ABC: US forces have itchy trigger fingers
Or so hints the ABC's John Shovelan:
The ABC report fails to mention that the "network television reconstruction of the incident based on satellite imagery" referred to above calculated the speed of the Sgrena car at over 60 miles per hour:
For a month, Italian and American investigators had worked together on the inquiry.This clearly implies that US forces, in firing only three seconds after the car came into view, fired too quickly. It's a case of shoot first, ask questions later.
But right from the start, the testimony from the two Italian survivors of the shooting contradicted the US military's version.
The Americans maintain that soldiers fired warning shots in the air, then shot at the engine block because the car was speeding.
But a network television reconstruction of the incident based on satellite imagery claimed US troops opened fire three seconds after the car appeared.
The rescued hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena, and another agent who was driving the car, insist they weren't speeding. But the statement today indicated that neither side was willing to accept any fault in the death of the Italian agent.
The ABC report fails to mention that the "network television reconstruction of the incident based on satellite imagery" referred to above calculated the speed of the Sgrena car at over 60 miles per hour:
A US satellite reportedly recorded a checkpoint shooting in Iraq last month, enabling investigators to reconstruct how fast a car carrying a top Italian intelligence official and a freed hostage was traveling when US troops opened fire.The high rate of speed of the approaching car explains why it took only three seconds for the US forces manning the road block to open fire. Why doesn't our ABC tell us this?
The report, which aired Thursday on CBS News, said US investigators concluded from the recording that the car was traveling at a speed of more than 60 miles (96 km) per hour.
Giuliana Sgrena has said the car was traveling at a normal speed of about 30 miles an hour when the soldiers opened fired, wounding her and killing Nicola Calipari, the Italian agent who had just secured her release from a month's captivity.
US soldiers said at the time of the March 4 incident that the car approached at a high rate of speed and that they fired only after it failed to respond to hand signals, flashing bright lights and warning shots.
posted by Anonymous at 11:57 AM |
2 Comments:
Because it wouldn't be a story then, would it? It would imply that the soldiers utilised their training and reacted as required by their mandated rules of engagement. To imply that US forces are trigger-happy killers smoking the weed and listening to Hendrix makes ABC producers happier than US forces performing their duties in a way that was entirely consistent with the ROE. Personally, I would have destroyed the vehicle with suppressive fire.
We should also campaign for speed cameras not to be so trigger-happy. Hey, wait at least 3 seconds before making that judgement, cameras!
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