MORE ON BERG CASE

Philadelphia Daily News ^ | 5/20/04 | William Bunch

[nerdgirl]

HERE'S today's head-scratcher in the stranger and stranger case of Nick Berg, the Philadelphia-area man whose videotaped beheading in Iraq has caused an international uproar.

Why did campus police at the University of Oklahoma - where Berg somehow got entangled with 9/11 terrorism suspects back in 2000 - arrest Berg two separate times for trespassing?

[nerdgirl]

Sorry about posting a subscription only link. For those following the Berg thread in the bloggers section of FR - this is old news, as the crazy liberal Romanian blogger already reported this stuff in detail yesterday. But it is interesting...I am having a very hard time reconciling the idea of Berg as a conservative with many of the facts coming out about his behavior and history. I can't say I know what to make of it, but I'd like to keep researching, that's for sure.

[Proverbs 3-5]

HERE'S today's head-scratcher...

Forgive me but the wording here made the edges of my mouth curl up just a little bit....

[sarasota]

I think Berg may have been caught up trying to play the "double agent" card. He lost.

[Bahbah]

I'm following this with interest as well, but I missed the crazy Romanian blogger. Can you direct me to it? Many thanks.

[eastforker]

Not sure of the detail but I understand he liked to climb. Could be he was climbing towers on campus.

[MEG33]

Tell me about the "trespassing".

[genefromjersey]

I have some reservations too,but have vowed to "handle with extreme care".

[nerdgirl]

That's kind of what I've been thinking as well. Perhaps a case of a BEYOND naive guy who thought he was some kind of superman? Thought he could fix the world's problems by himself or something like that? Regardless the idea that he was some sort of staunch conservative disintegrates when you begin analyzing his behavior as a student at the various universities and in Africa. Not that us conservatives can't be compassionate...but giving away all of your food money? Give me a break.

So if he wasn't really a conservative - was he really in Iraq as a gung ho Bush supporter? Doubtful.

[Rhetorical pi2]

Re: Linking to "Subscription Only".

No problem. Just click on source link (Philadelphia Daily News), and go directly to the story.

[retrokitten]

From the article:

Lt. Bruce Chan of the university police at the Norman, Okla., campus, said yesterday by phone that Berg was busted twice for apparently living at the student union center - after he was no longer enrolled as a student.

[nerdgirl]

Ah the very leftist, very crazy, but very resourceful Romanian blogger guy is here

http://www.weblog.ro/soj?day=20&month=5&year=2004&

The thread already one FR is here

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1138826/posts

[Bahbah]

Thanks.

[sarasota]

Being a Bush supporter was his cover. Believe he read too much fiction and ran with the wrong crowd once too many times. That's why he ended up losing his head.

[DoctorMichael]

In my more youthful days this was called "Buildering", as opposed to "Bouldering" (ie. selection of some inanimate object to practice one's climbing prowess on).

[eastforker]

It has beeen reported in other articles that he would sometimes stop his car when he saw a tower cuz he just had to climb it.20 years ago in the construction industry Iron workers would be all over the structure without any safety harnesses, walking I beams and such, it gets in their blood.

[kidd]

Nick Berg. Hmmm. Interesting.

Ok, enough of that. Did we hear about any more prison abuse scandals?

[nerdgirl]

Please tell me you are joking! That is pretty much the media stance though - after wading through tons of stuff on the Berg killing I had to laugh when the next article I read talked about the "horrors" of humiliation, such as exposed privates being photographed. UTTER humiliation, I tell you. Caramba.

[kidd]

Please tell me you are joking!

Yes. Sarcasm is often the best way to ridicule the already ridiculous.

[mtbopfuyn]

Chan said that, after receiving complaints from staffers at the Oklahoma Memorial Union that Berg was camped out there, police issued a warning and then twice arrested him for trespassing, a misdemeanor. He said the arrests were in April and May 2000, but Chan didn't have exact dates. "It appeared he had no other place to sleep," said Chan, adding that Berg was no longer a student when the misdemeanor arrests took place. Berg arrived at the Norman campus in 1999

1) What was keeping him at OU?

2) Atta and Al Shehhi were there at least by July 2000. Berg's arrests have tightened the timeline.

3) Where's the money? He has no money to rent a room but has enough to globe trot?

4) Further proof he had no respect for authority and doesn't learn lessons quickly.

[nerdgirl]

Here's another article that presents quite a few of the known facts so far -

http://www.intelwire.com/2004_05_15_exclusives.html

some of their theories are ridiculous (like "If Berg was an intel asset of any sort, and his connection to Moussaoui was related to an intel operation, then the question of pre-September 11 warnings and intelligence again rears its head.") -

That is totally ridiculous.

But as far as research goes the article has a couple of links I hadn't seen.