Questions on grammar related to a piece of CNN news. Pls help.

Question

Pressure to pull out mounted after the March 4 killing in Baghdad of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari who was escorting a recently released hostage to freedom.
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I cited this from CNN news today.
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/15/italy.iraq/index.html

Please kindly give me a hand for my following questions. TKS.

1) Why put the preposition phrase of “ Italian intelligence behind “Baghdad”? I think it should follow “killing”?
2) Why missed out “on” before “ March 4”?
3) What is the meaning of “mounted” here? Mounted=station? Is it an adj or adv.?

If I were the correspondent, I would write as following:
Pressure to pull out mounted after killing of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari , on March 4, who was escorting a recently recently released hostage to freedom.

Just the truth · Accepted Answer

Pressure to pull out mounted after the March 4 killing in Baghdad of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari who was escorting a recently released hostage to freedom.

Please kindly give me a hand for my following questions. TKS.

1) Why put the preposition phrase of “ Italian intelligence behind “Baghdad”? I think it should follow “killing”?

JTT: English has quite a strong tendency to keep a noun or noun phrase [Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari] close to its attendant relative clause, "who was escorting ...". Normally, they are not separated by other phrases.

=

2) Why wasn't [missed out] “on” used before “March 4”?

JTT: It's not needed when you have a "the"; eg. 'the May 10th holiday'; 'the December 23rd Christmas party.

==

3) What is the meaning of “mounted” here? Mounted=station? Is it an adj or adv.?

It's a verb and it means 'increased'.

Florazheng1015 · Answer

Thank you, Just The Truth.
I understood my 2nd question now but not the balance.
1) I think "Italian intelligence" modifies the word of "killing", so it must as following
the killing of Italian intelligence.

3) if mounted is a verb, its structure should be as following
pull out : pull out mounting

hmm, I don't think I express myself about my questions very clear here. Hope you can understand me.

Just the truth · Answer

Original sentence:

Pressure to pull out mounted after the March 4 killing in Baghdad of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari who was escorting a recently released hostage to freedom.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

1) I think "Italian intelligence" modifies the word of "killing", so it must as following
the killing of Italian intelligence.

JTT: No, Florazhenq, it's the killing of the man Nicola Calipari. You can't kill Italian intelligence. In order to avoid two relative clauses, as in #1a,

1a. Pressure to pull out mounted after the March 4 killing, in Baghdad, of Nicola Calipari, who was a Italian intelligence agent, who was escorting a recently released hostage to freedom.

the writer wisely chose to use an appositive, as in the original, now marked 1b.

1b. Pressure to pull out mounted after the March 4 killing, in Baghdad, of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari who was escorting a recently released hostage to freedom.

Perhaps with commas added, [some may think they'd be wise] it might help you. I'd say there is a trend today towards reduced punctuation. A welcome trend to my mind. There is really no other place to put "in Baghdad" than where it has been put.

3) if mounted is a verb, its structure should be as follows [not 'following']
pull out : pull out mounting

-----~~Subject~~------ [~~verb~~] [------adv phrase -----] [~~adv phr~~]
[Pressure to pull out] mounted after the March 4 killing in Baghdad of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari who was escorting a recently released hostage to freedom.

Pressure to pull out = The pressure on the government to leave Iraq

mounted = increased

Pressure on the government to leave Iraq increased ...

Everything in bold is the subject of the sentence. "pull out" is not the verb because it is paired with 'to'. It's part of the subject phrase.

Florazheng1015 · Answer

Happy to tell you, I am clear on my 3rd question now. TKS again, JTT.
1) Sorry, I express myself wrong on the 1st question in my second post due to my carelessness.
I understand the whole phrase of “Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari” modified the word of “killing”.
“Italian intelligence agent” coordinates with “Nicola Calipari”

My question is why “Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari” don't adhere to “killing’ but following “in Baghdad”?
4) I have noticed that you revised my 2nd question. Is my sentence wrong grammatically?
Can’t I omit the subject “author’ there?
e. g. Why (did author) missed out“on” used before “March 4”?

Questions on grammar related to a piece of CNN news. Pls help.

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