Monday, March 07 , 2005

Sgrena had the goods on them, the whole bloody litany of crimes perpetrated by the swaggering Texas psychopath and his Pentagon goons. Her interviews with Falluja's refugees put her in a position to spill the beans on Bush's murderous farce and splatter the headlines across Europe with the real picture of what is going on inside Iraq.

"I wanted to tell about the bloodbath in Falluja through the refugees tales....I had in front of me the EVIDENCE of what Iraqi society had become with the war," she announced in her confession My Truth ("La mia verita")

Of course she did...so she had to die. Others have died for much less. According to Eason Jordan, veteran news chief who was axed for telling the truth of what most suspected anyway; that Rumsfeld was intentionally targeting journalists in a maniacal effort to control the flow of information coming out of Iraq. Eason predictably recanted and threw himself on his sword, but the evidence is clear; the bombings of Al Jazeera (twice) and Al Arabiyya TV, as well as the unprovoked attack on the press facility in Baghdad (the Palestine Hotel) that killed a Spanish journalist, were all premeditated. No junior officer ordered an Abrams tank to lob shells into the media's hotel. That order came from the very top rungs of the War Dept.



The choice to fire 300 rounds into the vehicle carrying an Italian journalist to safety was not ordered by a junior-grade officer either.

When Sgrena was transported to the Baghdad airport everyone along the way was notified. In case you're wondering, no one simply travels the road to the airport without all points being alerted to their movements. It's the most hazardous stretch of ground on earth and no one passes without proper clearance. This means that the Pentagon's storyline is pure fiction, as time will certainly tell. They weren't overtaken by a speeding vehicle; it was a trap. The car was a mere 700 meters from the airport when Marines started pumping it full of lead in a gangland-style hit. Miraculously, Sgrena survived with only minor injuries.

"Nicola Calipari dove on top of me to protect me," Sgrena said, "and immediately, I felt his last breath as he died on me...I had a sudden thought: I recalled my abductors words. They said they were committed to releasing me, but that I had to be careful because' the Americans don't want you to return'."

How strange that "insurgents" would have to warn an Italian correspondent that the real danger she faced was the American army. She hadn't realized to what extent she had put herself at risk by uncovering the truth.

And what was this "truth" that Sgrena would be publishing on her return to Europe? Would it be further confirmation that the United States had used mustard gas, nerve gas and other incendiary chemicals during their assault on Falluja as Iraq's Health Ministry has already claimed? Would she verify the reports of cluster-bombs and "melted bodies found in the city, where dogs, birds, plants and all forms of life were destroyed?" Would she prove that large areas in Falluja have been excavated; (and dumped in the dessert) removing the remnants of toxic weapons that saturated the soil?

How far would Bush's polling numbers plummet if the American people discovered that the sadistic Rumsfeld was using banned weapons on civilians?

How much easier just to kill the "Leftist" reporter and let the media-apologists patch together the excuses. After all, the legions of Gannon prototypes are already pecking-away at their keyboards whipping up tomorrow's explanations. Obfuscating the truth is the only craft at which they truly excel.

More Whitewash

The cover-up is already in full swing with the media providing the standard smokescreen to conceal the inconvenient details. Bush has promised a thorough investigation, which means that he may convene another "hand-picked" panel of administration loyalists to bury the facts under reams of bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo.

But, it doesn't look like this story is going away any time soon. The furor in Italy could have broad implications and, perhaps, bring down Berlusconi. It's no longer safe to be friends with George Bush. The public rage increases with each new act of treachery and we can only wonder when the laws of critical mass will come into play and when the cumulative weight of five years crime and cruelty will tip the scales and bring the whole wretched edifice down in a heap.