Italian hostage freed in Iraq, then shot by US soldiers

[mojorisin24]

[ QUOTE ]
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

[/ QUOTE ]

1. This is Iraq, where one of our enemies main weapons is VBIED's (vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices). Speeding or not, all vehicles MUST stop when instructed by US forces. Any failure to do so is considered a threat, and force protection allows that spraying the car's engine block with machine gun fire is the appropriate action to take.

2. The agent in the car died because he was shot in the temple and killed instantly, not because US forces did not approach the car fast enough to offer aid.

3. Sgrena stating they were not speeding is irrelevant. Her memory of what happened could be be almost entirely different after suffering the type of trauma she has.

And regardless of how many checkpoints they had already passed through, the bottom line is that they did not follow correct protocol when approaching this particular one. US troops do not shoot randomly at cars unless provoked, and perhaps most telling is that this was the only civilian-casualty incident reported that day from the checkpoint. Logic dictates that the Italians' car was breaking the rules, and in a war-zone, that'll get you killed.