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Statement by Nick Berg's dad.


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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,276...1221644,00.html

 

__________________________________________________

 

My son, Nick, was my teacher and my hero. He was the kindest, gentlest man I know; no, the kindest, gentlest human being I have ever known. He quit the Boy Scouts of America because they wanted to teach him to fire a handgun. Nick, too, poured into me the strength I needed, and still need, to tell the world about him.

People ask me why I focus on putting the blame for my son's tragic and atrocious end on the Bush administration. They ask: "Don't you blame the five men who killed him?" I have answered that I blame them no more or less than the Bush administration, but I am wrong: I am sure, knowing my son, that somewhere during their association with him these men became aware of what an extraordinary man my son was. I take comfort that when they did the awful thing they did, they weren't quite as in to it as they might have been. I am sure that they came to admire him.

 

I am sure that the one who wielded the knife felt Nick's breath on his hand and knew that he had a real human being there. I am sure that the others looked into my son's eyes and got at least a glimmer of what the rest of the world sees. And I am sure that these murderers, for just a brief moment, did not like what they were doing.

 

George Bush never looked into my son's eyes. George Bush doesn't know my son, and he is the worse for it. George Bush, though a father himself, cannot feel my pain, or that of my family, or of the world that grieves for Nick, because he is a policymaker, and he doesn't have to bear the consequences of his acts. George Bush can see neither the heart of Nick nor that of the American people, let alone that of the Iraqi people his policies are killing daily.

 

Donald Rumsfeld said that he took responsibility for the sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners. How could he take that responsibility when there was no consequence? Nick took the consequences.

 

Even more than those murderers who took my son's life, I can't stand those who sit and make policies to end lives and break the lives of the still living.

 

Nick was not in the military, but he had the discipline and dedication of a soldier. Nick Berg was in Iraq to help the people without any expectation of personal gain. He was only one man, but through his death he has become many. The truly unselfish spirit of giving your all to do what you know in your own heart is right even when you know it may be dangerous; this spirit has spread among the people who knew Nick, and that group has spread and is spreading all over the world.

 

So what were we to do when we in America were attacked on September 11, that infamous day? I say we should have done then what we never did before: stop speaking to the people we labelled our enemies and start listening to them. Stop giving preconditions to our peaceful coexistence on this small planet, and start honouring and respecting every human's need to live free and autonomously, to truly respect the sovereignty of every state. To stop making up rules by which others must live and then separate rules for ourselves.

 

George Bush's ineffective leadership is a weapon of mass destruction, and it has allowed a chain reaction of events that led to the unlawful detention of my son which immersed him in a world of escalated violence. Were it not for Nick's detention, I would have had him in my arms again. That detention held him in Iraq not only until the atrocities that led to the siege of Fallujah, but also the revelation of the atrocities committed in the jails in Iraq, in retaliation for which my son's wonderful life was put to an end.

 

My son's work still goes on. Where there was one peacemaker before, I now see and have heard from thousands of peacemakers. Nick was a man who acted on his beliefs. We, the people of this world, now need to act on our beliefs. We need to let the evildoers on both sides of the Atlantic know that we are fed up with war. We are fed up with the killing and bombing and maiming of innocent people. We are fed up with the lies. Yes, we are fed up with the suicide bombers, and with the failure of the Israelis and Palestinians to find a way to stop killing each other. We are fed up with negotiations and peace conferences that are entered into on both sides with preset conditions that preclude the outcome of peace. We want world peace now.

 

Many have offered to pray for Nick and my family. I appreciate their thoughts, but I ask them to include in their prayers a prayer for peace. And I ask them to do more than pray. I ask them to demand peace now.

 

· Michael Berg is the father of Nick Berg, the US contractor beheaded on video in Iraq this month by a group believed to be linked to al-Qaida. This is an extract from his message of support for the Stop The War Coalition's demonstration, End the Torture - Bring the Troops Home Now, which will be held at 11am tomorrow at the Embankment in London

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wow....sobering

 

 

though personally i would line the terrorists and the bush admin up against the wall and shoot them all with an ak47...i dont think either side gives a fuck about nick berg....i think this poor kid was a pawn in a game of maniacs...nick berg could have been steve austin, bob, browner, me....it didnt matter...they would have killed us in the same ferocious way, and the bush admin would have ironically made us a martyr for their awful causes much the same way they did with nick berg...

 

no, there are no degrees of guilt or shame, there is no sanity in the insanity of war...there is blood on everyones hands...

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Let’s all hold hands and cry and pray for the American Jew out to make a buck. :rolleyes:

I feel bad for the guy and all, but geez, this thread is gonna hit 5000 posts while there are tons of people dying all the time for worse reasons. Call me tasteless, whaever. I like my steak rare.

 

But for real, I’m glad that’s another anti-Bush statement right there.

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Guest imported_Tesseract
Originally posted by ClueTwo

Nick Berg was in Iraq to help the people without any expectation of personal gain

 

This is the only line that catches me in the wrong spot..I highly doubt that Nick was there Pro-Bono..:o

 

This is gonna get me in trouble I know it..

 

I dunno details but i feel like that aswell

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Guest imported_Tesseract
Originally posted by Weapon X

Let’s all hold hands and cry and pray for the American Jew out to make a buck. :rolleyes:

I feel bad for the guy and all, but geez, this thread is gonna hit 5000 posts while there are tons of people dying all the time for worse reasons. Call me tasteless, whaever. I like my steak rare.

 

But for real, I’m glad that’s another anti-Bush statement right there.

 

It aint tasteless, its brutally idiotic..you miss the point where nick bergs execution becomes a ground of reference for all the people that get killed for the same reasons.

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Originally posted by Tesseract

It aint tasteless, its brutally idiotic..you miss the point where nick bergs execution becomes a ground of reference for all the people that get killed for the same reasons.

 

But there doesn’t need to be another ground of reference. This guy’s death has been sensationalized like no other. First the video, then the headlines, now the father’s statement. I’m glad the father has the balls to come out with this, but I’m all cried out, so to speak.

 

I don’t see how this will change the minds of the any Bible thumping US flag waver if nothing else that happened (be it economic drawbacks, sons coming home in boxes, what have you) hasn’t. Like I said before, I think Nick Berg is simply collateral damage the same way the WTC was. Just like when 9/11 happened, people went up in arms on either how the ‘stinkin’ ay-rabs’ need to be wiped out, or that ‘America’s foreign policy needs to be reevaluated’. Same goes for Berg’s death.

 

I hope Berg died a martyr, but somehow, I don’t think so.

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Guest imported_Tesseract

word, what i'm saying is that in situations like that alot goes on but some specific events become the center of attention and naturally the starting point of general discussions on the matter.

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off topic -- tesser -- I had to give your email to a fourm member who has been locekd out.

I know he's safe so I hope you dont mind.

 

sorry about the interuption... there will be many more stories like this.

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It’s fucked up how some people are. One can watch a video of someone dying execution style because of their own country’s wrongdoings, but it won’t get across to them. That same person, though, will watch Pat Robertson on 700 Club, or that ugly dude O’Reilly on FOX, and be handed an opinion that they’ll take, hook, link, sinker. And I thought Top 40 music at the clubs was bad.

 

I’m not trying to be a Devil’s advocate here. People need to start thinking, especially Americans, no matter who you voted for last time.

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I will agree with that Weapon X..

 

Check this out..Iw as browsing news headlines on google, and one came up on Micheal Moore about his new movie. Well I work with a sheeped up right wing, Hannity and colmes, Rush Limbuagh listening fucker. Well he starts just going off on how much Moore is stupid and says nothing worth listening to, but when asked why he doesn't like him..well, the only thing he could say was" He's just stupid!", and his anger level rose through the roof. This is a class A example of most flag bearing, Nascar watchin, and mullet sportin Americans. What is really scary is that it's a majority of our population that will not listen to both sides and do what grown-ups are supposed to do, MAKE DECISIONS FOR THEMSELVES.

 

I don't particularly like Micheal Moore either, but my co-worker didn't know that. I have my reasons for not liking him, but I have witnessed first hand his books and movies. I have also taken the time to read rebuttles from the people he slays. Either way, you get the point...I hope anyway..I typed this so fuckin fast while hoping nobody in the building is paying attention...

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Originally posted by Weapon X

Let’s all hold hands and cry and pray for the American Jew out to make a buck. :rolleyes:

I feel bad for the guy and all, but geez, this thread is gonna hit 5000 posts while there are tons of people dying all the time for worse reasons. Call me tasteless, whaever. I like my steak rare.

 

But for real, I’m glad that’s another anti-Bush statement right there.

 

 

tasteless indeed, atleast a rare steak tastes good, however your wanna be bill oreilly rant is just fucking dumb and leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth...the jew line disturbs me much...

 

clearly you can make the arguement that he took his own life in his hands and if you go over there and die, you are to blame, and i can see that point...but starting off by describing him as an american jew out to make money, is not funny at best, and at worst shows a level of humanity that borders on sewage...

 

but im sure you think its cool to be outlandish in your opinions....

 

"i like my steak rare" wow, your such a brutally honest individual, how rare in our society...an asshole with an opinion, if only we had more..

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Originally posted by mental invalid

tasteless indeed, atleast a rare steak tastes good, however your wanna be bill oreilly rant is just fucking dumb and leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth...the jew line disturbs me much...

 

clearly you can make the arguement that he took his own life in his hands and if you go over there and die, you are to blame, and i can see that point...but starting off by describing him as an american jew out to make money, is not funny at best, and at worst shows a level of humanity that borders on sewage...

 

but im sure you think its cool to be outlandish in your opinions....

 

"i like my steak rare" wow, your such a brutally honest individual, how rare in our society...an asshole with an opinion, if only we had more..

 

Nah, not wannabe Bill O’Reilly at all. Perhaps I am button pushing, but it is only to stress that there are a multitude of opinions one can take on certain things. Sorta like how a Republican should vote Democrat, if only to get Bush out. Then in another 4 years, vote in some other Republican if you so choose. Shit, it’s not even about voting. People need to start thinking – that’s it. Why do people lately jump on the Bleeding Heart Bandwagon? I say something about Berg (who like most Jews, probably considered himself a Jew – and like most Americans, probably considered himself an American), and I get rebuked? I don’t get it. :confused: Anyway, by saying that he’s an American Jew, it might offer some insight into why he was killed. Two nationalities, pretty much, that are hated by these executors, I think.

 

ClueTwo, I hear you. I’m glad you understand that people need to see both sides of the spectrum. It’s hard dealing with people like Moore and O’Reilly, though. Especially, O’Reilly, who is just a terrible human being, and is, to me, as dumb as any mullet sporting redneck who is an automatic vote for the Republican party, no matter how corrupt they are.

 

But NASCAR rocks!

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Nascar,,well...Yeah, it's kinda cool..Not my cup of joe.

 

Lots of women at those events from what I hear. Probably the only reason I would want to attend. Well that and the massive amounts of booze those events bring in..I might even throw in a load of Skoal for the right effect..

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Originally posted by ClueTwo

I will agree with that Weapon X..

 

Check this out..Iw as browsing news headlines on google, and one came up on Micheal Moore about his new movie. Well I work with a sheeped up right wing, Hannity and colmes, Rush Limbuagh listening fucker. Well he starts just going off on how much Moore is stupid and says nothing worth listening to, but when asked why he doesn't like him..well, the only thing he could say was" He's just stupid!", and his anger level rose through the roof. This is a class A example of most flag bearing, Nascar watchin, and mullet sportin Americans. What is really scary is that it's a majority of our population that will not listen to both sides and do what grown-ups are supposed to do, MAKE DECISIONS FOR THEMSELVES.

 

I don't particularly like Micheal Moore either, but my co-worker didn't know that. I have my reasons for not liking him, but I have witnessed first hand his books and movies. I have also taken the time to read rebuttles from the people he slays. Either way, you get the point...I hope anyway..I typed this so fuckin fast while hoping nobody in the building is paying attention...

 

 

Exactly.

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Originally posted by Weapon X

Nah, not wannabe Bill O’Reilly at all. Perhaps I am button pushing, but it is only to stress that there are a multitude of opinions one can take on certain things. Sorta like how a Republican should vote Democrat, if only to get Bush out. Then in another 4 years, vote in some other Republican if you so choose. Shit, it’s not even about voting. People need to start thinking – that’s it. Why do people lately jump on the Bleeding Heart Bandwagon? I say something about Berg (who like most Jews, probably considered himself a Jew – and like most Americans, probably considered himself an American), and I get rebuked? I don’t get it. :confused: Anyway, by saying that he’s an American Jew, it might offer some insight into why he was killed. Two nationalities, pretty much, that are hated by these executors, I think.

 

ClueTwo, I hear you. I’m glad you understand that people need to see both sides of the spectrum. It’s hard dealing with people like Moore and O’Reilly, though. Especially, O’Reilly, who is just a terrible human being, and is, to me, as dumb as any mullet sporting redneck who is an automatic vote for the Republican party, no matter how corrupt they are.

 

But NASCAR rocks!

 

yes all quite contrived and rationalized, but youre lack of compassion by your vain attempt to be both funny(which you are not) and thought provoking(which you are not) shines through...yes pushing buttons wow, without your witty and provocative insight, clearly our conversation would be rather drab and dull im sure.....perhaps you think to highly of yourself and your immature opinions...

 

youre comment about being rubeked is plainly for show...you imply that he is a money hungry jew, and then recoil in shock that you were only stating the obvious and meant no harm or implications...how devious of you...you say that you mentioned it in order to shed some light to maybe why he was killed, when clearly your previous statement began with, and i paraphrase here, lets all hold hands and cry for an american jew trying to make a buck...hmmm, it causes me cognitive dissonance when i try to rectify that statement and how it could contribute to why he died...your lame attempt to distance yourself from the degrading comment is rich with an oreilly tactic of subverting your previous statement and re-meaning what you said...

 

please save it....

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put on the brake for a second...

 

 

so were you being sarcastic with your jew comment?

 

 

im sorry i think i might have berated on the wrong premise.....the rolling eyes of sarcasm confuse me...are you saying thats what people are saying?

 

 

if ive mispoke, please excuse me....

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Ok maybe not,,, but one of the best lines was something like:

"Anyone who makes up thier mind befrre they hear the facts is just plain ignorant."

 

Refering to most political mongrols that choose sides based on what the "higher ups" decide for them..egghhh..I really wish I had never taken interest into this parade of nonsense. Can;t say I would change any of it though. It's nice to have some comprehension of what is truly going on in this world..I have 12oz to thank for helping me in making this decision..

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