The Butchering of an American
Published May 13, 2004
And then this strange story gets stranger, according to the Centre Daily News. In a report published before Berg's death it reported:
- The next day, April 6, Nick Berg was released. He told his parents he had been riding in a taxi on March 24 when he was arrested by Iraqi officials at a checkpoint in Mosul.He told his parents he had not been mistreated Nick Berg said he would come home through Jordan, Turkey or Kuwait. But by then, hostilities in Iraq had escalated, and Michael Berg said they have not heard from their son since.
- The Bergs have hounded the State Department, the FBI and the International Committee of the Red Cross, seeking information. Michael Berg said the State Department sent an official to Nick Berg's hotel, where an employee told the official they had not heard of him. The Bergs hired a private investigator, who talked to an American hotel guest who said he remembered Nick Berg.
- Sometimes, they tell themselves their son "is a resourceful fellow who can take care of himself," Michael Berg said."Other times we think perhaps he was dead on April 10," he said. "My worst fear is that I'll never hear anything."
So this 26-year-old with personal ideals and modest business aspirations was released. And just think of the sense of relief he must have felt that he'd soon be going home....
Then he was captured by terrorists.
Those final days and moments must have been hell. Just think about it as you read this:
- The video showed five men wearing headscarves and black ski masks, standing over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit similar to a prisoner's uniform who identified himself as Nick Berg, a U.S. contractor whose body was found on a highway overpass in Baghdad on Saturday.
- Sitting in a chair, Berg made the following statement: "My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mothef's name is Susan,"” the man said on the video. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah. I live in ...Philadelphia."
- The video then changes to a scene of masked men, with Berg sitting in front of them.After reading a statement, the masked men were seen pulling the man to his side and putting a large knife to his neck. A scream sounded as the men cut his head off, shouting "Allahu Akbar" "God is great." They then held the head out before the camera.
- The Butchering of an American
- Published: May 13, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet, Culture: Media, Video: News
- Writer: Joe Gandelman
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Comments on this articleComments
I am sorry Nicholas Berg. I am watching your death, and I am mourning for you like I was your friend. I feel like your friend. I think that you were trying to befriend the world, and that you, through your brief and unexpectedly ended life, have prevailed.
I wish peace and healing for the Berg family. What has happened is an outrage, and ultimately, can never be apologized for. Losing a child must be the worst pain there is. But to have the entire world focused on it and politicians using it as a bargaining chip leaves us to wonder, "where is God?" What kind of God allows this to happen? In the world we live in, how do we expect to go on?
It is a sick kind of "Keeping up with the Joneses." I will see your prison abuse, and I will raise you one beheading. Poker face. Yeah, I know. It is horrible, because war is horrible, and bloody in its scope, the sheer volume of human rage, not to mention bloodshed.
But let it be known, loud and clear. There is no such thing as revenge. The word and deed exist and the idea of sweet retribution is appealing but never satisfying when actually carried out. Avenging angels/ devils/ infidels/ insurgents are never satisfied. They are always left wanting, or bitter, disappointed. Our egos are bigger than our stomachs, which can only consume so much blood and bile before it is regurgitated onto ourselves.
What do you do in times like these? Where do we go? What is going to happen now? It isn't a game, and since there are no ways to play, how do you stop? Does this mean everyone has to die? What is hideous, unavoidable, tragic - is the widespread coverage of it all, the way the information flashes forward in ominous RealPlayer detail to all points on the map. But perhaps, this is our saving grace. Because the pictures are gory, they are mounting day by day, the death toll is rising with a bullet, there is no escape. If you are not commenting on it, you are not here.
What would God say? I ask my God to help us. He shrugs his shoulders and says nothing. My God is kind of lazy that way. My God takes three hour martini lunches and calls it a day far sooner than He should. He likes me to work shit out on my own. He is cool though.
I am terribly sad for all the dead, injured, abused, Iraqi and American, military and civilian, hero or madman, everybody - because there is no reason anymore for this escalating violence. It isn't "Spy vs. Spy." It is human life. People, with mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, hometowns like Philadelphia or Baghdad.
My heart goes out for all the suffering in the world. I wish to breathe it all into my lungs, let it run all the way through my respiratory and circulatory system, and exhale pure love and ever loving compassion.
Margaret Cho
Thank you for collecting the extra information about Nick Berg I had not seen or heard .
Thank You for putting into words the pain and anger I feel about the beheading of Nick Berg. I am not going to forget.
Sean Hannity played the audio on his show. It was ghastly. I almost had to pull over.
To those who haven't heard it, it wasn't anything like the guillotine: WHACK-Thump. It was sickeningly slow. Unimaginably terrifying. And these monsters were chanting "God is Great" while doing it...
What sickens me most, perhaps, isn't the horrific death of an innocent American civilian, or even the thought that millions in the Muslim World celebrated it. No, what sickens me the most is that these bastards will likely get away with it. Finding them in a chaotic Iraq will be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Our prisoner-abusers will be tried and punished. Their murderers will likely live long lives as "heroes" to their ilk.
That's what sickens me the most.
Our prisoner-abusers will be tried and punished. Their murderers will likely live long lives as "heroes" to their ilk.
I'm guessing not. Assuming they're not caught or killed in further criminal acts, these people will probably take to arguing amongst themselves. Since these folks like to resolve conflict by violence, they won't hesitate to kill each other. One way or another, I doubt these creeps will live long lives.
I will say that I was happy that at least Jordan, Saudi Arabia and UAE all expressed outrage at his killing. As meaningless of a gesture as it was, it's a start on the road to decency (at least appearance-wise).
James:
What about Egypt? Or Kuwait? Or Qatar? Or Oman? Or Yemen? Or Turkey? Or Libya?
A few dictatorial governments offering sound-bytes isn't good enough. Until we change the cultural mindset of these people, we still have a lot of work to do...
I disagree on the point that Nick Berg's murderers will not see justice.
They have done an excellent job of making Nick Berg a martyr for Nick Berg's cause. His cause was to give up all worldly posssesions to help some more unfortunate people, despite their hostility. Their ill treatment of justice and of an innocent with such helpful intensions reveals the failure of their religion, and will cause even more determination to rid them and those like them from this world.
Because of Nick Berg's love and willingness to help others, there are even more children hearing of this story than 9.11 and asking, "What can I do to rid the world of terrorism."
In the end, these murderers (just like the prison guards who humiliated Iraqis prisoners) will be dealt justice and they will find themselves saying "God is great..." To Nick Berg's God.
-Bunch
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The Arab satellite network Al-Arabiya reported Friday that American hostage Paul Johnson had been beheaded. It did not immediately provide details and the report could not be independently confirmed.
I copied and pasted the above from MSN. I say that we put a bullet in Saddams head ( by accident of course )and then plug a bomb in the asses of the rest. Next get the Americans out of that fucking shithole
Paul Johnson was just beheaded because in the words of the AlQaeda terrorist:
"He worked on Apache Helicopters that killed Muslims and made them better and easier to kill Muslims".
David, you make me afraid, just like Berg's and Johnson's killers.
The above was a quote from the terrorist. Shut the fuck up and quit trying to create conflict.
As far as you being afraid you shouldn't go so many months without looking in the mirror. I think that's what scared you.
At least one of the new Davids is sounding more and more like Roger Ely -- all aggression and abuse. Perhaps he is crazy in his own right. But, with 'John-Z' just having left, one wonders.
Actually, I was not trying to create conflict. I was giving my honest reaction to your statement, "I say that we put a bullet in Saddams head ( by accident of course )and then plug a bomb in the asses of the rest." Trust me, what scares me is you.
"Shut the fuck up," as if. I have the right to say what I will. And I shall.
Natalie, it ain't you. 'David' is like that on every thread. Invite him for a cup of coffee, and he would threaten to scald you with it. The beheadings are horrible and will backfire on the people doing them. But, the topic doesn't matter for David.
MacDiva I think that you are mistaken me for another one of the David's on here. I have only written a few things on here since a few days ago.
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