Abstract

DEATH AT THE CHECKPOINT

This article focuses on the unprovoked assault on Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena by the U.S. military in Iraq. On March 4, US soldiers fired on the car taking newly released Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena to the Baghdad airport, wounding her and killing Nicola Calipari, the international operations chief of Italy's military intelligence service, who was escorting her. He had arrived in Baghdad that day after making contact with the kidnappers. After picking up Sgrena, they drove back to the airport, keeping the lights on in the car to help identify themselves at US checkpoints. But as they neared the airport, their car was riddled with bullets. US forces claim they fired only after repeated attempts to warn the vehicle. The Italian government and Sgrena say that is false. "We were on our way to the airport, and we thought we were finally safe, because the area where we were was under the control of the United States," Sgrena told Italian television. "But then suddenly we found ourselves under an immense amount of bullets, something terrible, without any warning." Congress should conduct a full investigation into the military's treatment of journalists and other noncombatants in Iraq with a particular focus on the killing of Iraqi civilians and unembedded journalists.