Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

In the shoulder; but they were apparently accurate enough to kill an Italian special services agent

Re: Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

Blimey

lmao

Re: Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

[ QUOTE ]
"This unfortunate incident took place very near the airport: it was a shootout at a US checkpoint," Mr Berlusconi said.

"Some gunshots hit the car. One man was hit by a deadly bullet. We are petrified and astonished at this twist of fate."


[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

[ QUOTE ]
"About 2100 [1800 GMT], a patrol in western Baghdad observed the vehicle speeding towards their checkpoint and attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car," it said in a statement.

"When the driver didn't stop, the soldiers shot into the engine block, which stopped the vehicle, killing one and wounding two others."

[/ QUOTE ]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/4320111.stm

That's a good way to get yourself shot in Iraq. The Italians should have known better.

Re: Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

[ QUOTE ]
The Italians should have known better

[/ QUOTE ]

You've obviously never driven through Milan in rush hour

Re: Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

[ QUOTE ]
The US military in Baghdad confirmed that forces shot at a vehicle and said an investigation had been launched.

[/ QUOTE ]

Right, I'm now really confident we'll get the real facts [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Re: Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

Baghdad is not Milan. The Italian driver all but assured that they'd be shot at. In fact, if it went down like it says in the BBC, than I would expect nothing less than those boys to fire on the car. That a person is dead and the journalist is wounded is entirely the driver's fault.

Re: Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

Surely they were reversing towards the checkpoint?

Re: Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

According to the Italian news this morning:
The US had been advised of their arrival at the airport
They had already passed thru other US checkpoints
They were 600 m from entering the airport
Over 100 rounds were fired into the car
The US soldiers did not subsequently approach the car and offer aid, thus the agent died from his wounds
Sgrena has stated they were not speeding

Re: Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers
 

We'll have to wait for the report, but it seems like a tragic accident caused by frightened, poorly trained troops.