President Bush rang Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy yesterday to express America’s profound sympathies for the accidental killing of Nicola Calipari – an Italian secret agent who he described as “a heroic servant of Italy and esteemed friend of the United States”. Calipari was killed by American soldiers moments after he procured the release of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena who had been held for ransom by insurgents in Iraq.
But cynics – including most Italians – will undoubtedly regard Bush’s call as an anxious attempt to prevent yet another defection from his coalition of the willing (to be road kill or targets for suicide bombers in Iraq). And, coming as it did on the eve of Berlusconi’s national address on this killing, no one can deny the politically solicitous timing of Bush’s conciliatory gesture.
A penitent Berlusconi: Praying for words of consolation for the dead and vindication for those still in the line of (friendly) fire in Iraq…
Nevertheless, words will not do when a pound of flesh is devoutly to be wished; especially when those words follow an official report which essentially blamed the Italians for their agent’s death:
The Italians failed to give the Americans notice that they would be making a dash for the airport after paying for the release of Sgrena; the driver (Calipari) of the getaway car was driving like a suicide bomber as he approached the American checkpoint (really fast and showing no intent to slow down); and, he failed to heed warning flares. And, thus, the Americans opened “defensive” fire….
For their part, the Italians issued their own report which blamed the nerves of trigger-happy, inexperienced, overworked and stressed-out American GIs for the accident. And, they were acutely mindful that a grieving, resentful and vengeful Italian public demanded, at the very least, the satisfaction of someone’s butt being thrown in the brig for killing their beloved agent.
Unfortunately, given these irreconcilable accounts, the onus falls upon Berlusconi to soothe his nation’s sorrows and bolster their pride not only in Calipari’s heroic service but also in the mission of the 3000 Italian soldiers currently serving in Iraq.
Moreover, Berlusconi is acutely aware that many Italians blame him jointly with President Bush for Calipari’s death. After all, he plunged their nation into this fog of war despite strenuous and overwhelming public disapproval.
Ultimately though, this incident will give way to the dispassionate forces of pragmatic politics. And, no one knows this better than Silvio Berlusconi who has been more reviled by temperamental Italians than President Bush is today.
Clearly this was an unfortunate accident. But so too were the friendly fire killings of American Pat Tillman and many other less publicized casualties of war.
Therefore, it remains to be seen whether this incident will be marked as just a footnote in annals of the Iraq war; or whether – like the train bombings in Madrid -it will sustain such public outrage that it becomes politically suicidal for Berlusconi not to withdraw Italian troops from coalition forces in Iraq.
Nevertheless, of all of Bush’s coalition partners, Berlusconi seems most likely to stay the course, come what may….
News and Politics
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