>>>There are plenty of questions raised concerning the video
>>>too. The body is completely motionless even as the knife is brought to
>>>bear - not so much as an instinctive wriggle.
This guy had his hands tied behind his back and his feet tied together. Then he was thrown to the floor, on his side, and eventually some guy came behind him with his knee on Berg's back, and you can definitely see some struggle. I definitely heard some choking noises.
>>>More graphically, some claim that cutting the throat's
>>>artery would cause a significant amount of blood to gush
>>>out. But little emerges and when the head was raised - not a drop of
>>>blood is seen to fall.
The video was a bit dark (around the area of the action). Also, they spent about 25 seconds doing this. 25 seconds is more than enough time for blood to gush out. This is not your typical gore anime!
>>>However, the circumstances of the video release are also strange. A
>>>Reuters journalist in Dubai first named the Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami
>>>website as the source for the video - at www.al-ansar.biz.
Strange indeed!
>>>Although the site has now been shut down, Aljazeera.net
>>>looked at the site within 90 minutes of the story breaking - and could
>>>find no such video footage.
>>>But Fox News, CNN and the BBC were all able to download the footage from
>>>the Arabic-only website and report the story within the hour.
Here's the bottom line "Fox News, CNN and the BBC were all ABLE TO download the footage from the Arabic-only website". So who in al jazeera was sent to find the footage? What are the circumstances of the request for al jazeera to fnid this footage on their servers? Was he a web admin? an Al jazeera head contact?
----- Original Message -----
From: Angel Stewart
To: CF-Community
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 5:11 AM
Subject: The Berg Mystery.
Aljazeera.Net - Bloggers doubt Berg execution video
"Bloggers doubt Berg execution video by Lawrence Smallman
Thursday 13 May 2004 12:35 PM GMT
(Was this really Nick Berg's last moment or was he killed
earlier?)
Revolting millions around the world, the video footage of an American
citizen's execution has also raised numerous questions concerning its
authenticity.
Even at first glance, internet bloggers were asking on
Thursday why Nick Berg was wearing an orange jumpsuit - just like US
prisoners wear.
Other net surfers point to the unlikely timing of the executioner's
dubbed announcement that Berg was to die for "Iraqi prisoner abuse".
Berg was last seen alive on 10 April, when his father
Michael Berg believes he was killed - two weeks before the
Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal broke in the world's media.
Some discussions focus on the timing of the video's release
- guaranteed to divert attention from the outrage over US
abuse of Iraqis.
Video oddities
There are plenty of questions raised concerning the video
too. The body is completely motionless even as the knife is brought to
bear - not so much as an instinctive wriggle.
More graphically, some claim that cutting the throat's
artery would cause a significant amount of blood to gush
out. But little emerges and when the head was raised - not a drop of
blood is seen to fall.
("That's really what cost my son his life, the fact that the United
States government saw fit to keep him in custody for 13 days without any
of his due process(es) or civil rights" Michael Berg, victim's father)
In a possible explanation, one discussion room member
suggested that Berg was killed and then beheaded later.
However, the circumstances of the video release are also strange. A
Reuters journalist in Dubai first named the Muntada al-Ansar al-Islami
website as the source for the video - at www.al-ansar.biz.
Although the site has now been shut down, Aljazeera.net
looked at the site within 90 minutes of the story breaking - and could
find no such video footage.
But Fox News, CNN and the BBC were all able to download the footage from
the Arabic-only website and report the story within the hour.
Days before death
Other questions presented by bloggers are Berg's peculiar circumstances
in the weeks before his death. Why would a private Jewish American
citizen choose to wander around Iraq by himself?
Additionally, some have pointed out that his last email on 6 April to
his family stated he wished to return home as soon as possible - yet the
FBI claims he refused an offer of help to get home.
(Some claim the face in the video looks remarkably unlike
Berg's)
In the wider press, FBI involvement has also generated much discussion
as to why Berg was really arrested and detained for two weeks in Mosul.
The unemployed visitor was suspicious enough for Iraqi
police to arrest him - with FBI knowledge.
He had only just been released from prison where he had been held for 13
days by Iraqi police for reasons he said he did not know.
Family blames government
A US newspaper claims an official familiar with the case
knew that FBI agents had interrogated Berg, but had left him for two
weeks because he was in Iraqi - not American - custody.
(Father Michael Berg has blamed US forces for his son's death)
But the official was unable to clarify the legal difference between the
two, given the US occupation.
On 5 April, Berg's family filed a suit in federal court in Philadelphia
- contending that their son was being held illegally by the US military
in Iraq. The next day, he was released and left to get himself home.
The last time the family heard from him was on 9 April. His headless
body was found near Mosul on 8 May.
"That's really what cost my son his life, the fact that the United
States government saw fit to keep him in custody for 13 days without any
of his due process or civil rights," Michael Berg said.
Final question
Some bloggers focused on the accent of the purported executioner. Many
deny the accent is either Iraqi or Jordanian - while claims the voice is
Egyptian or Iranian have been made.
The Jordanian accused of the beheading Berg is himself
believed to have been killed in March, according to two Islamist groups.
An eight-page leaflet circulated this week in Falluja said
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in the Sulaimaniya mountains
of northern Iraq during a US bombing.
But even if it were the Jordanian, one discussion room
member observes his face is so well-known that "why would he bother to
cover it?"
Aljazeera
By Lawrence Smallman
Things just don't add up.
-Gel
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