George Bush never looked into Nick's eyes
Even more than the murderers who took my son's life, I condemn those who make policies to end lives
Michael Berg
Friday May 21, 2004
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1221644,00.html

My son, Nick, was my teacher and my hero. He was the kindest, gentlest man I know; no, the kindest, gentlest human being I have ever known. He quit the Boy Scouts of America because they wanted to teach him to fire a handgun.

Nick, too, poured into me the strength I needed, and still need, to tell the world about him.

People ask me why I focus on putting the blame for my son's tragic and atrocious end on the Bush administration. They ask: "Don't you blame the five men who killed him?" I have answered that I blame them no more or less than the Bush administration, but I am wrong: I am sure, knowing my son, that somewhere during their association with him these men became aware of what an extraordinary man my son was. I take comfort that when they did the awful thing they did, they weren't quite as in to it as they might have been. I am sure that they came to admire him.

I am sure that the one who wielded the knife felt Nick's breath on his hand and knew that he had a real human being there. I am sure that the others looked into my son's eyes and got at least a glimmer of what the rest of the world sees. And I am sure that these murderers, for just a brief moment, did not like what they were doing.

George Bush never looked into my son's eyes. George Bush doesn't know my son, and he is the worse for it. George Bush, though a father himself, cannot feel my pain, or that of my family, or of the world that grieves for Nick, because he is a policymaker, and he doesn't have to bear the consequences of his acts.

George Bush can see neither the heart of Nick nor that of the American people, let alone that of the Iraqi people his policies are killing daily.

Donald Rumsfeld said that he took responsibility for the sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners. How could he take that responsibility when there was no consequence? Nick took the consequences.

Even more than those murderers who took my son's life, I can't stand those who sit and make policies to end lives and break the lives of the still living.

Nick was not in the military, but he had the discipline and dedication of a soldier. Nick Berg was in Iraq to help the people without any expectation of personal gain. He was only one man, but through his death he has become many. The truly unselfish spirit of giving your all to do what you know in your own heart is right even when you know it may be dangerous; this spirit has spread among the people who knew Nick, and that group has spread and is spreading all over the world.

So what were we to do when we in America were attacked on September 11, that infamous day? I say we should have done then what we never did before: stop speaking to the people we labelled our enemies and start listening to them. Stop giving preconditions to our peaceful coexistence on this small planet, and start honouring and respecting every human's need to live free and autonomously, to truly respect the sovereignty of every state. To stop making up rules by which others must live and then separate rules for ourselves.

George Bush's ineffective leadership is a weapon of mass destruction, and it has allowed a chain reaction of events that led to the unlawful detention of my son which immersed him in a world of escalated violence. Were it not for Nick's detention, I would have had him in my arms again. That detention held him in Iraq not only until the atrocities that led to the siege of Fallujah, but also the revelation of the atrocities committed in the jails in Iraq, in retaliation for which my son's wonderful life was put to an end.

My son's work still goes on. Where there was one peacemaker before, I now see and have heard from thousands of peacemakers. Nick was a man who acted on his beliefs. We, the people of this world, now need to act on our beliefs. We need to let the evildoers on both sides of the Atlantic know that we are fed up with war. We are fed up with the killing and bombing and maiming of innocent people. We are fed up with the lies. Yes, we are fed up with the suicide bombers, and with the failure of the Israelis and Palestinians to find a way to stop killing each other. We are fed up with negotiations and peace conferences that are entered into on both sides with preset conditions that preclude the outcome of peace. We want world peace now.

Many have offered to pray for Nick and my family. I appreciate their thoughts, but I ask them to include in their prayers a prayer for peace. And I ask them to do more than pray. I ask them to demand peace now.

· Michael Berg is the father of Nick Berg, the US contractor beheaded on video in Iraq this month by a group believed to be linked to al-Qaida. This is an extract from his message of support for the Stop The War Coalition's demonstration, End the Torture - Bring the Troops Home Now, which will be held at 11am tomorrow at the Embankment in London

Blame Shame
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
http://www.techcentralstation.com/052704D.html

Michael Berg finds himself in the horrible position of outliving his own child. As the world now knows, a video shows one of the world's most wanted terrorists -- Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a high-ranking al Qaeda leader -- hacking off the head of Berg's son, Nick. As Berg screamed and bellowed in sickening agony, the terrorists who butchered him blasphemed the Deity of the world's great monotheistic religions by shouting "Allah-hu-akbar!" "God is great!" in celebration of Berg's savage murder.

Like any father, Michael Berg grieves for his son. Like any father, he wonders why he was made to outlive his child. It goes without saying that I cannot possibly fathom his sadness.

But strangely, Mr. Berg failed to place the primary responsibility for the death of his son where it belonged. Instead, he placed that responsibility on leaders of the U.S., whom he somehow believes bear at least as much -- if not more -- guilt on their shoulders for Nick Berg's death as do the terrorists who actually killed Nick Berg.

Perhaps at first, these comments could have been given a pass as being the result of Mr. Berg's understandable grief and sorrow. But with the writing of this editorial, Mr. Berg renders what one has every reason to believe is his considered judgment regarding his son's death, and the circumstances surrounding it. His comments deserve a response.

Mr. Berg starts out his editorial with a startling and incredible statement:

"People ask me why I focus on putting the blame for my son's tragic and atrocious end on the Bush administration. They ask: 'Don't you blame the five men who killed him?' I have answered that I blame them no more or less than the Bush administration, but I am wrong: I am sure, knowing my son, that somewhere during their association with him these men became aware of what an extraordinary man my son was. I take comfort that when they did the awful thing they did, they weren't quite as in to it as they might have been. I am sure that they came to admire him. I am sure that the one who wielded the knife felt Nick's breath on his hand and knew that he had a real human being there. I am sure that the others looked into my son's eyes and got at least a glimmer of what the rest of the world sees. And I am sure that these murderers, for just a brief moment, did not like what they were doing."

The glee the terrorists took in hacking off Nick Berg's head, while shouting "Allah-hu-akbar!" belies any contention that the terrorists weren't "quite as in to it as they might have been" or that the killers "did not like what they were doing." The terrorists didn't care who Nick Berg was. They only knew that he was an American, and thus an enemy. It is perhaps a parental instinct to believe that the world will see one's children in the same light as a loving parent does. But Nick Berg's killers lacked that sense of humanity, and for Michael Berg to believe otherwise is simply self-delusional.

Mr. Berg continues:

"So what were we to do when we in America were attacked on September 11, that infamous day? I say we should have done then what we never did before: stop speaking to the people we labelled our enemies and start listening to them. Stop giving preconditions to our peaceful coexistence on this small planet, and start honouring and respecting every human's need to live free and autonomously, to truly respect the sovereignty of every state. To stop making up rules by which others must live and then separate rules for ourselves.

"George Bush's ineffective leadership is a weapon of mass destruction, and it has allowed a chain reaction of events that led to the unlawful detention of my son which immersed him in a world of escalated violence. Were it not for Nick's detention, I would have had him in my arms again. That detention held him in Iraq not only until the atrocities that led to the siege of Fallujah, but also the revelation of the atrocities committed in the jails in Iraq, in retaliation for which my son's wonderful life was put to an end."

Contrary to Mr. Berg's statements, the State Department offered to get Berg out of Iraq. Berg refused the offer. This does not make Berg responsible for his death. But it certainly doesn't make the Bush Administration responsible.

Indeed, let's take this a step further: No American President -- whether Republican or Democrat -- should be held primarily responsible for the deaths of Americans at the hands of terrorists. A President's response to terrorists is a legitimate issue for debate and discussion, but Nick Berg's blood is on the hands of terrorists, not the Bush Administration, or any other administration.

Mr. Berg, of course, believes that our response to terrorists should involve having us "start listening" to those we have labeled our "enemies." Does Mr. Berg not understand the depths of al Qaeda's hatred for the United States and the West? Osama bin Laden is well known for lamenting what he calls "the tragedy of Andalusia." This "tragedy" refers to the conquest of the Muslim kingdom of Granada by Spain over five hundred years ago. Does Mr. Berg really believe that "listening" to the likes of those who hold a murderous grudge for half a millennium will actually do anything to bring such grudges to an end? Will bin Laden and his cohorts forgive and forget "the tragedy of Andalusia" and forego their vengeance merely because people like Mr. Berg choose to "listen" to murderers instead of fight against and resist them?

Why is it necessary to respond to statements such as those made by Michael Berg? Because it represents an appalling moral equivalence between leaders of this country, and butchers of the worst kind. And Michael Berg is not the only person making such misguided comparisons. Regarding the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Senator Edward Kennedy -- who ought to know better -- said recently that "Shamefully we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management." Without excusing those abuses, there is a difference between American abuses (which are being investigated with punishments being doled out) and abuses performed by Saddam's regime (which were rewarded).

Maybe three years after the September 11th attacks we are losing our sense of perspective and outrage. If so, we need to regain it quickly. Blinding ourselves to the implications of the war on terrorism, or as to the nature of our enemies is a sure way to defeat. While we fight a military war abroad, we need to continue to fight the battle of ideas, not only with the terrorists, but with those who misunderstand them as well. We may have once taken it for granted after September 11th that people would automatically understand what is at stake. But some people do not. And we cannot afford to back away from the debate with them.