Jewish World Review March 10, 2005 / 29 Adar I 5765

Dan Abrams

Abrams
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
James Glassman
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports

Italian journalist's hypothesis is absurd


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | The White House was right to call it "absurd"— The suggestion from the Italian journalist and former hostage that the U.S. military intentionally tried to kill her as her car was speeding towards the Baghdad airport.

It's almost unworthy of a response, except that since she was a hostage, she is now using that position and platform to spout out anti-American views.

Giuliana Sgrena, a reporter for a communist newspaper in Italy, was taken hostage in Baghdad on February 4. She was released last Friday into the custody of three Italian security officers after the Italian government apparently paid a multimillion-dollar ransom (at least according to the Italian press). All four were in a car on their way to the Baghdad airport when according to Sgrena, the car suddenly came under attack out of nowhere.

One of the officers in her convoy covered her with his body so she wouldn't get hurt. That officer was killed and the other two were wounded. The car was traveling on a road known as one of the most dangerous in Iraq.

The military says that when the car didn't slow down after troops made numerous attempts to alert the passengers. There was a check point ahead, and the military had no choice but to open fire.

So first and foremost, what possible benefit could the United States get out of shooting at a high profile Italian hostage who has just been released and is on her way out of the country? Her theory is just preposterous: Sgrena has told the press that her Iraqi captors warned her that the U.S. might intervene in her release and she suggested the military may have targeted her car specifically because the U.S. opposes any negotiations with kidnappers in Iraq.

Oh, so someone ordered she would be assassinated because a ransom was paid? The money had already been paid to the kidnappers, but the U.S. wanted to teach Italians a lesson by killing her?

Look, she has a right to be angry: Her car was shot at, she was injured, and a man who was instrumental in her release was killed. She deserves some answers.

Unfortunately, she's probably not going to be satisfied with the most likely answer — there was no communication between the two countries. Italy wanted to keep the U.S. in the dark about the ransom payment because the Italians knew we'd disapprove. So when her car sped toward the airport, it's likely U.S. forces even realized the Italians were on their way to Baghdad airport.

If it's really answers she wants rather than just a soapbox, then she's only hurting the effort because now her credibility is at issue.

Donate to JWR


Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.




JWR contributor Dan Abrams anchors “The Abrams Report,” Monday through Friday from 6-7 p.m. ET on MSNBC TV. He also covers legal stories for “NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw,” “Today” and “Dateline NBC.” To visit his website, click here. Comment by clicking here.

Up

ARCHIVES

© 2005, MSNBC