Pa. family angry with American government over son's brutal death

pennlive ^ | 5/11/2004, 2:34 p.m. ET | By JASON STRAZIUSO

[Petronski]

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — The family of an American civilian shown beheaded on an Islamic militant Web site huddled in in tears Tuesday after learning of the existence of the graphic videotape.

The video showed Nick Berg, 26, in a staged execution carried out by an al-Qaida affiliated group. The video said the killing was to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.

"My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne," the man said on the video before being killed. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sara. I live in ... Philadelphia."

Berg's family said U.S. State Department officials on Monday had told them Berg was decapitated. The family, though, had wanted that information to remain private.

When told about news of the Web site Nick Berg's father, brother and sister, collapsed to the ground in a tearful hug in their front yard.

"I knew he was decapitated before," said the father, Michael Berg. "That manner is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn't want it to become public."

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.

Berg had traveled several times to Third World countries to help spread technology, his family said. He had previously traveled to Kenya and Ghana, where they said he had purchased a $900 brick-making press for a poor village, the family said.

Berg's mother, Suzanne Berg, said her son was in Iraq to help rebuild communication antennas.

"He had this idea that he could help rebuild the infrastructure," she said.

Michael Berg described himself as fervently anti-war, but said his son disagreed with him.

"He was a Bush supporter," Berg said. "He looked at it as bringing democracy to a country that didn't have it."

Suzanne Berg said she was told her son's body would be transported to Kuwait and then to Dover, Del. She said the family had been trying for weeks to learn where their son was but that federal officials had not been helpful.

"I went through this with them for weeks," she said. "I basically ended up doing most of the investigating myself."

[dts32041]

Michael Berg described himself as fervently antiwar, but said his son disagreed with him.

John fing kerry voter for sure.

F him and his sixties beliefs.

Your son lost his head and now you want to whine about it.

Maybe if you had not said you weren't going to study war no more, your son might be alive.

[OldFriend]

WABC radio detailing the decapitation of the boy......

Damn the media for all time and longer.

[eyespysomething]

Oh c'mon, it was the death ray making holographic images that just looked like Islamic terrorists, and it was the death ray which cut his head off.

[tomahawk]

Track them down and kill them, whatever it takes.

[alnick]

It's a shame the man can't understand that his son died for a noble cause. That knowledge would give him some comfort. I pray that he will come to understand that his son was right and was courageous in his effort to make life better for the Iraqi people.

[OXENinFLA]

[mrustow]

Please forgive me for the interruption and for the typeface, but we need all FReepers, their friends, lovers, enemies, relatives, spouses, exes, acquaintances, strangers, debtors, creditors, colleagues, bosses and subordinates to sign The Federalist's petition to save Don Rumsfeld!

Thank you!

RUMMY Petition

We now return to the regularly scheduled thread.

[Petronski]

But the lawsuit will bring his son back, donchaknow.

[exile]

It begins.

[D-fendr]

I think the Senate Armed Services Committee should call for the resignation of the webmaster who posted this – and follow it all the way to the top:

Osama should resign.

[The Sons of Liberty]

Well said! Me too!

[Dane]

Hmmmm.

And no anger towards CBS or Hackworth.

Hmmmmm.

[dts32041]

Is Berg a a Jewish name, if it is Alqedia got a twofer.

[Liberatio]

His dad was anti-war, probably didn't like Bush. Still doesn't change anything.

[Petronski]

Michael Berg: "[Decapitation] is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn't want it to become public."

Dude, I don't think the mohammedans [whom you've been providing aid and comfort] use a guillotine.

Probably a rusty machete. And you, pere Berg, and your comrades at CANSWER have been empowering the bastards.

Feel the burn?

[GaltMeister]

Sickening. I wonder how long it will be before the flying squirrel deposits John F'n Horseface in WEST CHESTER for a photo op with Dad.
You know the dimbulbs will try to get milage out of this one.

[cvq3842]

If the father is using his son's death for political purposes, then he is desecrating his son's memory. Crass doesn't even begin to describe it. Maybe he's just upset. I don't know.

[Liberatio]

Didn't take long, like Rush said, to find the family and find an anti-war, anti-Bush bent either before or after this event.

[cvq3842]

Exactly!

[cvq3842]

Exactly!