Via AP: Italy says Agent Shooting Not Deliberate

Italian investigators blamed U.S. military authorities for failing to signal there was a checkpoint ahead on the Baghdad road where American soldiers killed an Italian agent, and concluded that stress, inexperience and fatigue played a role in the shooting, according to a report released Monday.

The probe found no evidence that the March 4 killing of intelligence agent Nicola Calipari was deliberate.

The Italians challenged the American contentions that the car was traveling more than 50 mph, saying it was going half that speed. But, despite their refusal to sign off on the U.S. report that the soldiers bore no blame for the death, the Italian investigators didn’t object to many of the American findings of fact.

So, they still can’t admit it.

While this new revelation could be seen as mere political ‘face-saving’ on the part of the Italians, it’s not. Their failure to face facts leads them to dig the hole of distortion deeper and deeper. Their report contains deliberate falsehoods that slander our soldiers.

Let’s be real for a moment. The car was traveling at over 50 mph as it approached the checkpoint. Italy had failed to notify our military of the operation. To our men on the line, the approaching vehicle resembled a suicide bomber. Did they think the guy was late for a doctor’s appointment? No way. For all they knew, this car was a loaded weapon and the logical choice was to kill or be killed.

Our soldiers did the right thing.