Saturday, April 16, 2005

Peeling the White Wash: Uncovering the Sgrena Cover-Up

NEWS DISSECTOR APRIL 15, 2005

Debating Giuliana, the War and Us

Yesterday, Media For Democracy sent our an action alert urging members and others to support the call for an independent probe into the Giuliana Sgrena incident in Iraq. Our concerns provoked an avalanche of letters raising important questions. Some are just knee jerk "faith based" defenses of the government's "investigation." Others question our own response. I want to share the letter if you missed it and some of the responses as well as my own. - {Danny Schechter}



http://62.152.113.235/media68/
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of Giuliana Sgrena
By Danny Schechter
MediaChannel.org


NEW YORK, April 14, 2005 -- 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.

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."

MediaChannel/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.

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/

If you do write, send us a copy of your letter and any response.


EXPRESSING OUTRAGE: A DEBATE ON TACTICS AND GOALS

Our letter calling for independent investigations into incidents in which journalists have been shot and killed has ignited a storm of protest and concern, Some question the need, believing in the government claims as if we have not seen a stream of contradictory reports on other issues that rarely satisfy critics or release key evidence and information.

There is a valid debate on the utility of writing to the President and Defense Department which is waging this war. Yes, of course, it is unlikely to do any good, win any admissions, or result in positive response.

But, that is not the point.

The point is that we have to find a way to stand up, all of us, for a journalism of truth. We need to support the calls by respected press freedom groups for the principle of independent investigation, not whitewashes by parties with an interest in the outcome of the investigation. I don't know Guilana or her politics. I do respect her reporting or at least what I have read in English. My understanding is that her newspaper is an independent left publication, not a Communist Party organ. That, too, is besides the point.

The point is that after so much bloodshed and deception -- and so many unanswered questions about whether journalists have been targeted -- explored in my film WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception) and by press freedom groups, it is clear that the full story is not being disclosed. News agencies like Reuters -- hardly a political group -- have demanded independent probes of the killings of their staffers. The Pentagon has told them to get stuffed. So this is not a partisan issue or a political one.

Why is is it so hard for some people to recognized that governments -- all governments -- lie and cover up, and cannot be trusted to investigate themselves.

Will writing emails help? I don't know. But as citizens of the US and the world, we have some duty to speak up when outrages occur even if its not clear if we will be able to change things. What "works?" Protests of millions of people have not stopped the war. Elections have been fiddled with in this country and others. That doesn't mean we shouldn't vote or protest.

In point of fact, public opinion polls show that a majority of Americans are turning against President Bush. I remember how in the days of the Vietnam War that the public first rallied around the war until it didn't. I haven't given up on hopes that we can influence public opinion.

I have been writing almost every day about incident after incident of deception by the government and the media. I have written books about it and made films. Why bother? The deception continues. Should I just throw in the towel? Call me na?ve but I know from experience that persistence matters and that the truth will set us free, or at least help to, hopefully.

Besides, I don't know what else to do.

So, by all means, let's debate and discuss better tactics and strategies. Let's stand up for the values and principles we believe in. Is my letter perfect? Will Bush and Rummy turn their policies around because of it? No, not at all. They are losing as it us.

But at least I am trying to something and hopefully this discussion is worth having.

THE LETTERS ARE PASSIONATE!

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