The Slaying Of U.S. Prisoner

[Anonymouse]

I'm sure by now everyone has heard of the beheading of Nick Berg by the Islamists. If anyone wants to see the video, it is very disturbing and I suggest you proceed with caution. It is very goric and gresome and when I viewed it, something in me just felt coldness, felt another soul in plight. I cannot use words to describe it. Here is the link:

http://www.newsfilter.org/beheading.wmv

[Anonymouse]

Why Did The US Take Custody Of Nick Berg?

5-11-4

Nick Berg spoke to his parents on March 24 and said he would return home March 30. But he was detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in Mosul on March 24. At some point during his 13-day detention, U.S. officials took custody of him, his father said, and he was not allowed to make phone calls or contact a lawyer.

FBI (news - web sites) agents visited Berg's parents in West Chester on March 31 and told the family they were trying to confirm their son's identity. On April 5, the Bergs sued the government in federal court in Philadelphia, contending that their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military.

Berg was released the next day, and he told his parents he had not been mistreated. They did not hear from him after April 9.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/2004051

1/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_american_found_8

AND

(snip)

Michael Berg lashed out at the U.S. military and Bush administration, saying his son might still be alive had he not been detained by U.S. officials in Iraq without being charged and without access to a lawyer.

Nick Berg, a small telecommunications business owner, spoke to his parents on March 24 and told them he would return home on March 30. But Berg was detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in Mosul on March 24. He was turned over to U.S. officials and detained for 13 days.

His father, Michael, said his son wasn't allowed to make phone calls or contact a lawyer.

FBI agents visited Berg's parents in West Chester on March 31 and told the family they were trying to confirm their son's identity. On April 5, the Bergs filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia, contending that their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military. The next day Berg was released. He told his parents he hadn't been mistreated.

Michael Berg said he blamed the U.S. government for creating circumstances that led to his son's death. He said if his son hadn't been detained for so long, he might have been able to leave the country before the violence worsened.

"I think a lot of people are fed up with the lack of civil rights this thing has caused," he said. "I don't think this administration is committed to democracy."

The Bergs last heard from their son April 9, when he said he would come home by way of Jordan.

FULL STORY http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/pa...0077760820.xml

[hyebruin]

by some miracle of grace i was not able to see the clip....actually i am very happy...last time i went to "something.com" and saw those decomposing images i was fearful of being alone with my laptop for a while AND actually felt nauseous and was almost retching ...

[Ducati]

ill tell you this....that sucked...

[ckBejug]

I heard about this yesterday on cnn and just hearing/reading about it was enough to make me completely depressed. I wouldn't want to watch the video clip on top of that. I can't even imagine what his parents and family must be going through. This is incredibly horrible, and it doesn't sound like it's going to stop aytime soon....

"The worst is coming and, God willing, the tough days are still to come. You and your soldiers will regret the day that you touched the ground of Iraq."

"For the mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the U.S. administration to exchange this hostage for some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused,"

"Coffins will be arriving to you one after the other, slaughtered just like this."

In the statement, the captors refer to the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the hands of U.S. military personnel, saying the "picture of dishonor and the news of Satanic assault on the people of Islamic men and women" will not be tolerated.

"Where is the compassion, where is the anger for God's religion, and where is the protection for Muslims' pride in the crusaders' jails?" the statement says.

"We tell you the pride of all Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and other jails is worth blood and souls."


cnn.com

[dusken]

I was going to start an all-encompassing Iraq thread but this is fine.

For the record, I completely disagree with this "war"; it was fueled by lies, ignorant fear and hypocrisy. The government lied about WMD's and mislead the people into thinking that we will be thanked. They squeezed confidence out public opinion by using the new-found fear of terrorism. And the hypocrisy! Democratic imperialism is a paradox! Here the act of promoting Democracy defeats the idea of it. It is absurd. I cannot sympathize with the agressor in such a situation. How does a country phuck up so flagrantly that the nations of the world, that once stood by its side in mourning after the tragedy of September 11th, lost all sympathy and respect for it? We should not be there killing and sacrificing youth for the greed of a few individuals and companies spending billions of dollars that could have been directed at domestic issues.

That being said, these Iraqis are a vile, naive, brainless people. There is a big difference between humiliation and decapitation! There is a big difference between shame and celebration! We, as a people, were horrified that our soldiers did what they did and submitted an apology and initiated an investigation to find and punish those involved...and it was not even murder. The Iraqis, however, killed someone brutally who was not even a soldier and are celebrating it as a victory. Phuck these people. And phuck Bush and his administration for leading the Fascist government that got us there to begin with.

[patlajan]

This is not about Iraq at all. The jihadists got their hands on someone from the west and put on a psychological warfare show. Richard Perl was killed in the same way before there was any talk about Iraq. Whatever reason they said they did it for is propaganda. They would do what they did anyway.
They know they can't win so they perform these acts to try to scare us, because they think we're meek, luxury and comfort seeking people.

[dusken]

Someone should explain to these naive Muslims just what a Jihad is so we can avoid this nonsense.

[Anonymouse]

I find it very strange as to the timing of this video, since it takes pressure off the Bush administration and its own prison scandal. Mind you, you are not shown the more horrible photographs of U.S. Prisoner abuse, only the cherry picked few which are constnatly circulated. Now this beheading will relieve pressure on the Bush Admin., and it will add further fuel to the fire. Now you will see more American support for the war, more escalation, and Bush's poll numbers will rise. This is a repeat of Vietnam. And with the talk of the draft instituted next year, things don't bode too well.

[jilbagh]

ahhh the outcome of going to a war unprepared and without exit strategy...between this and the abuse, i'm hating our militarys command.