eg8r
05-14-2004, 06:22 AM
Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before the Bush-blaming began. It appears the father does not think his son should have any responsibility for his own safety. Nick did not leave Iraq when he was given the chance. It was a horrible event, however, blaming Bush for it instead of the killers is stupid.
Article (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/20040513/us_nm/iraq_usa_beheading_family_dc_7&printer=1)
<blockquote><font class="small">Quote Reuters story:</font><hr> PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The father of Nick Berg, the American beheaded in Iraq (news - web sites), directly blamed President Bush (news - web sites) and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday for his son's death.
"My son died for the sins of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. This administration did this," Berg said in an interview with radio station KYW-AM.
In the interview from outside his home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, a seething Michael Berg also said his 26-year-old son, a civilian contractor, probably would have felt positive, even about his executioners, until the last minute.
"I am sure that he only saw the good in his captors until the last second of his life," Berg said. "They did not know what they were doing. They killed their best friend."
Two days after the publication of a video showing the execution of his son by five masked men, Berg attacked the Bush administration for its invasion of Iraq and its sponsorship of the Patriot Act, which gives sweeping powers of surveillance to the federal government.
Berg described the Patriot Act as a "coup d'etat." He added: "It's not the same America I grew up in."
The criticism came amid finger-pointing between Berg's family, U.S. military officials and Iraqi police over the young businessman's imprisonment before his execution.
Michael Berg rejected U.S. government claims that his son had never been held by American authorities in Iraq. The Iraqi police chief in the city of Mosul has also contradicted statements by the U.S.-led coalition concerning the younger Berg's detention.
'FBI (news - web sites) CAME TO MY HOUSE'
"I have a written statement from the State Department in Baghdad ... saying that my son was being held by the military," Berg said. "I can also assure you that the FBI came to my house on March 31 and told me that the FBI had him in Mosul in an Iraqi prison."
Dan Senor, spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority, said this week that Nick Berg was arrested in Mosul by Iraqi police on March 24 and released on April 6.
Senor said the FBI visited Berg three times during his detention by Iraqi police and determined that he was not involved in criminal or terrorist activities.
Brig.-Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said American military police had seen Berg during his detention to make sure he was being fed and treated properly.
Berg returned to Baghdad from Mosul in April and went missing on April 9, during a chaotic period when dozens of foreigners were snatched by guerrillas west of the capital.
His body was discovered by a road near Baghdad on Saturday. The video of his decapitation was posted on the Internet on Tuesday.
Berg had been in Baghdad from late December to Feb. 1 and returned to Iraq in March. He did not find work and planned to return home at the end of March, according to his parents.
Berg's communications to his parents stopped on March 24 and he told them later he was jailed by Iraqi officials after being picked up at a checkpoint in Mosul.
On April 5, the Bergs filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, naming Rumsfeld and alleging their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military in Iraq. The next day, he was released. (additional reporting by Maher al-Thanoon)
<hr /></blockquote> I don't want to sound un-sentimental towards this family's loss, but sometimes a giant hurdle in America is for the family to accept that fact that their kids are not perfect. I don't know this to be the case, and I cannot remember why Nick was detained but for whatever reason, he was surely not detained for being a star citizen.
Another part of the article that bugs me is the fact that the father states Berg was probably his killers best friend. WHAT?? I guess he does not mean this in the literal sense, but still, if Berg is a softie towards a terroristic group, then I beg to wonder what he was really doing over there. If I am correct, he did not have a job when he went there, and he never found work, so what did he do for the months he was there? What in his most recent past would suggest to his father that Nick was friendly with terrorists? Maybe the kid just had a big heart and saw the good in everyone.
eg8r
Article (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/20040513/us_nm/iraq_usa_beheading_family_dc_7&printer=1)
<blockquote><font class="small">Quote Reuters story:</font><hr> PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The father of Nick Berg, the American beheaded in Iraq (news - web sites), directly blamed President Bush (news - web sites) and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday for his son's death.
"My son died for the sins of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. This administration did this," Berg said in an interview with radio station KYW-AM.
In the interview from outside his home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, a seething Michael Berg also said his 26-year-old son, a civilian contractor, probably would have felt positive, even about his executioners, until the last minute.
"I am sure that he only saw the good in his captors until the last second of his life," Berg said. "They did not know what they were doing. They killed their best friend."
Two days after the publication of a video showing the execution of his son by five masked men, Berg attacked the Bush administration for its invasion of Iraq and its sponsorship of the Patriot Act, which gives sweeping powers of surveillance to the federal government.
Berg described the Patriot Act as a "coup d'etat." He added: "It's not the same America I grew up in."
The criticism came amid finger-pointing between Berg's family, U.S. military officials and Iraqi police over the young businessman's imprisonment before his execution.
Michael Berg rejected U.S. government claims that his son had never been held by American authorities in Iraq. The Iraqi police chief in the city of Mosul has also contradicted statements by the U.S.-led coalition concerning the younger Berg's detention.
'FBI (news - web sites) CAME TO MY HOUSE'
"I have a written statement from the State Department in Baghdad ... saying that my son was being held by the military," Berg said. "I can also assure you that the FBI came to my house on March 31 and told me that the FBI had him in Mosul in an Iraqi prison."
Dan Senor, spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority, said this week that Nick Berg was arrested in Mosul by Iraqi police on March 24 and released on April 6.
Senor said the FBI visited Berg three times during his detention by Iraqi police and determined that he was not involved in criminal or terrorist activities.
Brig.-Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said American military police had seen Berg during his detention to make sure he was being fed and treated properly.
Berg returned to Baghdad from Mosul in April and went missing on April 9, during a chaotic period when dozens of foreigners were snatched by guerrillas west of the capital.
His body was discovered by a road near Baghdad on Saturday. The video of his decapitation was posted on the Internet on Tuesday.
Berg had been in Baghdad from late December to Feb. 1 and returned to Iraq in March. He did not find work and planned to return home at the end of March, according to his parents.
Berg's communications to his parents stopped on March 24 and he told them later he was jailed by Iraqi officials after being picked up at a checkpoint in Mosul.
On April 5, the Bergs filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, naming Rumsfeld and alleging their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military in Iraq. The next day, he was released. (additional reporting by Maher al-Thanoon)
<hr /></blockquote> I don't want to sound un-sentimental towards this family's loss, but sometimes a giant hurdle in America is for the family to accept that fact that their kids are not perfect. I don't know this to be the case, and I cannot remember why Nick was detained but for whatever reason, he was surely not detained for being a star citizen.
Another part of the article that bugs me is the fact that the father states Berg was probably his killers best friend. WHAT?? I guess he does not mean this in the literal sense, but still, if Berg is a softie towards a terroristic group, then I beg to wonder what he was really doing over there. If I am correct, he did not have a job when he went there, and he never found work, so what did he do for the months he was there? What in his most recent past would suggest to his father that Nick was friendly with terrorists? Maybe the kid just had a big heart and saw the good in everyone.
eg8r