August 26, 2005

THEN THEY WONDER WHY WE SHOOT AT THEM:

Italy's Red Cross Aided Insurgents in Exchange for Hostages (Associated Press, August 26, 2005)

Italy's Red Cross treated four Iraq insurgents — with the knowledge of the Italian government — last year and hid them from U.S. forces in exchange for the freedom of two kidnapped aid workers, a top Italian Red Cross official said in an interview published Thursday.

Maurizio Scelli, chief of the Italian Red Cross, told the Turin newspaper La Stampa that he had kept the deal secret from U.S. officials, complying with "a nonnegotiable condition" imposed by Iraqi mediators who helped him secure the release of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta. The women were abducted in Baghdad on Sept. 7 and freed Sept. 28.

"The mediators asked us to save the lives of four alleged terrorists wanted by the Americans who were wounded in combat," Scelli was quoted as saying. "We hid them and brought them to Red Cross doctors, who operated on them."


If you help the enemy you are the enemy.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 26, 2005 3:32 PM
Comments

We should decertify the Italian Red Cross and eject them from Iraq immediately.

Posted by: jd watson at August 26, 2005 5:33 PM

Well, Berlusconi did say they didn't pay for anything. They just bandaged them....

Posted by: jim hamlen at August 26, 2005 9:41 PM

From a Law of War perspective, I have no problem with providing medical care to wounded enemy personnel. Hiding them is another matter.

A neutral who assists a belligerent in maneuvering has probably crossed the line. The test would be whether the movement was incidental to the medical care or was tactical in nature. Escape and evasion from the other armed force are definitely tactical.

Red Cross people are supposed to be trained about this sort of thing: breaches of neutrality are a war crime and could get you shot.

Posted by: Lou Gots at August 27, 2005 9:32 AM

Just more proof that the Red Cross is no longer to be considered a neutral organization, but one that has become anti-American in its outlook - just like Amnesty International, et al.

Posted by: obc at August 27, 2005 11:55 AM

Lou: Except when it comes to taking sides against the US, because everyone knows that we're not going to do anything.

Posted by: David Cohen at August 27, 2005 2:18 PM
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