"Wars, jihadists, and sexism, I asked for it": Giuliana Sgrena, 20 years after her kidnapping in Iraq

To those who love news, it seems like just yesterday, but it was 2005 when Giuliana Sgrena—a contributor to Il Manifesto, Die Zeit, and Modus Vivendi—was kidnapped by an Iraqi armed group while reporting on the country being invaded by the Americans. The relief at her release was tragically offset by the shock of the death of Nicola Calipari, the intelligence officer who negotiated her release and was killed by an American soldier while carrying her to safety.

Her new book, which she presented last night in Quartu at the Chiavi di Volta – ArgoNautilus 2025 festival, comes twenty years after the incident and has a challenging title: "I Went Looking for It – Diaries of a War Reporter." Sgrena explains: "After my kidnapping, for twenty years I was haunted by accusations that I had gone looking for it. I always responded that I was simply doing my job as a journalist, seeking information and verifying it. I was doing it that day too, verifying a discovery I had made." What was it? "The use of white phosphorus by the Americans, who had invaded Iraq claiming Saddam had weapons of mass destruction that he didn't."