Communista Giuliana Sgrena

By Financing Terrorism, is Italy on Our Side?
The mysterious saga of the kidnapped, then resqued, Italian reporter of the communist "Il Manifesto" newspaper, continues without much elucidation. The Italians say the fleeing group was traveling but twenty miles an hour, and the Americans say they were going one hundred. Giuliana Sgrena continues to suggest that the shooting at the check point was an ambush, which somewhat goes along with my theory, although she believes the Americans ambushed her and I suspect that the terrorists who kidnapped her are possibly involved. The terrorists are the only group who come out of this deal with what they want. They received more Italian ransom money to buy more weapons to kill more Americans and Iraqis. They also have strained relations between the government and people of Italy with the American administration, to the point of Italy possibly withdrawing its support for the war.

Today's Opinion Journal wonders if "Ms. Sgrena will also shed a tear for the Americans and Iraqis who will die because of the ransom that was paid for her release." Some reports are that the ransom was between $1 million and $6 million. If that be the case, perhaps the Italians should withdraw their soldiers. The journal continues "Not only does paying ransom encourage more kidnapping--of Italians especially--it also puts money in the hands of the enemy in a country where $40 buys an automatic rifle and $200 an attack on U.S. forces. The shooting of a speeding car at a military checkpoint in a war zone is an unintentional tragedy, but the paying of ransom amounts to a policy of deliberately aiding terrorists." One cannot trust the statements of Ms. Sgrena, as she is not consistant.

While Ms. Sgrena was in the custody of the kidnappers, with their threats of beheadings, there was video of her pleading with the Italians to capitulate to the terrorists. Her hands were clasped in prayer. My question is, to whom do communists pray?

According to Powerline, the new column by Michelle Malkin focuses on a neglected element of the Giuliana Sgrena story: "The ransom of a red reporter." Michelle also adds some flourishes in her post on the column here.

Fox News Take