[Davis Democrats] FW: Protest the Cover-Up of the Shooting of Giuliana Sgrena

Thu Apr 14 21:24:36 PDT 2005

with liberty for justice for all

From: Danny Schechter <mediachannel at democracyinaction.org>
Reply-To: mediachannel at democracyinaction.org
To: jac07 at hotmail.com
Subject: Protest the Cover-Up of the Shooting of Giuliana Sgrena
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:06:19 -0500 (CDT)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Received: from bourbon.democracyinaction.org ([67.19.170.130]) by 
mc7-f20.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.211); Thu, 14 Apr 2005 
21:06:17 -0700
Received: from scotch (scotch.democracyinaction.org [67.19.162.194])by 
bourbon.democracyinaction.org (8.12.11/8.12.8) with ESMTP id 
j3F3s61A001924for <jac07 at hotmail.com>; Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:54:06 -0400
X-Message-Info: JGTYoYF78jEljjRGB4hICcXcFjGt1btaVDWRo/L2Vz4=
email_KEY: 11661134
Return-Path: mediachannel at democracyinaction.org
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 15 Apr 2005 04:06:17.0325 (UTC) 
FILETIME=[791159D0:01C54170]

Dear Media for Democracy Member,

When Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena's car was fired upon near the 
Baghdad airport by U.S. soldiers, resulting in her wounding and the death of 
intelligence agent Nicola Calipari, press freedom groups demanded an 
impartial and independent international investigation. The Pentagon rebuffed 
the call.

Instead, the United States military investigated itself -- amidst reports 
that an Italian invited to join the probe was denied access to the vehicle 
that was involved in the incident. This is consistent with earlier U.S. 
responses to demands by Reuters and the International Federation of 
Journalists for independent inquires into earlier shootings of journalists. 
In every case, the Pentagon rejected outsiders from the process.

Last night on CBS's "60 Minutes Two," Sgrena denied the official story and 
accused the United States military of lying about the details.

(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/12/60II/main687555.shtml)

Sgrena says she was less than a half-mile from the airport, when the 
shooting began:

"Seven hundred meters more, and we are in the airport, and we will be safe 
and we will be in the airport. And in the same moment, started the 
shooting."

Sgrena says that as the car rounded a turn, driving no faster than 30 miles 
an hour, it was hit by gunfire and at the same time, a bright light. She and 
Calipari were in the back seat. "He [Calipari] pushed me down and with this, 
the body, covered me," says Sgrena. "He pushed me down in the car. And I was 
asking, 'Why?' Nicola doesn't say, he doesn't speak it, doesn't say 
nothing."

Other reports based on earlier interviews and another eyewitness account 
insisted: They lied about the checkpoint, speeding, hand and arm signals, 
warning shots, etc. There was no "checkpoint" where the shooting incident 
took place. The car was not "speeding", there were no "hand and arm 
signals", there were no "warning shots", and there were no "engine block" 
shots. The shooters ambushed the car from behind. There were earlier reports 
that an "elite combat unit," a CIA contingency of personal body guards for 
new national intelligence chief John Negroponte, may have been involved.

These are serious charges, yet a military-led investigation is poised to 
exonerate the soldiers and dismiss the critics once again. The pro-war 
Murdoch-owned New York Post reports today:

"April 14, 2005 -- U.S. soldiers reportedly have been cleared of wrongdoing 
in the shooting of an Italian journalist and an intelligence agent last 
month in Baghdad.

"U.S. military officials told NBC News that a joint American-Italian 
investigation found the soldiers acted properly in firing on a car bearing a 
just-freed hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena, and an intelligence officer, 
Nicola Calipari.

"The car was about 130 yards from a checkpoint when the soldiers flashed 
their lights to get it to stop. They fired warning shots when the car was 
within 90 yards of the checkpoint, but at 65 yards, they used deadly force. 
Calipari was killed and Sgrena wounded."

http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/23237.htm

Media for Democracy is calling on its members and supporters as well as 
media colleagues to join us in protesting this latest outrage and cover-up. 
Support press freedom -- denounce the suspicious killings and harassment of 
journalists in Iraq. Since the invasion in March 2003, more than a dozen 
journalists and media staff have been killed in Iraq by U.S. troops. Tell 
the Pentagon and the White House that the United States needs to act to 
defend its traditions of liberty and justice by addressing the concerns of 
journalists and citizens around the world over the failure to conduct 
credible investigations into the deaths of journalists and media staff in 
Iraq.

** George W. Bush
President, United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Tel.: +1 202-456-2461
Email: president at whitehouse.gov

** Donald H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Defense, United States of America
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-100-
Email: www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.html

** Peter Vangjel
Brigadier General, United States Army
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Email: www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.html

We Demand the Truth. Please speak up and speak out.

Sincerely,
Danny Schechter
Editor, MediaChannel.org
Director, "WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception)"
http://www.wmdthefilm.com

-------------------------------------------

UNSUBSCRIBE
This message was sent to jac07 at hotmail.com. Unsubscribe from Media for 
Democracy Action Alerts or all future emails from MediaChannel.org.
http://www.demaction.org/mediachannel/unsubscribe.jsp

HAVE FEEDBACK?
Write to us at info at mediachannel.org

Concerned about the media? TELL A FRIEND!
http://www.demaction.org/mediachannel/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=89

MAKE MEDIACHANNEL.ORG YOUR HOME
on the Web for news, analysis, resources and more.
http://www.mediachannel.org

----------------------------------------------

/*Your email ID. <diaEmailID='11661134'/>--*/