Italy Puts US CIA Agents on Trial

As if there isn't enough scandal for Prodi and Bush, Italy is now attempting to call the US secret program of "extraordinary rendition" a crime. The alleged program takes terrorist suspects and detains them in foreign nations and is alleged to torture prisoners.

The program has included Romania and Poland from 2003 to 2005 according to Council of Europe human rights investigator Dick Marty. Italy and Germany had complied with the program at the time and had not revealed the information in fear of breaking relations with the US.

The case involves the abduction and sudden disappearance of Egyptian Imam Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr that was released in February of this year after 4 years of detention. He was moved to Egypt for detention where he claims to have been tortured.

It appears for Italy, now that things are open, it is time to attack the US. Prime Minister Prodi and his government are attempting to derail the case, however. Prodi accuses Chief Prosecutor Spataro of overstepping state secrecy laws and putting secret Italian security practices at risk.

Not only are 25 US CIA agents charged, which the US will not release to Italy, but at least 5 Italians are charged as well. This includes Chief of Military Intelligence Nicolo Pollari.

In the hearings today, the judge threw out using former Prime Minister Berlusconi and current PM Prodi as witnesses for the case. However, it would seem that at least their top aids are not free from this case.

It will be interesting what this case will make public, how this will impact Prodi's sudden instability amid mutliple scandals and a visit from US President Bush, and to US/Italian relations that have been strained as of late. One is US anger is that the Italians have refused to offer more troops to Afghanistan.

Bush's arrival may have more relevance than to chat about G8 issues and Afghanistan, and it may have a lot to do with this case.

Italian Reporters Killed In Iraq and Afghanistan to Date

As this is an old post that was getting a lot of hits, I thought I would update a couple of numbers. Sorry for no posts for so long. Someday I will have the time.

Amazingly, the war in Iraq has had more journalists killed than in any other conflict (assuming there were few journalists in wars prior to 1900, which is a fair estimate).

Reporters for Italian news killed in Iraq and Afghanistan to date (10/03/08):

- Independent journalist, Enzo Baldoni

- Afghan aid to Daniele Mastrogiacomo, Ajmal Nakshbandi

- Iraqi freelance producer and translator who worked for the television station TG3, Adnan Al-Bayati

- Unknown driver for Baldoni

Italian reporters abducted and released:

- Reporter for Il Manifesto, Giuliana Sgrena - Saved by Italian secret service agent Nicola Calipari who put himself in the line of fire to protect her from US troop mistaken fire.

- War correspondent for La Repubblica, Daniele Mastrogiacomo

Total number of journalists killed to date since 2003:135

Total number of media support killed to date since 2003:51

Journalists killed in conflicts:

Algeria (1993-96): 58

Colombia (1986-present): 54

Balkans (1991-95): 36

Philippines (1983-87): 36

Turkey (1984-99): 22

Tajikistan (1992-96): 16

Sierra Leone (1997-2000): 15

Afghanistan (2001-04): 9

Somalia (1993-95): 9

Kosovo (1999-2001): 7

First Iraq war (1991): 4 (In the aftermath)

Earlier conflicts before CPJ statistics were logged in 1981:

Central American conflicts (1979-89): 89, Source: Freedom Forum

Argentina (1976-1983): 98, Source: Freedom Forum

Vietnam (1955-1975): 66, Source: Freedom Forum

Vietnam (1962-75): 71, Source: The Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan

Korean War: 17, Source: Freedom Forum

World War II: 68, Source: Freedom Forum

World War I: 2, Source: Freedom Forum

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists

Italian Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan

Italian troops killed to date (05/15/07):

- 33 deaths
- 8 non-hostile deaths (accidents)
- 16 from 1 event (car bomb in An Nasiriyah on 11/12/03)

Source: Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

Estimated Iraqi civilians reported killed by military intervention in Iraq to date:

- Min 63744
- Max 69795

Source: Iraq Body Count

Italian troops killed in Afghanistan to date (05/04/07):

- 9 deaths

Source: NATO (via Wikipedia)

Afghan civilian reported deaths since occupation in 2001:

- Jonathan Steele of the Guadian estimated 20,000 - 50,000 on 05/20/02.
- 2006 saw more than 3700 killed, about 1000 of them civilians.

Sources: BBC and the Guardian

Afghanistan Duration, Part II

It looks as though today, Defense Minister Arturo Parisi has called for more troop and equipment reinforcement. The request is around 150 troops and a number of tanks and helicopters.

Although more reinforcement is requested says little about a pull-out. As the troops were sent for "peace-keeping" operations, it appears as though they are amid a war. The Italians voted to keep troops for another 6 months last March.

However, more interestingly (from the Middle East Online):

On May 8, the Senate in Kabul approved a bill that called for negotiations with the Taliban, a ceasefire, and a date for the withdrawal of foreign troops. The proposed legislation demands that foreign forces should not engage the Taliban unless they are themselves attacked or have first consulted with the Afghan army, police and government.

The bill reflects a growing popular rebellion against heavy-handed American army tactics and aerial bombardments, which have brought death and destruction to many parts of Afghanistan. The bill has to be approved by the lower house of Parliament and by President Karzai before becoming law.

On May 10, Iraq had followed suit with similar legislation of which a majority has required a timeline for the withdrawal of troops. The homecoming of Italian troops seems more and more imminent.

How Much Longer In Afghanistan?

From the IHT:

The Afghan government has taken over the management of hospitals run by an Italian aid group that pulled its international workers to protest the detention of a staff member by authorities, an official said Thursday.

It appears that even after the Italian NGO "Emergency" left their posts in protest to the death sentencing of the Afghan translator and aid for the freeing of the Italian journalist Mastrogiacomo, their posts were quickly filled by the Afghan government. This does bode as a good sign for Afghanistan as they are not negotiating with influential forces and enforcing their laws and have the resources to back it up. There are other recent signs of success for Afghanistan that seem promising.

With recent Afghan unity and successes against the Taliban, with a small percentage of Italian troops in Afghanistan (1300 out of 32000 NATO troops), and when Italian aid seems unnecessary, there may be attempts for a withdrawal of troops. Especially with Prime Minister Prodi under heat from his party and others, the time may be nearing.

The French have been pressured to withdraw from the Taliban as well recently. French President Sarkozy has also talked of withdrawal which resulted in the release of a French hostage. However, concessions to hostage threats are an unlikely mechanism for withdrawal as nations fall under public scrutiny for showing "weakness" and negotiating with the enemy. Italy has already gone through their own debacle in their concession to hostage takers. We will see if the French actually follow through soon.

Nevertheless, if Italy and France both pull out, that would symbolically show a pull out of spirit for the Afghan movement. The French currently have 1100 troops stationed in Afghanistan and if both nations pull out it would be a 8% withdrawal of troops. Although a small percentage in theory, there may be more witnessing european nations that will have corroding support as a result. The US is already spread thinly with war in Iraq. Hence, NATO members, and especially the US, will probably try its best to deter Italy and France from leaving. Although it is highly politically popular now to be anti-US policy, they will probably not pull out until there is a longer streak of stability in Afghanistan.