The current furore over the shooting of the Italian 'agent'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4328551.stm really is bizarre.
None of it makes any sense, as the US have nothing to gain by her death (or that of the agent(s) that secured her release) and everything to lose.
I am in no doubt that the Italian government is handing over ransom money to get their hostages released, and that is a very difficult issue. Since they're bound to be significant sums, I'm sure that they could fuel the insurgency (although where these people are going to spend any of that money...) and that it's in direct opposition to the 'no negotiation' approach that has been developed over the years.
But despite all of that, I still can't see that it provides enough 'motive'.
And in any case, by then it was too late for it to change anything.
So, could there be an ulterior motive on the part of the Italians to make this allegation? Maybe they haven't been as upfront about their activities as they say - in which case throwing allegations like that around is bound to muddy the waters sufficiently to avoid the truth to be discovered.
And since so many people are only too ready to think the worst of the Americans, they could hardly go wrong, could they?