Killing of American Berg changed the subject – but for how long?

[UpInArms]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20040512-1457-beheading-analysis.html

WASHINGTON – Americans grappled with shocking new images of horror, from scenes of masked militants beheading a Pennsylvania man to descriptions of U.S. soldiers torturing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. After days of issuing apologies, President Bush shifted from defense to offense with a tough condemnation of terrorists.

Splashed across front pages, the ghastly pictures just before the decapitation of Nicholas Berg provided ammunition for those who think the world's outrage over prisoner abuse has been overblown or misdirected, when the real enemy is al-Qaeda and like- minded terrorist groups.

"As bad as some of the things were that were done to Iraqi prisoners, it didn't involve beheading," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R- Ariz. "That doesn't justify it, but it does to some extent put it in context and show you what you're dealing with in terms of the enemy."

For days, conservative talk radio shows have simmered with anger about the heavy attention paid to abuses in Abu Ghraib prison by relatively few U.S. soldiers. The feeling spilled out in the Senate when Republican James Inhofe said he – and others – were "more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment" of the prisoners.

<snip>

Berg's death gave Bush an opportunity to stop saying sorry.

...more...

nice to see that AP "got it" ...

[David Dunham]

1. This won't help Bush. It's another innocent American killed in Iraq.

[Taylor Mason Powell]

2. oh barf.

"The enemy!" See how that works? What WE do to THEM is bad, but it isn't nearly as bad as what THEY do to US. This is apparently the right wing talking point du jour.

Except, uh, the Iraqi prisoners aren't Al Qaeda! (In fact, wasn't there testimony that the majority of them were in fact completely innocent?) The Iraqi prisoners weren't even Iraqi resistance fighters, most of them, and even the Iraqi resistance fighters are not Al Qaeda!! But they're all conflated into one big "enemy" for our convenience.

sometimes it just doesn't pay to even get out of bed in the morning.

[Mountainman]

4. I ask myself, how can we be bringing peace and freedom to Iraq?

Damn it all, you Iraqis will accept our form of peace and freedom or we will beat it into of you!

I want to scream when I hear Bush use the words peace and freedom. They mean nothing to him other than words to use to stay in power.

[maddezmom]

5. yes, yesterday it was stated that none were classified terrorists n/t

[xchrom]

3. how about the innocent litle boy with his arms and legs blown off?

how bad were we then -- a little bad -- very bad or i didn't like it one little bit bad?

[Cocoa]

6. Bush has been calling "them" evil all along

They've been portraying the enemy as the embodiment of evil in the world, so how does it make sense to act shocked now?

If we're going to be shocked, it should be at all the POW's that reported good treatment at the hands of the evildoers.

[MSgt213]

7. This guy was not killed by Iraqis. He was killed by people from other

countries that can stroll in and out and commit crimes like this as they wish. I know the average bone headed republican doesn't know the difference. If we have ever had control of Iraq I think this more then demostrates that we aren't even close.

[KeepItReal]

10. Military guys in Iraq said no one was coming over the border

...to do fighting. Every time reporters asked a guy in uniform that they said they had no idication of people coming over the border to fight.

I do recall the *civilians* involved in this administration talking alot of stuff about "foreign fighters" with no proof to back that up. Have you seen one "foreign fighter" in Iraq captured and ID-ed to his/her country of origin outside of Iraq??

I listened for the distinction. I think the numbers of folks who could slip into Iraq to fight our troops unnoticed are negligible. That is unless the U.S. military really don't have any freaking control over the borders there.

[Tansy_Gold]

14. Is it possible that when they speak of "foreign fighters" they're

talking about non-Iraqi nationals who have come into Iraq specifically to fight with the insurgents?

If that's the case, it's quite possible that there are al-Qaeda types coming in and going out and not being recognized as "foreign fighters" because they aren't making it obvious.

I mean, c'mon, if you were gonna be a terrorist, would you cross a border any where in the world in a manner that would draw attention to your status as terrorist? Would you wear a uniform that says "al-Qaeda" on a neat little patch over your pocket?

I think the notion of "We do not have a single foreign fighter inside Iraq" is horse hockey, and anyone who says it and expects to be believed is nutz.

[MSgt213]

16. Ask your self how 135 thousands troops can control 25 million Iraqis

guard over 10,000 prisoners and guard all the convoys making trips all over Iraq to deliver tons and tons of supplies the troops need each day. How many people could they have on the any borders to keep people out when people were crossing and recrossing the borders during the invasion.

[freeforall]

17. Right you are!

[Rebellious Republican]

8. This may just backfire on Bush.........

Nick's father, Michael, blamed the US government for that detention and his son's death.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3709489.stm

[saigon68]

9. Pontius Paul Bremer and Sanchez had a lot to do with it

AND WHILE WE'RE AT IT

WHY WAS THE FBI interrogating him in some JAIL IN MOSUL ?????????

[BadGimp]

11. Can me a tin foil hat wearin Amerika hater but

That's exactly what it was intended to do.

That was it's purpose.

It was staged.

I don't have any factual insight I can offer but I know in my gut that this was made for prime time event intended to provide the red meat for the "WHo cares about those F&^$in Iraqis" crowd.

[KeepItReal]

12. You could make an inference

That there have been times that when Bush & Cos. ratings were in a freefall, some Al Qaeda (or wannabe group) releases a threat or tape or an act that brings "terrorists" back into focus as being the real bad guys...and not the guy who made the U.S.A. the "#1 Rogue Nation" *PRIOR TO* September 11 (because of his misguided and boneheaded policies).

[crossroads]

13. CNN said the message was mis-interpreted

there was no reference to *Al Qaeda* at all!

[BadGimp]

15. Beheaded Man's Firm Was On Right-Wing 'Enemies' List

Beheaded Man's Firm Was On Right-Wing 'Enemies' List

http://www.breakfornews.com/NickBergEnemiesList.htm

just sayin..