Bush Apologizes to the Italians, Again

Posted on May 4, 2005

The Associate Press reports that President Bush had been forced to apologize once again for the accidental shooting death of the Italian government agent Nicola Calipari in Iraq during his rescue of kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena.

President Bush called Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday to express his regret for the March killing of an Italian agent by U.S. troops in Iraq. The call came days after Washington and Rome issued rival reports about the shooting death.
Berlusconi's office described the conversation as "long and cordial" and said the two countries reaffirmed their commitment in Iraq. Berlusconi, a staunch ally of the United States, sent about 3,000 troops in Iraq after the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
But the March 4 death of Nicola Calipari, hailed as a hero in Italy, has caused friction between Washington and Rome, and Berlusconi's government has come under pressure to reevaluate the Italian troop deployment in Iraq.

The U.S. investigation of the incident clears U.S. troops of any wrongdoing, despite the conspiracy theories that have been floated. The Italian investigation also found that the shooting was an accident, but did not absolve American troops of wrongdoing, noting that the troops were inexperienced, exhausted and prone to errors. The American report claimed that the car was speeding and that a checkpoint was clearly marked. But the Italian reports says differently:

Italian government:
-No warning signs to motorists about impending checkpoint
-Car not speeding and did not accelerate after warning shots
-Proper inquiry impossible because vehicles removed and army logs destroyed just after shooting

This is a minor incident in America. But this is a cause celebre in Italy, where the newspapers are hurling accusations of lies and coverups at the U.S. It's hard to see how we would benefit from taking out a member of the Italian secret service and wounding a communist journalist. And there has been quite a bit of negative blowback with a major ally. It's all most peculiar.