A somber President Clinton on Friday accepted responsibility for the military training accident that killed 20 skiers in Italy last year and sought to mollify a furious Italian public at a news conference during which he also offered Monica Lewinsky his best wishes for the future.
On Thursday, a U.S. military court acquitted the Marine Corps pilot whose jet sliced through a cable, sending 20 Europeans tumbling to their deaths on Feb. 3, 1998, in the Italian Alps.
Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema, who stood next to Clinton at the joint news conference, said he and the Italian people were “shocked” over the acquittal.
“It is not normal for a military aircraft to fly in a valley 300 feet from the ground,” D’Alema said. “We expect that at the end of the process, it is made clear who was responsible for this accident and that these people are punished for it.”
D’Alema said he was not looking for a scapegoat but justice demanded that the guilty be given a fair trial and convicted.
The pilot, Capt. Richard Ashby, 31, was acquitted on 20 counts, including involuntary manslaughter, but still faces an obstruction of justice charge over a missing videotape shot during the flight.
His navigator, Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, 31, also faces trial, though his lawyers are now seeking to have the case dismissed in light of the Ashby verdict.
Clinton said he was restricted in what he could say because charges still are pending, but he did state: “To me, the important thing now is that the United States must clearly and unambiguously shoulder the responsibility for what happened.”
Clinton also said the U.S. would do what is “appropriate” in terms of compensating the victims’ families.
Although the Italian premier did not call for American military jets to be denied landing rights in Italy, he did say the rules under which they fly would have to be changed.
“We intend to revise the rules and very seriously go through and check all the rules relating to military actions, exercises, training, movements, flights, in order to ensure high and certain standards of safety for the civilian population,” D’Alema said.
Clinton nodded as D’Alema spoke.
Clinton then said that while both countries could agree on new procedures, the continued presence of U.S. forces in Italy need not be changed because U.S. presence furthers “Italy’s interests, Europe’s interests, NATO’s interests, and not simply American interests.”
“That, of course, is a judgment that every country and all the decision-makers make, in a way, on an annual basis,” Clinton continued. “They decide, they continue to support these things.”
It is unlikely the Italians would seek to close the giant NATO airbase at Aviano, from which U.S. aircraft fly, and Clinton made clear that he would do everything he could to prevent further accidents.
“We are horrified and heartbroken by what happened, and we will do our best to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again,” he said.
Clinton, as he has done in previous joint news conferences with world leaders, restricted American reporters to just three questions.
This did not prevent a Lewinsky question, however, as the president was asked if he had watched Lewinsky’s interview on ABC Wednesday night and if he could say anything that would bring “closure” to the subject.
“What I hope is that she will be permitted to go on with her life, and I hope it will be a good life,” Clinton said of the former White House intern. “I don’t wish anyone ill who was caught up in this, and she paid quite a high price for a long time, and I feel badly for that. So I just hope it works out all right.”
While the White House has been looking for closure to the Lewinsky matter for more than a year, Clinton actually rambled on a bit in low tones about the woman and the affair that led to his impeachment and almost cost him his presidency.
“I hope that all the people who have been hurt by this, including totally innocent people who have massive legal bills, will get the help they need; and I’m determined to do what I can to help them,” Clinton said. “But the important thing is that the American people are virtually screaming at us to get on with their lives and their business and to do their business, and I’m going to do my best to do that as well as I possibly can.”
Asked if he minded that Lewinsky, through the sale of her book, was making money off the scandal, Clinton replied: “You know, that’s not a decision for me to make. One of the things I’ve learned, that I’ve had to relearn all over again . . . is that all I can control in life is what I do and what I say. And if I do and say the right things, then that’s the thing that’s best for me and my family and for the American people. And that’s what I’m concentrating on doing.”
