How was the Italian journalist on 60 Minutes last night?

[slor]

I fell asleep after a hard past few days, and I forgot to Tivo it. TIA

[Algorem]

1. El sucked-o.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/12/60II/main6875...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1722894

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1722894az=view_all&address=132x1722916


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3475943

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1393255

[kittenpants]

2. I missed it too, but heard that in some areas 60 minutes was replaced

by a Billy Graham (or some other evangelist)program!!!! How crazy is that?!

[guajira]

4. Just Normal Shit if you live in Central Florida!

I was away from home and could not set my VCR to get 60 Minutes at 2AM!!

The show was pre-empted by Billy Graham, which happens periodically - seemingly always when there's something controversial on 60 Minutes.

[AlCzervik]

7. same here, the cbs station in my area is owned by Sinclair.

[flordehinojos]

3. i did see giuliana sgrena on the 60 minutes report last--although not all

of the segment with her as it had already started when i happened upon the 60 minutes program.

sgrena was firm in maintaining that the car she was in was not speeding, they were given no hand signals and no lights were flashed on their approaching car.

CBS then interviewed a marine who has commanded some of those checkpoints. He said that hand signals cannot usually be seen by approaching cars. i think he had the same line for flashing lights...and about trying to hit the engine with bullets, he said, not even the best marksmen can do it all of the time.

because republicans are so prone to spin the truth these days (like the john bolton hearing is not about john bolton and his anger, but about the UN and the need to reform the UN, the marine's comments on check-points seemed to me to be like pure spin meant to defend his comrades in arms.

there was a scene of sgrena becoming emotional upon returning for the first time to her office, after her capture, the shooting of her car and the killing of her rescuer. tears rolled down her cheeks upon her seeing those co-workers she thought she would never get to see again.

WHY, O WHY, DO I BELIEVE SGRENA?

[kittenpants]

5. if hand gestures and flashing lights supposedly can't be seen by the cars,

then why do they use them?!! aaargh!

[BringEmOn]

8. The marine said they finally went out and stole an Iraqi stop sign

and it worked! Well, DUH!

[Algorem]

10. Shit.Look at the title of Captain Fuck's book-"Dis Information's 4 U".What

the hell is THAT? http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/12/60II/main687555_page2.shtml
He's a lying Fuck.

[CornField]

6. I wouldn't know... we got Billy Graham here instead of 60 Minutes

[Tsiyu]

9. I am logging in only to post this

My hardscrabble farm needs me more, but I'm checking in to add what I saw on 60 Minutes.

The story focused at first (when I tuned in) on the funeral of the agent Burlusconi sent to rescue the Italian anti-war journalist. The agent became a national hero overnight, with a funeral to rival the Pope's ( the comparison was made by the reporter) although he was unknown prior to rescuing the journalist.

She said her captors told her that they would exchange her for Italy pulling troops out of Iraq. She told them it would never happen and they should just go on and kill her. They asked her why she didn't cry. She stated to the reporter that at home, she cried about everything but she did not cry while held captive.

They told her one day ( shortly after the agent negotiated her release) that she was going to Rome. They put her in a vehicle with gauze around her face and over her eyes. The next thing she heard was the agent's voice ( others will have to supply names, please) telling her he was friends with Giovanni ( I think that's her editor's name) and her husband and that he was going to save her.

The were in constant phone contact with her husband and friends as they neared the airport. Perhaps 700 yards from the airport, she remembers shots and a flash and the agent pushing her head down and shielding her with his body. When he didn't speak, and she heard his last gasp, she realized he was dead.

The kid they interviewed as an expert on checkpoints ( he has a book forthcoming haha) claimed they had shot one person by accident when he was manning checkpoints. He claimed the hand signals and lights were too hard to see and I believe it was his unit that stole a large Iraqi stop sign and started using that and lo and behold! It worked! ( Is our military management a bit slow, or what?)

The expert claims they "try to shoot into the engine block" but that even his best Marine snipers had a high failure rate.

It seems the official report the military turned in didn't jibe with what actually happened.

The unit that shot at the Italians' vehicle was a National Guard unit out of New York I believe, who had lost two members to a checkpoint explosion days before this shooting, but they should have been notified of this situation, as the US military knew of the rescue effort.

The journalist claims there were no hand signals and no warning shots.