The next major news story....

....is right here.

American troops fired on a car rushing Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena to freedom on Friday after a month in captivity, killing the Italian intelligence officer who helped negotiate her release and wounding the reporter in another friendly-fire tragedy at a U.S. checkpoint.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, an ally of the United States who has kept Italian troops in Iraq despite public opposition at home, demanded an explanation "for such a serious incident, for which someone must take the responsibility."

The U.S. military said the car was speeding as it approached a coalition checkpoint in western Baghdad at 8:55 p.m. It said soldiers shot into the engine block only after trying to warn the driver to stop by "hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots."

Watch for the media to blow this in to a major story.

Events like this are always a tragedy. Why a car would continue to speed toward a checkpoint despite repeated warnings is beyond me. Obviously the military will have to investigate (and they will) and determine if any procedures need to change, but the media won't wait for the facts nor will they publish them when they're known. A journalist was almost killed, and that is all the fodder that they need.

We'll probably have politicians wringing their hands on the Sunday blab shows and feature stories on the Sunday news shows — all without knowing the details of what took place. Some will probably even use the occasion to complain about the lack of training of our military and the use of the Guard (who are obviously unprepared for such duty the talking point goes) in critical situations.

It's a wonderful world we live in, isn't it? Or am I being too cynical?

Nah...