The following is a selection of letters received on “The terrible and strange death of Nick Berg” posted on the WSWS on May 14.
I have questions about the Nick Berg murder. I feel that the FBI turned Berg over to some people to murder him and record it on video because the Bush administration wanted to divert the attention away from the abuse from the US torture of the Iraqi prisoners. The timing seemed a bit odd, and the fact that Berg was originally detained by the US while in Iraq, which now the US denies. I know it sounds a bit psycho on my part, but could Berg’s murder have been planned by some people in the US?
SR
14 May 2004
* * *It was such a shock to consider that our government could be responsible for one of its own ... a sacrificial lamb situation. But after the shock of that thought I remembered that it is no longer our government, it is King Bush’s government, and like the mad queen in Alice in Wonderland it could literally be “off with their heads.”
How do we save ourselves from these mad-mad people? (I was going to say men and then remembered Condi Rice and Karen Hughes.)
I don’t know if these allegations of complicity of our government will ever be proved, but I’m appreciative that someone has the guts to write about it. Thanks.
Once upon a naive time in Cleveland ... no longer,
SB
15 May 2004
* * *The first casualty of war is the truth and this one has been no exception. La Voz de Aztlan [www.aztlan.net] obtained a copy of the video showing the beheading of American Nick Berg of Philadelphia and immediately something very odd was readily apparent. Not only were the purported screams of Nick Berg not in synchrony with the decapitation but there was also a total lack of blood spurting out as his jugular and other veins and arteries were being cut.
We forwarded the video to Dr. Raul Castro Guevara, a surgeon and forensic expert in Mexico City, for his expert opinion. He wrote back and commented, “There’s no way that the individual in the video was alive or that his heart was functioning when his head was severed. In such cases, the heart pushes blood out with great pressure, and, if the neck arteries are severed, there’s a great deal of blood that splashes everything around. In my opinion, the tape is fraudulent.”
We hope that our readers view the video and see for themselves.
La Voz de Aztlan
* * *Good morning,
I am a 61-year-old grandmother and not given to hysteria, however, the case of Nick Berg could change my usually calm facade into that of Angela Davis or, at the very least, Jane Fonda.
I have CNN on all day. Yesterday was Mike Berg day, a constant barrage of Mike Berg and his statements against Bush. He blamed Bush for his son’s death and even compared Bush to Al Qaeda. I almost fell off my chair when I heard that one.
Now the government is trying to slander Nick by associating him with Zacarias Moussaoui. I always knew Bush was so low that he would have to look up to see a snake’s belly, however, this just boggles my mind even coming from the Bush White House.
My request, if answering it is possible is, is there any way for you or your associates to fight back for Nick Berg in these so-called allegations? I find the entire thing so sad. I also believe that his death is a direct result of what is happing in the prisons over there. Bush needed a smokescreen. Nick Berg is it. People are more outraged about his death that the prison problems have almost become a footnote to the people out here in the real world.
Thank you,
LN
Hollister, Missouri
14 May 2004
* * *Dear Editor: We all must remember that the ruling elite have considered the civil liberties and equal rights of all people as a direct threat to their “special” status and that no country, no culture, no religion and no political party is off limits to their tireless efforts to kept the unwashed masses enslaved. They slip whatever works on, then, like snakes, slip right back out of it into another “costume.”
I believe Nick Berg to be a pawn: to shore up the Bush administration’s agenda to conquer these “barbarians” while at the same time being able to righteously proclaim the “civilized” outrage towards such a horrible death (not mentioning, of course, the horrendous deaths of children and innocent civilians from bombs and depleted uranium via freedom-loving Americans). That the coffins of soldiers and exploded heads of children are not dangled before the camera surely shows the magnitude of moral differences between the savage and the saint.
But let us not think that this is only an American problem, an Iraqi problem or even a left/right problem. It is an historical problem across all territories and beliefs: it is a problem directly and exclusively one of the ruling elites’ powers—always has been and always will be unless the workers of the world get smart and get organized. The workers are the only ones who stand to benefit for their fight for justice, equality and liberties because under all other situations, the elite not only have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.
Mr. Berg will, unfortunately, go down in history as yet another created death, joined by the millions of unnamed slaves and impoverished workers who have built up this so-called civilization for the primary benefit of the rich. My sympathy goes towards his family who has the burden of knowing too much about the futility of their son’s death. That they hold Bush et al responsible rather than a “group” or a “belief” system keeps me believing that there is hope for the true evolution of human consciousness and social responsibility.
Sincerely,
SN
Powell River, British Columbia
14 May 2004