Italy has published a report
into the shooting of a
secret agent by US troops at a roadblock in Iraq, which conflicts with
the US version of events.
The report blames the troops' stress and
inexperience,
and says the US authorities should have signalled that there was a
checkpoint on the road.
The report, published on the
Italian intelligence
services' website, says that the roadblock from which Calipari was shot
was set up ineptly and there were no signals indicating its presence.
It denied the US assertion that their military
command
in Baghdad was unaware of the Italian mission to secure the hostage's
release, pointing out that the Italians had been allocated secure
accommodation in an American-controlled area.
It said that the Italian car had been travelling at
40-50km/h, while the American version said it was going at about twice
that speed.
The findings in the US report were heavily
censored, with large blocks of the text blacked out when it was
published.
However, a university student in Italy claims he
was
able to remove the censored parts using his computer and has passed a
seemingly full US report to Italy's media.
The apparently full text contains a few details
that US
authorities would have preferred to remain secret - such as the names
and ranks of the US military personnel involved in Calipari's death -
the BBC's David Willey says from Rome.
![]() |
![]() There are two tragedies here, the death of Mr
Calipari, and the misuse of the event for political gains ![]()
|
Our correspondent adds that the censored material
also
includes embarrassing details about communication failures and reveals
the rules of engagement at checkpoints.
The US invited two Italians to join in their
inquiry,
but the Italian representatives protested at what they claimed was lack
of objectivity in presenting the evidence and returned to Rome.
The censored report was reportedly released in Adobe's Portable
Document File format, which apparently wasn't as secure as the US Army
hoped. It demonstrates that electronic communications are inherently
more prone to tampering with than hard copy. No doubt the
'responsible' party will find out what it is like to be assigned to a
remote post, unless he or she happens to be brass. Then, an underling
will have to fall on his/her sword.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4504855.stm
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