Italian Leader Says U.S. Knew of Rescue Plan (washingtonpost.com)

It gets more and more interesting. The Italian official who learned about Sgrena's release was standing next to an American Colonel when they found out she was on her way to the airport.

Given the penchant for U.S. troops (under orders from their superiors) to target journalists, is it really so hard to imagine that military intelligence wouldn't attempt an assassination of a vehemently anti-occupation journalist?

An excerpt:

"Calipari put the journalist in the back seat of the car, and with his colleague driving, they headed toward the airport where a plane was waiting to take them back to Italy.

With the inside light on, Calipari sat alongside Sgrena and made phone calls to superiors to report his success. One was to an Italian official who was standing next to an American colonel at the airport, the prime minister said Wednesday, addressing the Italian Senate.

Calipari 'therefore warned the American military officials of their immediate arrival in the airport zone,' Berlusconi said."