Nick Berg's Dad Reacts to death of Zarquai

In an interview this morning on CNN, Nick Berg (the US civilian beheaded in Iraq)'s father reacted to the death of Zarquai and again blasted the Bush administration for their illegal war.

O'BRIEN: No, no. And we have spoken before, and I'm well aware of that. But at some point, one would think, is there a moment when you say, 'I'm glad he's dead, the man who killed my son'?

BERG: No. How can a human being be glad that another human being is dead?

The transcript link is below:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/08/berg.interview/index.html

I'm proud of him for his reaction. Soledad was speechless and he wasn't about to be cowered by her.

Mr. Berg was brutally honest and forthright and courageous.

snip>

MICHAEL BERG: Well, my reaction is I'm sorry whenever any human being dies. Zarqawi is a human being. He has a family who are reacting just as my family reacted when Nick was killed, and I feel bad for that.

I feel doubly bad, though, because Zarqawi is also a political figure, and his death will re-ignite yet another wave of revenge, and revenge is something that I do not follow, that I do want ask for, that I do not wish for against anybody. And it can't end the cycle. As long as people use violence to combat violence, we will always have violence.

O'BRIEN: I have to say, sir, I'm surprised. I know how devastated you and your family were, frankly, when Nick was killed in such a horrible, and brutal and public way.

BERG: Well, you shouldn't be surprised, because I have never indicated anything but forgiveness and peace in any interview on the air.

much more

snip>

BERG: Well, you know, I'm not saying Saddam Hussein was a good man, but he's no worse than George Bush. Saddam Hussein didn't pull the trigger, didn't commit the rapes. Neither did George Bush. But both men are responsible for them under their reigns of terror.

I don't buy that. Iraq did not have al Qaeda in it. Al Qaeda supposedly killed my son.

Under Saddam Hussein, no al Qaeda. Under George Bush, al Qaeda.

Under Saddam Hussein, relative stability. Under George Bush, instability.

Under Saddam Hussein, about 30,000 deaths a year. Under George Bush, about 60,000 deaths a year. I don't get it. Why is it better to have George Bush the king of Iraq rather than Saddam Hussein?

snip>

Interview excerpt




Telling it like it is.

Mr. Berg has my admiration.

True courage..

What an example of a true pacifist.

THANK YOU MICHAEL.

Terrorism victim's father reacts to news from Iraq
By MIKE CHALMERS
Staff reporter

06/08/2006
WILMINGTON -- Michael Berg, whose son Nicholas was beheaded two years ago by Iraqi terrorists connected with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said this morning he takes no pleasure in news of al-Zarqawi’s death.

“It doesn’t bring me relief because it doesn’t bring my son back,” Berg said. “Any day of revenge is a bad day.”

Berg, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, is running for Congress against Rep. Mike Castle. After his son’s death, Berg moved from West Chester, Pa., to Wilmington.

Berg, 61, said a news reporter awoke him at 4:37 a.m. with a phone call to tell him that a U.S.-led airstrike had killed al-Zarqawi.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060608/NEWS/60608006

Berg is running on the Green Party ticket!!!!!

Just Wow!

What a noble man! I doubt I could EVER be so forgiving. What a noble man. Soon to be flayed alive and condemned as a traitor at an ann coulter appearance near you.

HERE IS THE ENEMY
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1092851/posts
Michael S. Berg, Teacher, Prometheus Methods Tower Service, Inc., West Chester, PA

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1134576/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1134424/posts?page=1,50

Sick bastards. I still think they had some part in his death, by causing him to be detained.

Berg is a man to be admired. You're right ... he is a noble man.

Was approved of by God.

This man speaks the truth!

How dare that wench try to make him out to be vengeful!! What a freak she is.

What a noble man.

If ANYTHING deserved a slot on the Greatest page, this is it.

That man has some balls and everyone that agrees with him should say so publicly.

Could we get his email address and sent a nice note thanking him for his courage to tell this f*** right wing media the truth! What a man.

And what a contrast to that giggling coward in the White House, and all his ilk, whose answer to everything is bomb, kill, torture, and when they can't get away with that in some places (not yet anyway) steal peoples' votes and their money, and leave them to rot and die in a natural disaster. This is the thing we discovered in the '60s, that the REAL men are the ones who won't participate in unjust war, who would rather make love than war. These are the courageous men. These are the true patriots!

To Michael:

:patriot: :applause: :hug: :grouphug: :hug: :applause: :patriot:

...foaming at the mouth for vengeance.

I wonder if the zealots will even recognize the love of God/Goddess when they see it in print.

Mr Berg's radical sentiments absolutely turn off middle America and middle America is who we need to take back the Congress. We should be distancing ourselves from this nut case.

In what way is he a "nutcase?" Is it because he does not believe that violence solves anything? Is it because he stated that the terrorists were not in Iraq before Bush let them in? Is it because he knows that Zarqawi was a construct of the Bush administration?

You say that this sentiments will "turn off middle America." By middle America to whom do you refer? Is it those who just nod their heads in agreement (and unison) after Bush attempts to speak? Is it those who believe that 9/11 was perpetrated by Iraqis? Or is it that last 1/3 in the polls (you know the backwash) who believe God wants us to kill Iraqis?

We, Mr. Lance, are middle Americans. We see the hypocrisy and uselessness of the current path of destruction.

The nutcases, are the ones in office who wanted a war well before 9/11 and lied to get us there. The nutcases are the ones who did not care that our soldiers are dying daily for...what? A lie, oil, Bush and PNAC's agenda? The nutcases are the americans who, in lemming like fashion, agree with bush and his cohorts as he destroys our civil rights and sends our republic and all it has historically stood for, down the porcelain drain.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm unsympathetic to alot of your points but if we were indeed middle America I suspect we would already have control of the Congress and the WH and not be in the mess we're in now. We may not like or agree with the way middle America thinks but it's their votes that put people in power and power is what we don't have. We can not afford to just write these people off and let the Rethugs reap the benefits.

Those in power have lied to us middle Americans. We middle Americans do not think that this Christian, loving, father is a nutcase. We middle americans believed in our system of government, and some of us believed the lies told by Bush and his cohorts. And those last 1/3 that still believe Bush are not people that I want in charge of our country. Look at the poll numbers. Bush's actions are not condoned by "Middle America."

And Middle America is not reaping any benefits from Bush. The top 1% is.
You indicate that you are not unsympathetic to alot of my points but suggest that we cater to radical and violent actions and beliefs. No. We kick the radical and violent out of office.

We as liberals need to stop looking to polls to validate our views. We all know that all you have to do is word the poll question the right way and you can get just about any result you want. Using polls to suggest that middle America does not view Mr. Berg as a nut case is simply unrealistic.
The only poll that means anything is the one that takes place on Election Day and for that poll we need middle America. All I'm saying is embracing a radical like Mr. Berg does not help us get where we want to be, that place being back in control of our government.

Your point is that he is a nutcase because he does not believe the lies that Bush is telling. Your point is that we must distance ourselves from people who do not tow Bush's line of bull.

My point: Mr. Berg is not radical nor a nutcase. The world is currently behind the looking glass where right is wrong, violence is condoned by God, and the Queen of Hearts is cheered to shouts of "off with his head," and people suggest that we distance ourselves from "radical" beliefs such as "violence begets violence."

Whether Mr. Berg is a radical or not, middle America views him as such. If we as Democrats align ourselves with him, middle America will view us as radicals as well. They view him as part of the far left fringe (he not even running as a Democrat). We want to win elections, embracing this man does not help us do that.

Neither descriptions are accurate and neither represent middle america.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Excuse me. I thought everyone had 3 posts at one time or another, even you.

where is that?

The first thing out of your mouth was to ridicule my post count. To be quite honest, I don't care much for people who use a cheap tactic such as this.

attack the messenger, ignore the real message.
It's a tactic we're familiar with here.

If ridiculing my post count wasn't part of your "real message" then why did you include it?


Speaks volumes about the author.

Ok, Lance. We should get into that mindset of the middle america eh? Way to lump, generalize and piss off a big portion of the country. ... yeah how dare this "nut case" not be overjoyed like a good little red-blooded American???

How dare he transform his grief into action. How dare he not revel in the sloppy, bloody revenge exacted on the supposed killer of his son? Lock up the nut case for his own good, how about in Gitmo? Throw away the key!

I piss on your plan to take back "middle america".

added: By the way did you actually hear the interview?

Yes, I heard the interview. What I think about his views means little. I'm tired of losing elections and while I readily admit that I don't have all the answers on how to start winning again I do know that it's a mistake for Democrats to align themselves with him, after all, he's not even a Democrat.

Well just to coax it out a bit, and in the spirit of honest discussion, I think it does matter what you think of his views.

I'll readily accept that Mr Berg is not a person that DU will or should collectively endorse due to his party affiliation, running as he is on the green-party ticket. It's also radical in these times to profess a belief in peace.

You assume that middle america will judge him as a nutcase based on his reaction to Zaqawi's death.
This does little to further the discussion, what about his views do you feel strike middle america as nutcase? That he does not profess rabid glee at the death of another human?

I appreciate your appeal to pragmatic ways to win elections though, I just don't think that accepting right-wing frames is the right way to go about that task.

I personally don't have a problem with Mr. Berg's views, only how they're perceived by the people that we need to get Democrats elected. How does it further our cause to align ourselves with him? Not everyone has the moral clarity that a lot of the people on this board exhibit. We need to finesse the unconvinced over to our side. If we don't learn to do this, we'll never take back our government.

I was very impressed by an interview with Berg on this morning's BBC Today programme:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today3_20060610berg.ram

Contrast his reasoned arguement with the bluster and misplaced indignance of war hawk William Shawcross, who is interviewed immediately afterwards. How appalling that he tries to imply that Berg has been driven "mad" with grief.