ROME, 28 April 2006 — The deaths of three Italian soldiers, killed in a bomb attack yesterday in southern Iraq, have once again inflamed the debate in Rome over the legitimacy of Italy’s peacekeeping mission and prompted new calls for an immediate pullout of the country’s 2,600-strong contingent.
“More young lives have been ruined in the name of an unjust war of aggression based on lies,” said Marco Rizzo of the Italian Communists. “While we are close to the families of the victims, we cannot but underline the need for an immediate withdrawal of Italy’s troops from Iraq.”
“I would like to recall that our military is engaged in a mission of peace aimed at giving Iraq a free and democratic future. It is for this reason that Italy’s peacekeeping mission must not stop in the face of such vile acts of terrorism,” retorted Filippo Berselli, Italy’s defense undersecretary.
The two statements summed up the deep divisions that have split Italy ever since the United States declared war on Saddam Hussein and the outgoing center-right government of Silvio Berlusconi agreed to send soldiers to help maintain the peace and reconstruct the country, back in the spring of 2003.
The attack that killed three Italian troops and one Romanian soldier while they were traveling in a convoy in the southern city of Nasiriyah yesterday was only the latest in a string of incidents that have involved Italy’s soldiers.
A total of 35 Italians — six of them civilians — have now died in Iraq over the past three years.
By far the worst incident took place in November 2003, when a suicide bombing attack on Italy’s military base in the same city killed a total of 19 Italians.
Since then, more Italian soldiers and civilians have died, either killed by insurgents or as a result of accidents.
In another high-profile incident dating back to March 2005, an Italian secret service agent, Nicola Calipari, was accidentally killed by US soldiers manning a checkpoint in Baghdad while he was escorting a freed Italian hostage to safety. Calipari’s death put a severe strain on US-Italian relations, with the two sides failing to agree on the results of a joint investigation into the incident.
A poll published in February 2003 showed that two-thirds of Italians opposed the US-led war to oust Saddam, and most Italians were also strongly against the deployment of peacekeeping troops.
Outgoing Premier Berlusconi had always justified the deployment of troops in the name of his strong ties with US President George W. Bush. But perhaps acknowledging the unpopular nature of his choice, Berlusconi has in recent months promised to withdraw Italy’s contingent “by the end of 2006.”
Of the original contingent of 3,200 men, 300 were recalled in September 2005 and a further 300 in January of this year. A further 1,000 soldiers were expected to leave Iraq in June.
After Berlusconi’s defeat in Italy’s April 9-10 general election, it is likely that the pullout will now proceed at an even faster pace.
Prime Minister-in-waiting Romano Prodi, who won the election at the helm of a center-left coalition that includes Rizzo’s Communist Party, has repeatedly said he was opposed to Italy’s mission in Iraq.
