God help us...the US
"Dead Italian agent brokered other releases
MARIA SANMINIATELLI
Associated Press
ROME - Veteran Italian secret agent Nicola Calipari - who won the freedom of captive journalist Giuliana Sgrena - was a practiced hostage negotiator who had already helped bring home two Italians kidnapped in Iraq.
At least once before, Calipari reportedly had come close to negotiating Sgrena's release. He had gone to Baghdad once before, convinced he would leave with the 56-year-old writer for the left-wing newspaper Il Manifesto, but left empty-handed, according to the news agency ANSA.
It finally happened Friday, when Sgrena was handed over to Italian officials after a month of captivity in the hands of Iraqi insurgents. But the happy occasion quickly turned sour when the car taking Sgrena, Calipari and other agents to the Baghdad airport was fired upon at a U.S. checkpoint.
Calipari was killed as he threw his body across Sgrena, in what she said was an attempt to shield her from the bullets...."
You can read the rest at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4843777,00.html