The wounding of released Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena and the death of
Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari, as a result of U.S. “friendly
fire” in Iraq, have resulted in a crisis between Italy and the United
States. President Bush called Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi immediately
to express his condolences and to promise a full investigation of the
incident. But, for many America-haters in Italy and Bush-haters in the
U.S., an investigation is beside the point. Instead, the incident is being
presented as a symbol of America’s “immoral war of aggression” in Iraq.
Most press reports refer to Sgrena merely as a journalist. The New York
Times this morning did, at least, refer to the newspaper she works for as
“far left.” In fact, she is an avowed Communist, as is her newspaper, the
Manifesto. Ms. Sgrena has made a career of anti-Americanism and has
routinely posted articles out of Iraq accusing U.S. soldiers of being war
criminals, while defending the Islamofascists and Ba’athists who daily,
intentionally kill civilians.
That helps explain why, in the last 48 hours, she has gone from accusing
U.S. troops of incompetence to now claiming there was an attempt to
intentionally kill her – a charge the White House, today, called “absurd.”
By the way, left-wing websites right here in the U.S. quickly embraced the
same theory: They would prefer to believe a Communist America-hater than
the preliminary findings of our own military.
Today, word has leaked out that Italian authorities did not coordinate with
the U.S. as they raced to take Ms. Sgrena to the Baghdad airport. In fact,
the Italian government apparently withheld vital information from the U.S.
about the negotiations with her kidnappers because Italy paid millions of
Lira to win her release, and they knew we would object to the precedent of
giving these killers one penny.
U.S. soldiers have reason to be concerned when a vehicle ignores warnings
to slow down. Hundreds have died and have been maimed by homicide car
bombers – the very thugs Ms. Sgrena has been defending. The road her
vehicle was traveling on is one of the most dangerous in Iraq; the odds are
overwhelming that our soldiers were merely being prudent. It would be a
tragedy if this incident forced the Italian government to withdraw from
Iraq; but, for now, don’t believe the anti-American propaganda that is
coloring the reporting of this story. From Gary Bauer's
Campaign for Working Families
