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kate
Admin
Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 1891
Location: Upstate, New York
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 Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:26 am Post subject: Italy Paid More than $10 Million to buy Sgrena’s freedom |
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TheAustralian
Fury at death on freedom road
Natasha Bita March 07, 2005
| Quote: | ~snip
"Someone must pay," Berlusconi declared at a press conference hours after the bungled operation. "It's a pity that this great joy has been transformed into such pain."
Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi demanded an explanation. "Like all Italians, we're waiting for the US to explain this painful and tragic incident," he said.
US President George W.Bush phoned Berlusconi to apologise in a five-minute call on Saturday, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called to promise a full investigation.
~snip
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported yesterday that the Italian Government had paid a ransom of between E6-8million ($10-13.4million) to buy Sgrena's freedom. |
Also picked up by
littlegreenfootballs
IF this is true, this ransom really ticks me off. How many RPGs, IEDs, etc will 10million buy?
terror does pay…thanks to Italy
and we owe them an apology ?!? maybe Berlusconi should be apologizing to our troops, and to the Iraqis
One person, Sgrena <<vs>> the untold # of lives that will be lost due to $10m to terrorists in Iraq
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blue9t3
Admiral
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 1246
Location: oregon
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:54 am Post subject: |
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Wasnt she the one sniveling a few weeks ago pleading for italy to get out? kidnapping does pay good! 
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MOPAR-BUYER |
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PhantomSgt
Vice Admiral
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 972
Location: GUAM, USA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:42 am Post subject: |
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There goes the old "We don't negotiate with terrorists plan." I guess we need to get our checkbook out.
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Retired AF E-8
Independent that leans right of center. |
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GenrXr
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 1720
Location: Houston
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:16 am Post subject: |
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No evil act, person or group is worth payment of bounty at the expense of society, an individual or righteousness.
_________________
"An activist is the person who cleans up the water, not the one claiming its dirty."
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Founder of Conservative Philosophy |
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GM Strong
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 18 Sep 2004
Posts: 1579
Location: Penna
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 1:37 pm Post subject: |
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It's a set up, Terrorists get money. Scene set for car to come in and driver ignores warnings hoping for a trgedy to play up. Who was driving, has anybody said. Did the Military guards the car was coming? I bet not.
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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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You got it GM. I have been thinking the same thing. What better way
to stir the populace to demand Italy withdraw from Iraq than to create this tragedy. It appears
that the U.S. was not informed, Otherwise,
the checkpoint guards would have been expecting her arrival.
Something stinks here!!!
From the COMMUNIST newspaper that she wrote for:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/06/il.manifesto/
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“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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Rdtf
CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 2209
Location: BUSHville
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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| This whole thing smells bad. Even if it wasn't a set up the fact that they kept it secret and possibly paid such a huge ransom has me enraged. I think it shows that our troops were taking care of business, and shame on them for trying to pull this off unscathed. Now the terrorists will gladly use their own millions against them and their European neighbors. I hope saving the life of a journalist was worth the loss of that intel officer, and the many lives it will cost them in the future by funding the terrorists. |
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PhantomSgt
Vice Admiral
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 972
Location: GUAM, USA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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Just when we get things on a roll we have to add another country to the list of "State Sponsors of Terrorism". We just got the last list printed up and distributed and now we must add Italy for funding terror.
I would like to see if Bush has the same reaction as when the Philippines pulled their troops to save a hostage. President Gloria Arroyo is still paying for that to this day with strained relations. The Philippines is watching what happens carefully.
I hope our guys don't hesitate in the future because of this Italian "James Bond" operation and the subsequent investigation.
Keep your finger on the trigger boys and if something rolls up unannounced at night on your checkpoint, just make sure there are no survivors next time. Waste em first and we will sort it out later.
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Retired AF E-8
Independent that leans right of center. |
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Jerald L. Parsoneault
Lt.Jg.
Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Posts: 144
Location: Sacramento
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 6:41 pm Post subject: |
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Those of you who say this smells are right, in fact, this morning the stench is becoming unbelievable.
Anti-american Sgrena now claims it was a U.S. tank that shot at her car as part of some kind of conspiracy on our part to keep her from reaching safety -- that our troops knew she was on the way to the airport.
I'm ex-Navy, but my guess is that a tank, had it wanted to do so, would have obliterated the car and everyone in it.
Nalt |
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oasis
Lieutenant
Joined: 21 Aug 2004
Posts: 201
Location: Florida, want some sun? LoL!
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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Hello,
I would not believe a word Italy has to say they sided with the Nazis and the holocaust during WWII.
Sgrena said her kidnappers " Islamic Jihad Organization" had treated her well and had assured her they did not plan to kill her
Why should they..
| Quote: | | Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported yesterday that the Italian Government had paid a ransom of between E6-8million ($10-13.4million) to buy Sgrena's freedom. It also claimed the car's injured driver told Italian investigators the Americans "knew everything about our mission". |
If we knew all about it we would have shot or arrested the insurgents.
__________________
Can you believe this..
| Quote: | | Sgrena said, "The kidnappers seemed to me to be a very religious group, praying continually from the Koran," she wrote. "One of the guards came up to me, surprised that the television was showing posters of me in cities across Europe and that (Francesco) Totti, his favorite soccer player, had gone on to the field with 'Free Giuliana' written on his shirt." |
People this is just Italian propaganda don't fall for it. They still support fascism.
No military personnel needs to pay for Italy's support for terrorists.
Italy has no heroes, we do not need to ever apologize to them but they need to apologize to the world.
American troops you have my blessing. Continue to do your duty.
I pray for you all in the name of the son of God "Jesus"
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-Oasis
Please donate to the.. RED CROSS |
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PhantomSgt
Vice Admiral
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 972
Location: GUAM, USA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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If you want to read about her car riddled with 300 to 400 rounds go here:
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php
We need to get our boys some target practice if they fired that many rounds at this car. All I can see is one well placed round to disable the vehicle.
Notice the glass is mostly intact.
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Retired AF E-8
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rparrott21
Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined: 19 Aug 2004
Posts: 760
Location: Mckinney, Texas
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:11 pm Post subject: |
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| It may have been they were trying to blow up a potential car bomb before it got too close since it did not stop.....not disable the car. |
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Rdtf
CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 2209
Location: BUSHville
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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| At the very least she has the Stokholm Syndrome. |
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shawa
CNO
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:53 pm Post subject: |
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It's not Stockholm Syndrome.
She is a champion of the insurgents!!
Her employer, Il Manifesto. Italy's Communist newspaper.
She's a life-long Communist, anti-American, anti-war activist!!
I think she was good buddies with her "kidnappers".
Is it a stretch to believe she was in collusion with the kidnappers,
ageeing to be held hostage in order to extort $10 million from the
Italian gov't to fund the insurgency?? Then they also get the bonus of
giving our Military a black-eye by claiming she was targeted by our
troops.
Maybe I'm over reaching with this theory, but read her background:
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Media/021205Bohne/021205bohne.html
Excerpt from the article:
| Quote: | Meanwhile, who is Giuliana Sgrena and why is her abduction mobilizing Italy as well as Iraq?
Simona Torretta and Simona Parri, the two humanitarian workers of "Un ponte per Baghdad" (A Bridge for Baghdad), abducted from their Baghdad office and freed on 28 September 2004, know Giuliana Sgrena well and have issued a statement on Il Manifesto after her abduction: "During the war, she showed the Iraq that no one saw—that of the civilians hit by the bombs. She was one of the first journalists to collect evidence of rape among women detainees at Abu Ghraib. Giuliana is much loved by Iraqis. They recognise her great humanity and her passion for truth. Hers is a woman's glance . . . The last time we saw her in our office in Baghdad we congratulated her on her new exhibition of photographs from Afghanistan. They were portraits of women. We were struck by the extreme dignity in those women's eyes."
Indeed, Giuliana Sgrena confronted her readers with the reality of the suffering of women under occupation: she gave them faces and names. In one memorable interview, she told the story of a woman named Mithal al Hassan. Il Manifesto gives a good summary on its website:
"In the middle of the night, American soldiers broke into the home of Mithal al Hassan and arrested both her and her son. The soldiers later ransacked the apartment. Denounced as part of a vendetta, Mithal was condemned without trial to 80 days of horror in the company of other women prisoners who, like her, were subjected to abuse and torture. She has since spotted her tormentors on the Internet."
Sgrena quoted Mithal al Hassan as concluding, "The US has occupied our country. We have a right to defend ourselves. The resistance is self-defense." As Luciana Castellina, one of the writers for Il Manifesto, relates, "Giuliana Sgrena, reporting on countries at war, has always tried to give a voice to those who had neither weapons nor power, to those who became the victims of war's 'collateral damage'—victims of bombs, hunger, thirst. She focused on women in particular. She reported directly from Baghdad and lived among the people. Giuliana was the first journalist in Italy to speak of the Iraqi resistance but never through the spokespersons of organized groups; always through the voices of the people, among which, prominent, were women's voices."
But, then, Giuliana Sgrena, though born after WW II, knows about resistance. She has lived its legacy through the memory of her family. Her 79-year-old father, pensioned railroad-worker Franco Sgrena, was an anti-fascist and partisan fighter in the Italian Resistance against Nazi-fascism in WW II and is still today a member and leader of the Communist Party. Her family lives in the modest, two-floored little house in the center of town, where she was born, Mesera (population:1,000), in the extreme north of Italy, near Domodossola, scene of bitter and bloody resistance struggles, close to where partisans arrested and executed Mussolini in 1945.
~snip
She began early to be concerned about the world in the student movements of the sixties in Milan, which were the strongest in Italy. She faced police clubs at sit-down protests opposing the installation of Pershing and Cruise missiles in US military bases in Italy. She joined Il Manifesto, and reported from some of the most dangerous places on earth, hiding the reality of her personal danger behind words that highlighted the danger that threatened others.
Among Italians of conscience today, in this hour of her ordeal, Giuliana is embraced as "one of our own, the people of peace." Today, the "people of peace" are decking the Colosseum and other prominent sites all over Italy with Giuliana's portrait. Mayor after mayor, regional council after regional council, town after town, are passing resolutions demanding that the government engage all its resources to secure her release, followed by the to pull-out from Iraq of the 3,000 "coalition" troops in "Operation Ancient Babylon" (a grotesque and pompous misnomer—as though the reality and the people of modern Iraq didn't exist or didn't matter!), Berlusconi's feudal tribute to his overlord in DC, George Bush.
In the Italian Parliament a crucial vote to authorize funds for the venture in Iraq has been delayed in order to insure a united effort on behalf of Sgrena's release. The center-left coalition will oppose the neo-fascist right's coalition vote.
Giuliana Sgrena's life is in peril in Iraq, where the horror has ceased to be horrible because it has been so barbarically and unnecessarily normalized. The illegal invasion of Iraq has indeed turned out to be that ultimate Nuremberg-tribunal crime: the crime against the peace. From this original crime, all others have derived. Well might we reflect on Sgrena's prophecy at the beginning of the war: "This is the most absurd of wars and it will be a bloodbath." If only she hadn't been so damned right!
*Quoted from the video produced by Il Manifesto and seen by the Arab-Muslim world via Al Jezeera and Al Arabyia TV in an appeal for the liberation of Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, reportedly abducted by the Organization of Islamic Jihad on 4 February 2005 after her three-hour interview with Fallujah refugees at the University of Baghdad's refugee camp. |
_________________
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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kate
Admin
Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 1891
Location: Upstate, New York
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| Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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re the picture of the car in above post ..the MSM (AP) sure has made a blunder on that one, that is not her car
kinda mis-leading on APs part....duh
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php
| Quote: | UPDATE at 3/6/05 4:18:36 pm:
Oh brother. In their video report on the incident, the Associated Press used a picture of a car that had nothing to do with Giuliana Sgrena. Here’s the caption for the earlier photo linked immediately above:
| Quote: | | An Iraqi driver stands near his damaged vehicle at the site of the kidnapping of an Italian journalist outside al-Nahrain University in central Baghdad, February 4, 2005. Giuliana Sgrena was snatched from the street as she conducted interviews near the university, police sources and diplomats said. Gunmen pulled up alongside her vehicle, forced her driver and an Iraqi journalist with her out of the vehicle at gunpoint and then drove off with Sgrena, the sources said. The driver said that the gunmen hit his car as they were rushing away from the scene following the kidnapping. (Akram Saleh/Reuters) |
UPDATE at 3/6/05 4:50:19 pm:
By the way, LGF has issued a correction. Where is the Associated Press’s correction for the incredibly misleading shot in their video?
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