Who’s Responsible For Nick Berg’s Death?

by John Hawkins | May 13, 2004 7:51 pm

I have held off on talking on some of the things said by Nick Berg’s father out of respect for his loss. Losing your son is tough under any circumstances. But, having him die in such a horrible and public fashion is that much worse.

However, Michael Berg has been continuously, unfairly, denouncing President Bush for the death of his son[1] and I feel a need to weigh in on it. Because of the situation, I’m going to be much more gentle than I otherwise would and I’m also, for the first time ever I believe, not going to have open comments on this thread just to make sure nothing untoward is said about this issue.

First, let’s clarify what happened. Nick Berg, who’s an adult, chose to go to Iraq, which was unarguably a pretty dangerous place for an American without security to be even before the Al-Sadr uprising and the murder and desecration of American contractors in Fallujah.

Berg was held up at the border for 13 days apparently because someone believed to be a terrorist had used his computer[2] back in 1999. The US Gov’t says the Iraqi police held him, the Berg family says the military held him, but to be frank, it’s not all that relevant either way. Somebody over there thought he might be a security threat and held him up. I don’t find that to be out of line at all considering what’s been going on Iraq of late.

In any case, after Nick Berg was released, things had gotten worse in Iraq. So much so that the FBI recommended Berg leave Iraq and a U.S. consular officer[3] offered to have him flown out of Iraq. He chose not to take their advice or their help and went off on his own. How and when he was captured by the terrorists who murdered him is unknown.

Truth be told, Nick Berg was doing something very dangerous against the advice of his own government. Yet, who does his father blame for his death? George Bush, the head of the very government that tried to help his son and the man who has long been doing everything in his power to stop the terrorists who took Nick Berg’s life.

So we know Berg’s father[4] blames Bush for his son’s death, but what about the terrorists who actually killed his son?

“I am sure that (Nick) only saw the good in his captors until the last second of his life. They did not know what they were doing. They killed their best friend.”

Sadly, the animals who killed Michael Berg’s son did know EXACTLY what they were doing. Murder is their business. So why does Nick Berg’s father blame George Bush instead of the evil people who killed his son?

Well, if you blame terrorists for the evil they do, it almost requires that you support doing things to alleviate the danger that a lot of people on the left (and that describes Michael Berg) are very uncomfortable with. Things like the Patriot Act, invading Afghanistan and Iraq, interrogating people at Gitmo, unleashing the CIA and special forces around the world, and vocally standing up and criticizing the beliefs of people from a different culture and different religion from most of us. But if you blame George Bush, well, then you can keep doing what you’ve always done — complain about Republicans, try to elect more Democrats, and just ignore the real problems and hope they go away.

But regardless of any disagreements I may have with Michael Berg, my condolences go out to him, his wife, and the rest of Nick Berg’s friends and family in this troubling time.

***Update #1***:It turns out that the person believed to be a terrorist who used Nick Berg’s computer was apparently noneother than Zacarias Moussaoui[5].

Endnotes:
  1. continuously, unfairly, denouncing President Bush for the death of his son: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/20040513/us_nm/iraq_usa_beheading_family_dc_7&printer=1
  2. used his computer: http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-05132004-299648.html
  3. U.S. consular officer: http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/Stories/0,1413,106~4992~2146136,00.html
  4. Berg’s father: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&u=/nm/20040513/us_nm/iraq_usa_beheading_family_dc_7&printer=1
  5. Zacarias Moussaoui: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Northeast/05/13/berg.encounter/

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