Hmm. I guess I better run to the store for a beanie and fry up some potato pancakes for dinner.
I have not seen the video.I have seen the news reports and all of the related opinions expressed by family,friends,newspeople, and chat room participants. I do not think I need to see a video of this guys murder to be completely disgusted by the act.
My big question is this. What in the hell did this guy think he was doing? Traveling around in a war zone without millitary support or protection is just about the dumbest thing anyone can do, regardless of ethnic background. Thats why we set up refugee camps for Iraquis’ who were displaced when the war began. To get unarmed, noncombatant civilians out of the way of bombs and bullets. This guy, regardless of intentions, had no business being anywhere near the middle east. It is just not a good place to be for anything other than killing or dying.
To give you anyone who cares some background, I used to sell drugs for a living. I know that thats pretty far from telecomunications (and pretty detestable), but here’s where it ties in. Dealing with people at that level is dangerous. Sometimes people get the idea that they want to kill you. Knowing this, I used to travel with a couple of “friends” who were allways well armed, and ready to use them. AS was I. Given that situations can turn hostile without even a moments notice, also called an ambush, carying weapons was considered a wise and prudent thing to do. If we were unable to bring them, we just didn’t go.
This is why I wonder what the hell this guy was even doing in an area known for violence, ambush, kidnapping, and murder.
I’m a Canadian who doesn’t get the newspaper right now and only heard about this murder now. I don’t even want to see this video, but I can assure you that any beliefs of tolerance towards different cultures or sympathy towards the “oppressed” peoples of the Middle East would immediately vanish if I saw a friend or relative beheaded on television by terrorists. I’m usually a pretty tolerant guy, but I don’t think anything could hold me back from letting the Berg family help dust off the old nukes…
Dustin writes:
'Nick’s father earlier today said the following, “I am sure that he 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.”
Does that not seem like an odd statement? I don’t know, you may be right. Maybe this situation is cut and dry and I’m looking into this too much.’
Weird thing to consider is that Nick Berg’s father’s small business had signed itself up as a supporter of anti-war ANSWER, which is front group for neo-Stalinists. Nick Berg supposedly disagreed with his father about the War, but what would his father mean, “They killed their best friend.”
Could that mean that Nick Berg just cared about the Iraqi people and the reconstruction of their country, or that Nick had specific sympathy for the Iraqi insurgents? If it means the latter, perhaps he came into their hands on relatively friendly terms, like a lamb to slaughter.