Nick Berg: Down the rabbit hole.
Nick Berg link to Zaccarias Moussaoui
U.S. officials say the FBI questioned Berg in 2002 after a computer password Berg used in college turned up in the possession of Zaccarias Moussaoui, the al Qaeda operative arrested shortly before 9/11 for his suspicious activity at a flight school in Minnesota.
The FBI said they “dismissed the connection between Berg and Moussaoui as nothing more than a college student who had been careless about protecting his password.”
But in the wake of Berg’s gruesome murder, it becomes a stranger than fiction coincidence.
However
But the three FBI visits suggest American authorities were concerned about more than Berg’s well-being. They may have had their own suspicions about what the young American was doing in Iraq.
Two e-mails Berg sent to his family and friends show he traveled widely and unguarded throughout Iraq, an unsafe practice rarely done by Westerners
Ahem, anyone traveling “widely and unguarded” in Iraq now is either a fool or well protected. From the Iraqi blogs I read, even Iraqis are nervous about travel. And why were there three FBI visits to his parents?
DailyKos reposted my article on the video, here’s some of the comments to their post.
Ever see a chicken with it’s head cut off?
It runs around frantically for a few seconds headless. A human who is traumatized – crushed, beheaded, etc shakes violently especially in the legs while the nerves convulse. Then it shuts down. I didn’t see the video but was any of this evident? If not it’s a fake.
I did see the video. He didn’t twitch that I could see.
He was dead at the time of the decapitation.
“Dead people don’t bleed.”
—
As a digital media artist, the first thing I usually look for is accuracy, but that took several times of viewing the video.
However, after viewing it several times, it did not pass the test, it looked completely fake to me – and I was shocked that NO ONE has EVEN questioned this until now….
—
Why does the government insist Berg wasn’t in custody when their own consul said he was?
Why does CIA say it’s Zarqawi even though the speaker doesn’t have a Jordanian accent?
Why does CIA say it’s Zarqawi even though the figure doesn’t appear to have a fake leg, as Zarqawi does (according to the government’s own claims)?
My take. The conditions of his death are way murky. Much more needs to be known about him, like why he was wandering all over Iraq while the FBI was questioning his parents in the US. Why was he held by Iraqi forces? Why is the US saying they didn’t hold when it’s clear they did?
In my opinion, he was dead before he was decapitated.
Extreme revolutionary theory posits deliberately enraging the other side, assuming they will over-react, and thus drive more people to your side. Under this theory, they would want Bush re-elected, because this would increase stress and polarization in America, as well as cause more repression by the Bushies worldwide. This is precisely what a dedicated revolutionary would want, to create a crisis where revolution could happen.
<putting tinfoil hat on>
Some have implied it was a counter-operation, that Berg was murdered by US military or forces friendly to it to draw heat away from the prisoner photos and build support for the US. If so, it failed completely. I mean, if you were a US soldier in Iraq now, would you feel more secure about going outside now? I didn’t think so…
<taking tinfoil hat off>
As an aside, what the US sees as a gruesome act, is in the culture in the Middle East. Didn’t say I condoned it, just that it’s in the culture.
Saudi Arabia publicly beheaded 52 men and 1 woman for murder, rape, sodomy and drug offences in 2003.
Under extreme Sharia law, amputation of hands and feet, as well as stonings can occur.
Before we get too pious, let’s remember the US executes people too, often in ways others find grotesque and medieval.
To sum up: The beheading was a deliberate political act by extreme revolutionaries trying to provoke the US into an insane escalation of violence. It also sent US forces in the area a clear message. Just how crazy do you want to get, Uncle Sam?
Which leads to my next point.