Duct Tape Blues

Soldiers kill Italian Secret Service Agent

Giuliana Sgrena, a recently-released-kidnapped reporter is shot by U.S. troops. The Italian secret service, Nicola Calipari, was killed trying to protect her. They were on the way to the airport, just minutes away from a waiting plane with the rescued reporter, when their car was peppered in a hail of bullets from American soldiers.

Contradicting stories from the United States and the surviving members of the incident is making the situation worse. All of this happened in the afterglow of the president's kissing up to Europe and Russia this last week.

Italy is up in arms. And as luck would have it the reporter works for a left wing newspaper, the Il Manifesto. They are not going to let this rest. The phone lines must have burned up with conciliatory calls from Rumsfield and Bush to Italy trying to stave off the negative press.

The people from Italy were against the Iraq invasion so this is very likely to help weaken support for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's. A weaker Berlusconi may recall the 3,000 italian troops from Iraq to boost his ailing popularity and keep his hold as Prime Minister. Bush can't let that happen so the investigation must come up with someone to blame pretty quickly.

How much more can America's reputation suck overseas before Americans start to suffer the consequences of Bush's failed foreign policy?