sense of nervousness, because the commander of those U.S. forces felt that if his troops were in a static position for longer than 15 minutes, that they could be at risk. And they were there for well over an hour. So I think that the report does reflect that there's a clear sense of danger and that the troops may have been somewhat nervous. But they had been there for a while. They had stopped already dozens of vehicles. So it's sort of a mixed picture providing a lot of context. TYSON: Maurizio, one big point of contention when this happened in March was the degree of communication. And the Italians initially were insisting that they had kept the American military authorities fully informed of Mr. Calipari's movements, what he was up to, that they were on their way to the airport. I think Berlusconi even said that to the Italian Parliament. But I gather the report does not confirm that. MOLINARI: This is a key point. According to the Italian report, the Italian authorities on the field, they did inform the Americans about the presence of Calipari and the other 007, but they did not give to the Americans the details of their missions, meaning that the Americans knew that two 007 Italians were there, were doing something, but they didn't know what was going on, I mean the liberation of Giuliani Sgrena itself. WARNER: And why not? Why didn't the Italians keep the Americans fully informed, particularly given how dangerous the situation was and how they wanted to get to the airport quickly? MOLINARI: The report doesn't explain why the Italian authorities did not give the details of the mission. What we can speculate is that because the Italian policy has been to pay ransom, and so meaning to do agreements with the insurgency and the kidnappers, they didn't want to tell it to the Americans because they were fearing that maybe the Americans could intervene and so break down the agreements, making the agreement collapse and risking the life of Giuliani Sgrena herself. WARNER: Ann Tyson, going back then to the events at the scene as they're unfolding, I gather there is some difference in the two versions, or two reports on the speed of the car. But other than that, you're saying not a big difference on things like whether the checkpoint was adequately marked, or the nature of the checkpoint. Or, how about the warning shots? Was there a difference on that? TYSON: Well, I would say, in terms of the speed, yes, there has been a difference in reports. I mean the U.S. soldiers at the scene estimated about 50 miles per hour, and I think some Italian reports, at least, indicated there was a slower speed. In terms of warnings, the U.S. report indicates the soldiers flashed lights, shouted, then shot shots off to the side, and then aiming for the engine block of the vehicle. And I believe that is at odds also with the Italian account, saying there was essentially little to no warning. WARNER: Mr. Molinari, do you want - are there big differences between the two reports on what actually happened at the same scene? MOLINARI: No. I believe the three main differences are about the experience of the soldiers, the presence of science in the proximity with the checkpoint, and the question of communications, while in reality on the communication, the two sides are saying almost the same thing, I mean, because the Americans are saying we didn't know anything about Sgrena, and the Italians are saying we didn't give them the details. So essentially here on this point, there is no difference here at all. WARNER: And yet the Italian government has made a major point of having this separate report, not joining the U.S. report. Why? MOLINARI: Well, the official reason and the declared reason is that they didn't find a common agreement on who was responsible for what. But the impression of many observers here is that actually there is an interest of the Italian government, or could be an interest of the Italian government to have a clash with the U.S. administration. The Berlusconi government has been weakened a lot by the result of the last local elections, and he's facing a new political legislative election in the spring of 2006. There may be some tensions. Some friction with the U.S. administration could help Berlusconi's government in this face [sic]. WARNER: And are Italian authorities also saying that this incident or the competing reports will hasten in any way the timetable for this phased withdrawal that at least Berlusconi has said he might consider doing, I think, by the end of the year? MOLINARI: The Italian authorities are not making any linkage between the Calipari event, that tragic death, and the withdrawal of the troops from Iraq, as they are not making any link between what happened to Mr. Calipari and the strong alliance with the U.S. And this also shows they're willing to keep a stronger relationship with the U.S. and the Bush administration while having a fight on a single issue that is the Calipari death. WARNER: And Ann Tyson, do American authorities at the Pentagon think that this incident, this tragedy, is going to affect the relationship between Italy and the U.S., and particularly the willingness of Italy to remain in Iraq? TYSON: Well, I think they certainly hope that it won't. I mean there has been somewhat of a decline in the coalition participation in Iraq, certainly from the standpoint of coalition forces. And you know, they'd like to hold onto any they can. WARNER: Ann Tyson, Maurizio Molinari, thank you both. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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