Well when you've spent way more time in Iraq than you were told you would have to, have bombs blowing up all around you every day, and the next car that comes through your check point could be a man with explosives strapped to his body like the one that killed your buddy last week.. I don't think you're going to take any chances.

Why werent the Americans at the checkpoint breifed on the release of the hostage, and then KNOW of their expected arrival time (or what type of car they're driving). Is that too hard?

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Originally posted by Dupz Why werent the Americans at the checkpoint breifed on the release of the hostage, and then KNOW of their expected arrival time (or what type of car they're driving). Is that too hard?

they didn't speak italian and didn't order a pizza so they shot first and ask questions later

quote:

Originally posted by igottaknow they didn't speak italian and didn't order a pizza so they shot first and ask questions later

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quote:

Originally posted by igottaknow they didn't speak italian and didn't order a pizza so they shot first and ask questions later

quote:

Originally posted by Dupz Why werent the Americans at the checkpoint breifed on the release of the hostage, and then KNOW of their expected arrival time (or what type of car they're driving). Is that too hard?

Yeah, that's kinda what I'm wondering about as well. Total lack of coordination or something. What's also interesting is that the italians supposedly passed through 2 checkpoints unharmed and were then shot at the third checkpoint. Maybe somebody forgot to inform all the checkpoints or something.

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I'm having difficulty finding out what happened after the car was shot at...did it stop, or did it carry on to the airport?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4322775.stm

Giuliana Sgrena: "As for the rest, I can't talk about it yet."

Sounds a bit dodgy to me...?

Iraq Check Points
Did you know that check point areas on Iraq roads are not known by Iraqi drivers. No signs. No warnings.


Standard protcol that American Soliders use to warn or signal a check point is to shoot in the air upon the oncoming car/traffic. If the car does not stop or slow down after the 'warning' shot, soliders are advised to shot the car and/or the driver.



I did not beleive this myself until I saw this practice on TV!
I was watching a PBS documentary on the war in Iraq and they showed numerous american solider doing this at various check points.


My personaly reaction was ' Wow I can't believe they spent 80 billion dollars on this war but could not buy road signs that say in the Iraqi language WARNING CHECK POINT AHEAD SLOW DOWN etc. or something you would typically see on road to warn drivers to slow down etc.'


Are these people in the army that fucking stupid. Seriously. What if you were an Iraqi driving your car. how the fuck are they supposed to know that gun fire means slow down or stop!!!



Recently , an Italian CIA agent was killed because of this STUPID policy that the American Army is using at check points.



I guess the stupidity in the white house has manifested itself on the battle feild. Amazing!

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Originally posted by THE_Chris At the same time though if you're in a country you know is occupied and you see a roadblock of soldiers on the road in front of you you dont fucking keep driving fast, you slow down and let them check you.

But how the hell are you supposed to know. And its not like there's a tank and 15 soliders blocking the street.It more like 2 soliders.


but you're telling me the USA can spend $80 billion on this war and not buy or even make a few road signs to warn drivers of an oncoming check point. bullshit! that is not acceptable.


think about it for a second.


Say your driving on the street @ 40 mph in your car.
All of a sudden you hear gun fire.
your not sure where its coming from. what are you naturally going to do, stop and see where the gun fire is coming from?
hell fucking no.
you're going to get the fuck out of there so you don't get shot or killed.

as you are trying to get out of the cross fire you see american soliders ahead of you but your not sure what to do. all of a sudden he's shooting at your car.



No wonder the Iraq people want to kill american soliders. I'd be pissed off too

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Originally posted by igottaknow If the soldiers are accurately describing what happened, they didn't stop at the check point, then firing at the car was justified.

I was reading the Sunday paper and apparently my assuption was wrong. The italian hostage has a different account of the event that transpired. I guess we won't be able to brush the "mistake" under the rug like we do when we kill innocent Iraqis.

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Italian Journalist Rejects U.S. Account 2 hours, 32 minutes ago By MARIA SANMINIATELLI, Associated Press Writer ROME - The Italian journalist wounded by American troops in Iraq (news - web sites) after her release by insurgents rejected the U.S. military's account of the shooting and declined Sunday to rule out the possibility she was deliberately targeted. The White House said it was a "horrific accident" and promised a full investigation. Meanwhile, an autopsy performed on the agent who died trying to save Giuliana Sgrena reportedly showed he was struck in the temple by a single round and died instantly as the car carrying Sgrena sped to the Baghdad airport. Friday's shooting that wounded the 56-year-old journalist and killed Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari as they were celebrating her freedom has fueled anti-American sentiment in a country where people are deeply opposed to U.S. policy in Iraq. But government officials indicated the shootings would not affect the decision by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi — a strong U.S. ally — to maintain 3,000 troops in Iraq to help secure peace in the country. "The military mission must carry on because it consolidates democracy and liberty in Iraq," Communications Minister Maurizio Gasparri was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency. "On the other hand, we must control — but not block — the presence of civilians and journalists, who must observe rules and behavior to reduce the risks." Sgrena, who works for the communist daily Il Manifesto, did not rule out that she was targeted, saying the United States likely disapproved of Italy's methods to secure her release, although she did not elaborate. "The fact that the Americans don't want negotiations to free the hostages is known," Sgrena told Sky TG24 television by telephone, her voice hoarse and shaky. "The fact that they do everything to prevent the adoption of this practice to save the lives of people held hostages, everybody knows that. So I don't see why I should rule out that I could have been the target." http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...stage&printer=1

I think this proves that it is very easy to get shot in Iraq for no reason whatsoever.