December 23, 2005

Italy Goes After U.S. Marine In Nicola Calipari Shooting

Italian prosecutors have launched an official investigation targeting a U.S. Marine for the shooting death of Nicola Calipari which it considers a “murder":

ANSA—A United States marine has formally been placed under investigation here for the murder of an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq last March .

The Rome prosecutor’s office identified the marine as Mario Lozano .

Intelligence officer Nicola Calipari was killed on March 4 when US troops manning a temporary roadblock opened fire on a car carrying him, another agent and a released hostage to Baghdad airport. . . .

State Department spokesman Sean McCormick today said that the Calipari case is considered “closed” but he referred questions about legal actions to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Nicola Calipari was the Italian intelligence officer that negotiated Giuliana Sgrena’s release from Iraqi terrorists back in March 2005. He was killed when the car transporting Giuliana Sgrena and himself failed to stop at a U.S. Military checkpoint and was fired upon. At the time, Italy had decided not to share its rescue plan with the United States and I believe that is what led to Calipari’s tragic death, not a young Marine doing his job.

Cross-posted at OpinionBug.com

By at 11:19 AM | |