Last days of Nick Berg a mystery

Last days of Nick Berg a mystery

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Contradicting information

What happened next is unclear. The Iraqi police chief has denied that his forces in Mosul took Berg into custody; a U.S. consular official at first told Berg's family that he was in U.S. custody, but officials in Washington later said she was misinformed.

According to Berg's own account, in an e-mail sent to his family April 6, Iraqi police arrested him on March 24, and took him to see American military police. They said they would perform a background check on Berg; a day later, they returned and said they had no interest, but that the FBI would want to check him out. The exact timing is not known.

He was placed in an Iraqi police cell block with 70 petty criminals and what he called accused "war criminals."

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"American MPs were pretty stand up about the whole thing though. They heard the chants of Yehudien and Israelian and told the IP staff to put me in my own cell," which turned out to be the toilet, Berg writes.

The Americans, according to Berg, "had day-to-day control over me before they transferred me" to the Iraqi police cell.

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The thing is, if I told you what I am thinking you would say it is conspiracy theory and you would be right. Why would the Americans be so upset at the beheading of an individual that they arrested as a criminal? I know that we are a "civilized" nation. But none of this adds up.

It would be logical to absolve him first of any crime and admit he was jailed in error.

And then claim that he was executed by barbarians.

But that would make them legally culpable.

It could be logical to say that he got lost in their detention center and tried to escape, but got caught by the executioners in his orange jumpsuit.

No, they detain him, jail him, and then declare him a poor victim.

You're right.

Methinks they're going to pin it all on the Iraqi police.

Michael Berg and his family are going to have one long haul to get justice or even the truth.

One is why the U.S. military are denying that they had him in
custody - thereby not only calling the Iraqi police liars, but
also the State Department and the FBI, as well as Berg's parents.
Why would they lie unless there's something they're trying to
cover up?

The second is the orange jumpsuit. I can't believe that Berg
wouldn't have wanted to get out of it as soon as he could - it would
be an unpleasant reminder of his detention, and besides he most
likely didn't wash properly during the time he was held in custody,
and I would think he'd want to get the damn thing off. More likely,
I would have thought that when he was released he would have been
given his own clothes back, so how come he ends up in prison garb
again?

I just wouldn't buy into a conspiracy, except for those two things
that don't add up.

if it's not the truth.......

and in this case the truth is not being given to Berg's family, the Congress or the Citizens....

"Berg e-mailed Aziz Taee, Philadelphia director of a group called the American-Iraqi Council, and said he wanted to do business in Iraq. Aziz agreed to give him space in an office he had in Baghdad; they would form a partnership, seeking communications work."
...
"Aziz says Berg traveled the country, examining towers and seeking subcontracts - unsuccessfully. "He was very good, had a lot of confidence in what he did. When he realized he didn't get a subcontract he decided to go back to the United States" in February, Aziz says."
...
"But one night before he left, as he walked down Saadoun Street, he was robbed. His notebook was in the bag that was stolen, along with all the measurements he had taken of the towers."
...
"He returned in March. He stopped in to see Aziz, picked up his tools, and the two spent an hour climbing tall buildings at Abu Ghraib, site of the infamous prison. They rerecorded measurements that were in the stolen notebook."

So, he was apparently pretty well connected with the new Iraqi order, and traveled the country, climbing towers and measuring things. Apparently none of this turned into an actual contract for work though. He and his Iraqi contact even spent time recording measurements in Abu Ghraib, just before being arrested. You can't help thinking there is more here than meets the eye.

"Perhaps he was becoming more wary. He called Aziz and warned him to keep a low profile, surprising his cautious colleague."
...
"The morning he disappeared, Berg "surprised me by calling me at 9 or 10, to say that he found some friend to travel with to Jordan," he says."
...
"Aziz says he understands Berg's phone was used as recently as April 19, and that three calls were made that day - to Jordan, to the United Arab Emirates and to a local number. "He could still have been alive."

So, he had a sense that something was wrong shortly after he was released, and he could be in danger. Then, he left for Jordan with some new friends, and disappeared. Too bad we don't know more about the friends. One thing we do know, is he didn't speak Arabic, so the new friends must have contained at least some English speakers.