April 30, 2005
DISCIPLINED? THEY SHOULD GET COMMENDATIONS FOR REACTING QUICKLY:
Ex-Hostage's Italian Driver Ignored Warning, U.S. Says (RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ROBERT F. WORTH, 5/01/05, NY Times)
The car carrying the Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena that was struck with a deadly hail of gunfire as it sped toward Baghdad International Airport on March 4 ignored warnings from American soldiers who used a spotlight, a green laser pointer and warning shots to try to stop it as it approached a checkpoint, the American military said in a report released Saturday evening.The gunfire killed Nicola Calipari, an Italian intelligence agent who was in the back seat with Ms. Sgrena. The driver and Ms. Sgrena were wounded. Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, the ground commander in Iraq, has approved a recommendation that soldiers involved in the shooting not be disciplined, the military said.
The report's exoneration of the soldiers, which was made public last week, angered Italian officials and threatened to further inflame relations between the United States and Italy, one of its staunchest allies in the war in Iraq. The findings have created a political problem for the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who faces a public upset by the incident at a time when his own fortunes are sagging.
Italy has kept 3,000 troops in Iraq, but Mr. Berlusconi has suggested that Italy might begin withdrawing them by September.
That would at least get a potential $3 billion worth of hostages out of the theater. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 30, 2005 7:22 PM
Given the great success of the Italian military in the last century and a half, perhaps we should encourage them to side with the terrorists. Failing that, maybe Ethiopia would like a shot in Iraq with some modern weaponry.
Posted by: bart at April 30, 2005 7:32 PMItaly's military is in much better shape under Berlusconi as it's finally had a consistent government for long enough to get a long term strategy in place. Their defense minister (Antonio Martino)is our kind of guy. They've done some good work in Afghanistan and Iraq. The problems here are caused by Italian civilians. Unfortunately a lot of them are commies.
Posted by: JAB at April 30, 2005 8:19 PMThe government gave the insurgents money and sent the escort, no?
Posted by: oj at April 30, 2005 9:02 PMTrue. I am not defending the Italian government.
I was just responding to Bart's commentary on the military proficiency of my ancestral homeland.
Even if Martino succeeds in creating a stronger military, it still serves a nation that will fund terrorists just in order to appease the many leftists in the electorate.
Posted by: JAB at April 30, 2005 10:34 PMJAB:
Don't worry - Bart doesn't think anyone knows how to fight (except for Meir Kahane). But then, even he didn't fare too well, either.
Posted by: jim hamlen at April 30, 2005 11:45 PMOff-topic, I think I read somewhere that Kahane's acolytes came up with the "Never again!" line. Anyone know if this is true or, if not, where it originated?
Posted by: Matt Murphy at May 1, 2005 2:26 AMJAB,
1. See Battle of Adowa, 1895. Italy is one for two in wars with Ethiopia.
2. When Italy declared war on Britain in WWII, Churchill's response was 'It's only fair, they were on our side last time.' In WWI, the Italians actually manage to nearly lose to Austria-Hungary.
In all fairness, Churchill did also say that what Mussolini should have done is give a weapon to every Italian and tell him to defend his own house. Italy has very little sense of nationhood even to this day, with people being far more loyal to regions and cities than to the nation as a whole. Such attitudes do not lend themselves to national militaries.
Jim,
'Never again' was created by JDL back in the 70s. And Kahane was quite successful in protecting elderly Jews from assaults by the inner-city detritus. It took until well into the Koch Administration for police protection to be able to pick up the slack.
Posted by: bart at May 1, 2005 6:26 AMIf Orrin wants to impose a one-month timeout on bart for his lionizing of Baruch Goldstein, the man who gunned down defenseless civilians in a mosque, it would be O.K. by me.
Posted by: Eugene S. at May 1, 2005 7:23 PMThanks, Eugene, it's a full time job keeping up with all the imbecilities he spews forth and I'd missed that one.
Posted by: oj at May 1, 2005 9:05 PMI was actually afraid to check on the name in Google - afraid my memory was correct and that someone would applaud such evil.
Posted by: jim hamlen at May 1, 2005 11:18 PM