On the evening of March 4th, a Toyota Corolla bearing a left-wing Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena of Il Manifesto, and two Italian military intelligence officers was driving down one of the most dangerous stretches of road in all Iraq, heading to Baghdad International Airport, when it came under fire from an American patrol providing security for a meeting between the American ambassador to Iraq and the top American military commander in Iraq. One of the agents, Nicola Calipari, who had just managed to gain Sgrena’s release after her month as a hostage, was killed after throwing his body over Sgrena’s to protect her from the bullets. Sgrena and the driver of the car were both injured.

This incident has become the source of serious tensions between the Italian and American governments in the past week, when the joint investigation established to ascertain what happened that night failed to come to agreement on the contents of their report. In the end, both governments issued their own separate reports, with radically different conclusions.

The clash comes at a time when Silvio Berlusconi , Italy ’s prime minister, has been under intense pressure both from within his own center-right governing coalition and from the opposition. Elected in 2001, Berlusconi and his coalition, the House of Liberties, has come under criticism in Italy for its support of the war in Iraq and a nationwide economic malaise.

The House of Liberties was crushed in regional elections in early April, losing 12 of the 14 regions up for grabs. Soon after, one of the coalition partners, the Union of Christian Democrats under the leadership of Marco Follini, withdrew from the coalition, causing Berlusconi to resign, ending his reign over the longest-serving Italian government since 1945. Three days later, Berlusconi formed a “new” government, with only slight retouches to his cabinet and platform, and started all over again.

Or so he hoped. In reality, he picked up right where he left off, with all the same lingering problems. The leaking of the American findings on Calipari’s death quickly rekindled the debate over Italy ’s role in Iraq . A judgement that the American soldiers had acted wrongly in firing on the vehicle would have gone a long way towards satisfying Italy ’s demand for justice, but instead the report stated that the soldiers had followed correct procedure, having warned the vehicle to stop using hand signals, bright lights, and warning shots. It focused on other aspects, including the fact that the Italians had not properly communicated their operations to the Americans, as contributing to the fatal shooting.

This was too much for Italy , where Calipari has become a national hero, and they refused to sign off on the American version, instead opting to issue a separate report. Their report emphasized the American soldiers’ “inexperience and stress” as the main factor contributing to the killing.

After a period of terse statements from both sides, the United States and Italy appear to have put the disagreement behind them. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice called Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini to say that she was sorry they could not agree on the shooting. On Wednesday, President George Bush called Berlusconi, and they had a “long and cordial” conversation, according to the Italian government. Bush told Berlusconi that he saw Calipari as “a heroic servant of Italy and esteemed friend of the United States .” Then, on Thursday, in a speech to a joint session of the Italian Parliament, Berlusconi said that he remained committed to discovering the truth about that night and that he would not allow the incident to harm relations with the U.S 

But the storm is not quite over for Berlusconi. The episode has hurt Berlusconi’s popularity, has called into question the value of Italy ’s alliance with the U.S. , and has renewed calls for a withdrawal of all Italian troops from Iraq .

It is no longer taken for granted that Berlusconi will lead the center-right coalition into elections scheduled for early 2006. Berlusconi himself has acknowledged this, saying, “No one is irreplaceable.” Talk is heating up in Italian newspapers about his possible successor.

Likewise, Italians are complaining about their unequal position in the alliance with the United States . The secretary general of the Communist Party, Oliviero Diliberto said, “I am humiliated. It is a shame that once again, the Americans treat us like servants.” The moderate daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, in a front page editorial titled “We don’t like this America,” discussing America’s defensive reaction to the Calipari episode, pointedly asks, “what is the point of a country’s maintaining a close, friendly relationship with the United States?”

As for withdrawing from Iraq , both the government and the opposition have been careful to separate the Calipari case from the decision to withdraw, but it is hard not to think that it will play a role. It was in March, after all, soon after Calipari’s killing, that Berlusconi announced his desire to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible, perhaps as soon as September. And just before the publishing of the American report, a widely-respected former-Italian president, Francesco Cossiga, was quoted by ANSA as saying that if the U.S.-Italian investigation “doesn’t reach a recognition of the guilt of the American troops, extraditing them to Italy or taking on the commitment to put them before American military justice, in my view, this would require” withdrawal.

So, Berlusconi's is facing pressure from all sides, and America 's behaviour during the Calipari episode did not give him much relief. Only time will tell whether Berlusconi has emerged unscathed.

Roma, 21 maggio 2005