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Politics : PRESIDENT BUSH - UNFIT FOR COMMAND -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (524)	5/1/2005 11:52:39 AM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 660

U.S. soldiers cleared in Italian's death Alexandra Zavis Associated Press May. 1, 2005 12:00 AM BAGHDAD - The U.S. Army has cleared American soldiers in the death of an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq and recommended no disciplinary action following an investigation, according to a report released Saturday. The investigation concluded the killing may well have been prevented by better coordination between the Italian government and U.S. forces in Iraq. Nicola Calipari was mistakenly shot on March 4 soon after he had secured the release of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena from Iraqi militants who had held her hostage for a month. U.S. soldiers fired on the Italians' vehicle as it approached a U.S. checkpoint near Baghdad's airport. Sgrena and another Italian agent were wounded. The U.S. investigation concluded the vehicle had failed to slow down as it approached the checkpoint and the soldiers who fired at it had acted in accordance with the rules of engagement. "This was a tragic accident," Brig. Gen. Peter Vangjel, the investigating officer, said in a statement expressing "deepest sympathies" to the agent's family. The killing outraged Italians, who consider Calipari a national hero, and caused friction in U.S.-Italian relations. Italy and the United States said Friday that they had failed to agree on the circumstances of the shooting and each side would release its own version of events. The U.S. report found Italy had not informed U.S. forces of the rescue mission, adding "prior coordination might have prevented this tragedy." Lt. Gen. John Vines, one of the top two commanders of U.S. forces in Iraq, has approved Vangjel's recommendation that no disciplinary action be taken against any soldier in the incident, the statement said. Large sections of the report were blacked out in the version released to the media Saturday. U.S. and Italian experts had worked for more than a month on a joint investigation into the killing. But from the start, testimony from the two survivors clashed with the U.S. military's account. The U.S. report maintained the soldiers fired warning shots in the air, then shot at the engine block because the car was speeding. The survivors insist they saw the beam of a warning light virtually at the same time gunfire broke out. The surviving intelligence agent has also testified he was driving slowly. The report noted that the soldiers were on their first full day at the checkpoint and had been instructed to look out for two suspected car bombs in the area. It also said that two soldiers in the same unit were killed by a roadside bomb two days before the incident. The commander of the company lost a close friend in that attack, it said. The Italian experts were still writing up their report, which is expected to take a few days, a Foreign Ministry official said in Rome. azcentral.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (524)	9/30/2005 4:52:12 PM
From: M0NEYMADE	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 660

*UNBELIEVABLE!!* "Abort the black babies!" White House criticizes Bennett's remarks on blacks Sep 30 2:47 PM US/Eastern WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday criticized as "not appropriate" a comment from former Education Secretary William Bennett that aborting black babies would reduce the crime rate. Bennett, a conservative radio commentator, stirred outrage for saying on his talk show on Wednesday: "But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down." "That would be an impossibly ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down," he said on his call-in program "Morning in America." "The president believes the comments were not appropriate," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. Bennett has held various senior roles in administrations of President Ronald Reagan and Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush. He is a former education secretary and head of U.S. drug policy. Bennett, author of a book on morality called "The Book of Virtues," faced controversy two years ago when it was revealed that he lost millions because of a gambling habit. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he was "appalled" by Bennett's comments and said he hoped Republicans would condemn him. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said the comments were "hateful, inflammatory" and asked whether they represented the values of the Republican party. Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, a former campaign adviser to Bush, has been trying to reach out to African Americans, who overwhelmingly vote Democratic. On his radio program on Friday, Bennett said "I was putting forward a hypothetical proposition ... and then said about it, it was morally reprehensible to recommend abortion of an entire group of people." "But this is what happens when you argue that the ends can justify the means. His remark was in response to a caller who had suggested that the Social Security system's finances would be in a much better position if it were not for the 1973 legalization of abortion, because there would be more people paying into the system. Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton said on CNN that Bennett's comments were "blatantly racist." "(He) stated as a fact that if you did this it would in fact lower the crime rate which clearly is him making blacks and crime synonymous," Sharpton said. breitbart.com