Posted on 05/13/2004 4:50:22 PM PDT by KQQL
A CIA official said Thursday that U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was, in "high probability," the person shown on a video beheading American Nicholas Berg, based on an analysis of the voice on the video.
The speaker on the video, now believed to be al-Zarqawi, reads a lengthy statement criticizing Islamic scholars and taunting the crusaders. Standing alongside four other militants wearing headscarves and masks to disguise themselves, al-Zarqawi then kills Berg.
Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told reporters Thursday in Baghdad that it appears al-Zarqawi was responsible. The U.S. military has already posted a $10 million reward for Zarqawi for having orchestrated some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Iraq.
Initially, Berg's murder seemed to be a case of an eccentric young American who was in the wrong place at the worst possible time -- just as the revelations of American mistreatment of iraqi prisoners were coming to light.
But CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports on what is turning into a bizarre mystery with a connection to 9/11.
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 bureau had already 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 -- an American who inadvertently gave away his computer password to one notorious al Qaeda operative is later murdered by another notorious al Qaeda operative.
Berg's body was found Saturday in Baghdad. Two e-mails he sent to his family and friends show he traveled widely and unguarded throughout Iraq, an unsafe practice rarely done by Westerners.
On Tuesday, an Islamic Web site released the video, titled "Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi slaughters an American infidel with his own hands."
Al-Zarqawi is thought to be in Iraq, operating his own terrorist network, known simply as the "Zarqawi network." A specialist in poisons, he is thought to have extensive ties across the militant Islamic movement and is considered an ally of Osama bin Laden.
As recently as March, U.S. officials said al-Zarqawi's practice was not to make taped public pronouncements or take credit for attacks. However, in the last five weeks, he has increased his public profile with at least three recordings, including Berg's beheading.
Al-Zarqawi is believed to be behind well over a dozen high-profile attacks in Iraq, and many other acts of violence, which have killed hundreds.
Martin reports that in at least one other case, a high-level al Qaeda operative has personally carried out a brutal killing. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected Sept. 11 mastermind now in U.S. custody, is widely believed to have killed Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Meanwhile Thursday, new details emerged about Berg's last weeks in Iraq — a timeline that has been contested by his family and the U.S. government.
Authorities in Baghdad denied that Berg, 26, was held in U.S. custody before he disappeared in early April, despite claims to the contrary by his family. The authorities said he had been held by Iraqi police for about two weeks and questioned by FBI agents three times.
In Baghdad, U.S. spokesmen Dan Senor said that "to my knowledge" Berg was not affiliated with any U.S. or coalition organization, nor was he ever in U.S. custody.
Iraqi police arrested Berg in Mosul on March 24 because local authorities believed he may have been involved in "suspicious activities," Senor said. He refused to elaborate, except to confirm that the Americans were aware Berg was in custody.
Berg was released April 6 and "was advised to leave the country," Senor added. Instead, Berg checked into a Baghdad hotel.
Berg had told friends he was arrested by Iraqi police in Mosul because he had an Israeli stamp in his passport. In e-mails released by his family, Berg wrote about his experiences in trying to track down and later meet an in-law in the Mosul area.
In Mosul, police chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Khair al-Barhawi insisted Thursday that his department had never arrested Berg and maintained he had no knowledge of the case.
"The Iraqi police never arrested the slain American," al-Barhawi told reporters. "Take it from me ... that such reports are baseless."
Since Iraq remains under U.S. military occupation, it seems unlikely that the Iraqi police would have held Berg, or any other American, for such a length of time without at least the tacit approval of U.S. authorities.
"The Iraqi police do not tell the FBI what to do, the FBI tells the Iraqi police what to do," Berg's father, Michael Berg told the AP. "Who do they think they're kidding?"
The younger Berg told his family that U.S. officials took custody of him soon after his arrest and he was not allowed to make phone calls or contact a lawyer, his father said.
Kimmitt said U.S. forces kept tabs on Berg during his confinement to make sure he was being fed and properly treated because "he was an American citizen."
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.
Shortly before Berg's disappearance, he was warned by the FBI that Iraq was too volatile a place for unprotected American civilians and that he could be harmed, a senior FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday.
Officials said the U.S. government warned Berg to leave Iraq, and offered him a flight out of the country, a month before his grisly death.
On April 10, four days after Berg was released from an Iraqi prison, an American diplomat offered to put him on a flight to Jordan, State Department spokeswoman Kelly Shannon said.
But Berg told the diplomat he "planned to travel overland to Kuwait and would call (his) family from there," Shannon said.
Michael Berg, said that although his son wanted to leave Iraq, he refused the flight offer because he thought the travel to the airport would be too dangerous.
I should have ended my post with a question mark. I'm just throwing out something for consideration. The suits are alike.
Berg may have been calm in the video because his hypothetical Al Queda buddies told him it was just going to be a staged propaganda film to show that they had a prisoner. They may not have told him they were going to kill him. Maybe they said they would add in "special effects" work later to make it look like he was killed. Since in this scenario he was working with Al Queda, he would have had no reason to be scared until it occured to him they were really going to kill him.
(either I need sleep, or I've been a Freeper too long)...but why would the terrorists make a point of filming this execution for all the world to see....IF..Berg was found to be working with them...as super sleuths are bound to find out?
I mean ...what kind of message is that?
What if he were working with them....and then they kill him in this horrible fashion...
..do I just need sleep, or have I read too many threads on this?
MP Mustaffa’s wife dies in Riyadh :
Mar 19, Colombo: Fathima Sabrina, the wife of parliamentarian ‘Myown’ Mustaffa, died yesterday on a Colombo-bound flight at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Riyadh.
Full Story
Ok ....while I do feel bad doing all this tin foil speculating with an American who has been brutally killed, its hard not to
I still think he could have been the "Indiana Jones" type but naively associating with types who were up to bad things --- using him for his knowledge in telecommunications, maybe giving him odd jobs to do. Some people prefer adventure to money --- I can see that --- but I think the father meant it about these being his friends. The father seems more angry at Bush than at his friends.
I couldn't believe it when I picked up the bird cage Norman Transcript and there it was -- Berg was at OU for a semester and then I found out that Moussoui was here too!
This is like fiction!
Here is what I was personally told by the FBI home security team. They said they are playing catch up after so many years of not being able to communicate with other agencies until the Patriot Act. It might take months, or maybe years to link an individual to another person, then a cell etc. You get the idea I am sure.
I don't think they are incompetent, they have just been handcuffed for years, thanks to Clinton. They also said they have to still be very careful since the liberal media has people so upset about the Patriot Act, pretending it violates all of our privacy.
Whatever this Berg's game was, I think he was in way over his head.
Leni
He may have been drugged. After all, it wouldn't have made a good video if the infidel had put up a decent fight before having his head sawed off.
---
I thought the terrorists said in the video that he (Nick) was being held for ransom or hoping that a Prisoner exchange could occur. Where is the documentation on this from our Gov.? Was the US Gov/Mil contacted by the terrorist? Why hasn't our Gov. confirmed this contact.
It would also explain the rather calm demeanor of the young man., before his death..
...heartbreaking if true.....heartbreaking anyway.....it's all very strange, really.
One purely speculative theory of mine is this:
Berg was in Iraq with the comm tower non-job for cover-for-action to travel around odd places.
His real mission was to act as a messenger, trying to become a go-between from Int'l A.N.S.W.E.R. to Al Queda. I mean, ANSWER can't exactly just pick up a phone to call Al Queda. To communicate with them, you have to GO to where they ARE, and fish around dropping hints, until you're picked up.
That's when you tell them the glorious news: you have come from a group "allied in the struggle against the Western imperialists" yadda yadda. You have a message, and an offer to coordinate activities, or perhaps hints on how to tweak their operations for the best effect, IOW, what and when to pull an operation which will result in the defeat of George W. Bush in November.
You expect to be treated fairly well, perhaps roughed up like the fake Japanese hostages/peace activists. After all, you can't talk to Al Queda, and just walk away like nothing happened.
But they saw the Jewish name Berg, and the Israeli passport stamp, and that trumped his ANSWER credentials. When the AG Prison scandal hit the papers.... Nick went on to serve a higher Al Queda purpose: human sacrifice on film.
That's why Daddy Berg (Mr. ANSWER) said "They killed their best friend."
The above is pure speculation on my part.
Captured, or trying to make contact with AQ?
The uncles brother was in Mosul, that is a center for Saddamists. It's suspected that Al Douri is hiding out up there. This is all so weird. What doesn't make sense is traveling to Iraq and then planning to go back for a wedding. That really doesn't compute. This is all so odd.
Bingo. Just like the Japanese "hostages" who were in fact "peace activists" of the extreme left variety. Like ANSWER.
I'm going to say this again...how does one get into Iraq without having a predetermined reason? Isn't there a border to cross? There are no civilian flights into Iraq. HOW DID HE EVEN GET IN?
Useful idiot who had already served his purpose? One who they found had been rounded up in a sweep for awhile and were afraid had "talked"?
Here you go.
It's a real long list so hard to find his name and company but it is there. Also after you skim through that thread go to posting #351 and there is a link there to a thread where FreeRepublic and Dougfromupland is being somewhat blamed for Nick Bergs death for having posted this list. But this list was taken from the A.N.S.W.E.R. site which they apparently have now removed Michael Bergs name from their list. Also DougFromUpland has posted a thread that he got an e-mail from Salon.com wanting to know why his list on FreeRepublic was different than the one on A.N.S.W.E.R.
Maybe he went in through Turkey. The same way he was expected to leave.
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