Parents blame Bush for son's execution

financial times ^ | Published: May 12 2004 5:00 | Joshua Chaffin

[CGASMIA68]

Parents blame Bush for son's execution By Joshua Chaffin in Washington Published: May 12 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: May 12 2004 5:00

Parents of a UScontractor executed by Islamic militants in Iraq are blaming the Bush administration for his death, saying that US authorities had contributed to the tragedy by unlawfully detaining their son for nearly two weeks before his disappearance.

Michael Berg claimed yesterday that his son, Nick, was held by US authorities without access to a telephone or lawyer because of suspicions that he was an insurgent or terrorist. By the time he was finally released in early April, according to Mr Berg, the security situation had so deteriorated that it was difficult for him to make his way home.

"That's really what cost my son his life, the fact that the United States government saw fit to keep him in custody for 13 days without any of his due process or civil rights," Mr Berg said.

Nick Berg, a small business owner from Pennsylvania, went to Iraq in December to help rebuild the country's infrastructure. Instead, he became the latest western contractor to have died a grisly death in that pursuit.

His headless body was found on a roadside by US soldiers yesterday. A video from an al-Qaeda-affiliated website depicted his decapitation by a gang of men who claimed to be taking revenge for the abuses committed by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison.

The execution drew outraged comments from US leaders. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said those responsible had "no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children".

Rick Santorum, a Republican senator from Mr Berg's home state, called it "an outrage to the civilised world", and said: "If anyone wants to know what we're fighting and why we're fighting this war on terrorism, this is a very good example of it."

The family's accusation comes as the Bush administration struggles to fend off allegations that it has denied the civil rights of thousands of mostly Arab detainees it is holding in military prisons around the world on suspicion of terrorism.

Mr Berg was apprehended by Iraqi officials near the northern city of Mosul on March 24, according to his father, who claims that he was then interrogated by FBI agents.

Mr Berg was released on April 6, a day after his parents filed a lawsuit in federal court naming defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld as a defendant, and claiming that their son was being unlawfully held. They last heard from him on April 9.

The FBI said it was premature to comment on the case. An official familiar with the case acknowledged that FBI agents had interviewed Mr Berg, but said he was in Iraqi - not American - custody. The official was unable to clarify the legal difference between the two, given the US occupation.

But Mr Berg's father disputed this, saying it was "the FBI", when asked in a radio interview who had detained his son.

"We named Rumsfeld as the responsible person, and I still hold him responsible," Mr Berg said. "It's the whole Patriot Act. It's the whole feeling of this country that rights don't matter any more because there are terrorists about," he added. Additional reporting by Edward Alden

[highlandbreeze]

Sorry I asked. Boy, he's ugly, no wonder he wore a hood.

[Barlowmaker]

Handrie is on KFI 640 webstream.

[Coleus]

blame al- and the muslim terrorists.

[fatima]

He was a teacher,retired 2 years ago.Same school his son went to,public Highschool.

[Texas Eagle]

Michael Berg claimed yesterday that his son, Nick, was held by US authorities without access to a telephone or lawyer because of suspicions that he was an insurgent or terrorist.

Well, it seems like that would be an easy thing to clear up.

[katz]

It's crazy. When I saw the "recent" photo released, it did not look like the Nick in the orange jumpsuit. Who was killed? Is there a head/DNA?

[madison10]

Sounds as if Nick has been dead longer than a week, maybe of causes not even related to the war. The parents may have just "announced" his death to coincide with the pictures released in an effort to oust Donald Rumsfeld or at the very least to hurt the war effort. Like you said "a set up" a la Hillary.

Who knows, Nick may not even be dead.

[katz]

They were quick to criticize the war.

[fly_so_free]

"And I don't think he understood the danger of... traveling with non-Americans. That's probably what killed him"

This is much closer to the sad truth, than his father's raling against the Bush administration. Thanks for the link. Everyone check out

Post 49

[katz]

I didn't think that. I just wanted to show the post to ANSWER. This thing is growing legs. I did not know that Nick was a Jew. He also doesn't look like the recently released family photo and was in an orange prison suit.

[syriacus]

West Chester contractor missing in Iraq

Saturday May 08, 2004

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) Nick Berg was on his way out of Iraq. He had been released from the prison where he had been held for 13 days by Iraqi police for reasons he said he did not know.

[Nix 2]

He was tring to find an alternate saferoute out of Iraq the last his parents heard from him. If he was unemployed, he would not have been with an American Convoy. I don't know if the body they found has been positively identified, but I can darn sure see just by the shape of the head that the Nick in the home photo and the *Nick* in the execution video are not the same person.
If the body on the overpass hasn't been positively identified, and I've heard no verification that it was, then Nick could be either going through Jordan or heading for Israel for all we know. If he shows up alive, his dad can feign being as overjoyed as he is griefstricken.

[jpsb]

They dishonor their son.

[Tetta]

I am in complete agreement with you! Just why was he wearing the orange style prison cloths? In a day and age when video cams have auto focus why is the video blurred? Something dosent seem right, timing of his fathers law suite, and a supposed release by Americans. Were there any witnesses to his release? What about the visible skin color of the perpetrators hands? No pictures on the walls in the room and all that . . . reminds me of a prison cell,with one American style plastic chair. Just observations.

[syriacus]

The father sounds rehearsed and not as griefstricken as a parent would who has just found out his son was mutilated by savages.

Yes. The way in which they said they wanted to have his body soon, so they could get this whole thing behind them, seemed callous.

I understand wanting eventual "closure" but they seem way, way too anxious.

[Let's Roll]

There are rumors of the father's involvement with A.N.S.W.E.R. and other similar activities.

I submit that supporting commie, anti war organizations which only emboldens the enemies of our country did far more to get his son killed than Rummy doing his job which is to help protect the people of this country.

[nutmeg]

Thanks for that KFI 640 link. Listening to Phil Hendrie now...

[F.J. Mitchell]

I think we all have a very short fuse today and have every right to feel that way.

Our very own Constitutionally protected media, portrays harmless but unacceptable shennagins as atrocities and floods our living rooms and dens with the pictures and propaganda there of, while refusing to air the genuine atrosities committed by our murderous Muslim enemies .

[syriacus]

If he shows up alive, his dad can feign being as overjoyed as he is griefstricken.

I'm wondering if the father will have his son's body cremated quickly.

[Nix 2]

First of all, they guy they were supposed to have executed was a girlyguy. That is fairly obvious. I know what Muslims do to so-called *collaborators* which would be ANY Iraqi who cooperated with the Americans at all. It is possible that this guy was a Shaheed, but he looked drugged to the gills.
I compared this video to the one where they actually did murder a Russian Soldier. The two videos were remarkably similar in that the Russian soldier's death was real, and this video looked choreographed to time it at the moment of greatest pressure on Rumsfeld to resign.