I just watched the video of Nick Berg's Death...

[Shananigans]

WTF was I thinking. Seriously...I don't know WHY I watched it...it was like I just had to once I got the link. It's so disturbing. WHY/HOW could anyone do that?

Has anyone else seen this video? If so, what were your thoughts/reactions? (I can't imagine they would be anything but horrified)

[StephNW4Clark]

1. Go to Digby's blog.

He watched it too.

http://www.digbysblog.blogspot.com

[bigwillq]

22. IS this a link to the video?

If not, does anyone have one?
I'm at work and we don't have audio on these computers but I will watch later when I get home or tommorrow.

[geoscamp]

35. Link to video

You can view it at www.thememoryhole.org, the fine folks that brought us the forbidden coffins of Iraqi War casualties.

[bigwillq]

40. Thanks. I'll try to catch it out later (nt)

[theivoryqueen]

2. I won't watch that but am curious as to facts

What kind of implement did they use, did it take one or more persons to complete the task, and how long does it take to finish the job?

[leftistagitator]

5. 1. A big knife

2. 2 people held him down while one cut
3. A surprisingly short amount of time - 30 seconds maybe.

A friend downloaded it, I was going to watch it but the the minute I saw the blade enter his throat and he began screaming in terror I just couldn't watch anymore of it. Especially since they had him talk about his family before they executed him. Even the small part of it I watched left me filled with anger and hatred that I don't know what to do with.

[City Lights]

13. The screaming started while he was still sitting on the floor

in the one I saw. The aduio didn't match the visual. Wasn't even close.

[NMDemDist2]

3. hubby and i just watched the "beheading"part

couldn't find a link to the whole thing (I'd like to see one tho)

Hubby is currently pacing the living room yelling "That is such bullshit! that video was totally staged! Where is all the blood? why wasn't he twitching and struggling? there is NO BLOOD!!"

If you decapitate a living human the blood will spray everywhere! And why were his eyes closed? A person undergoing that trauma will have eyes wide open in death.

This video is pretty stinky I'd say.

If someone does have a link to the entire tape I'd appreciate it.

[yardwork]

7. This is what I have been wondering.

People who have seen the video say that there is very little blood, and what is seen appears to be "pooling." A living neck being severed would release a fountain of gushing blood. Everyone in the scene would be covered with blood.

If this is not what is shown, then the video is not what it is purported to be. Either the entire scene is fake, or the victim was already dead before being decapitated.

An expert needs to take a look at this video.

[Slit Skirt]

9. I have to agree with you

that man was already dead....there was no blood, Iraqi soldiers hands are very white....the tape looks edited...I don't believe it....not for a minute...at least I don't believe the way they are trying to sell it.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.

[Shakespeare]

14. A "good man?"

Uh, NO. Evil, corrupt, craven, opportunistic, shameless, greedy, vindictive, willfully ignorant, arrogant....those words all come to mind, but not "good."

Enjoy your stay....brief though it may be.

[Bunny]

16. Yeah, we're sure a lot better off

since our Fearless Leader took office in Jan 01! Trillions in surplus gone, economy in the tank, and, not one, but TWO wars!!!!! It don't get any better than this!!!! Thank God we've rid the White House of blow jobs!!!! Whew!!!!!



>sarcasm<

[hang a left]

17. Please entertain me for a minute if you might.

Please name all of Bush*s good man points. I really would like to know. Can you help a white woman non dependent on welfare out here.

[Slit Skirt]

18. ignorance...

is bliss...

[AntiCoup2K4]

19. Fuck off you murderer-supporting shit for brains ignorant SHEEP

Bush could shoot your own family right in front of your eyes and you would blame it on Clinton's penis.

[NMDemDist2]

21. Tell us what you REALLY think there Anti hehehehe eom

[AntiCoup2K4]

28. I was holding back, actually....

....The extent of my rage towards anyone who can buy Bush's bullshit at this point goes far deeper. :grr:

[Slit Skirt]

34. thanks for the good laugh

[SmileyBoy]

25. Do you have anything to back up your claim???

Didn't think so.

[NMDemDist2]

26. hmm he didn't last long did he?? eom

[geoscamp]

41. Other doubts

I had doubts when I saw a few stills from the video, but after seeing the video, I would have to say it looks authentic. The video is not of good enough quality to tell for certain whether there is pooling of blood, but it looks like there could be. My doubts center around the cryptic happenings around Nick Berg's capture and detention and his father's politics which disturbingly seem to have a significance in this whole affair. This also seems worthy of an investigation and hearing.

[DoNotRefill]

10. Not necessarily.

If it's done with a guillotine or a sword, and taken cleanly off with one blow, it can fountain spectacularly.

The amount of blood in the video is consistent with the method used. Anybody familiar with forensic blood spatter analysis will tell you this.

He did struggle, but he was bound hand and foot, and had several guys holding him.

You need to stop thinking that Hollywood portrayals are real.

[NMDemDist2]

11. I'm not sure you can cut both carotids and the jugular

all the way thru (to hold up a disconnected head) without a lot more blood. I would be interested to know how you came to that conclusion. I'm not calling you wrong, just not sure I can believe there wouldn't be more blood

[City Lights]

20. AZDem, check out this thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1584046

[NMDemDist2]

24. thanks DesertDem, i'll read thru that and get back to you

but thanks again!

[City Lights]

33. You're welcome. It's long, but interesting and informative.

:-)

[Touchdown]

31. Tarantino isn't realistic, he's cinematic.

When anything is severed from a living body, the muscles contract. The neck has numerous muscles in them. Like rubber bands they are stretched in normal mode. Cut them, and they snap back to their base (Top of spine, shoulder blades, top of sternum). They contract, and constrict...the blood vessels, and many times closing them off. The carotid arteries would spurt once and the pressure sould be released. It happens with severed arms and legs as well. I studied anatomy when I was an Army medic. I refuse to watch this BTW. I do not need snuff films in my memory.

Kill Bill was a fantasy. There's no way that Japanese mob boss could have that much blood in his body that he could turn into a garden fountain when beheaded.

[DoNotRefill]

42. Part of my undergrad work...

was in forensics. I've been to more than a few murder scenes (after the fact, but before the body has been moved) in a professional capacity. I've been involved in legal work in the US involving examination of evidence from murder scenes. I've seen other videos of beheadings, videos in which the authenticity are not in doubt. One of them involved the murder of a Russian soldier by Chechen rebels, and was carried out in almost the exact same manner, but with a hunting knife as opposed to a kitchen knife as in this case. Same position, same cutting action, same general blood pattern, same noise.) And I've seen a real, live, state-sanctioned and carried-out beheading (with a sword) from less than 50 feet away while overseas.

Been there, done that.

[scottcsmith]

30. There's plenty of blood

It's hard to see because the footage is of poor quality. There was blood all over the floor.

[NMDemDist2]

36. yes I (well actually hubby) just watched the entire video

he says on the whole video there is lots of blood. So I take it back re: the "staging" of the video. The first one from a porn site didn't look right at all. The one from the link DesertDem gave me was gruesome but didn't look "doctored" or staged.

What a horrible thing for the Berg family, to have their son the topic of such grisly conjecture.

My apologies for adding to the fray without researching a little further

thanks for the links.

[Hotdiggitydog]

39. The Berg family will inadvertently see the pics hundreds of times

over the years as still images from the beheading will become 'enduring' images of this goddamned war. No doubt they'll have to relive the pain many times over.

[Sapphocrat]

4. Yep...

I finally caved in and watched it. Yes, it's horrible, and stomach-turning, and it's everything described by countless DUers.

I must admit, however, that I didn't get "totally fucked up" by it as warned. I'm not de-sensitized to this stuff at all, but, honestly, I was a lot more disturbed by the Daniel Pearl video... and by footage of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, come to think of it.

Why did I watch it? I wasn't going to, but the constant conspiracy talk on DU finally convinced me to have a look. So perhaps I wasn't as affected as some because I was watching it with a photographer's eye (and a skeptic's). And since I have no sound card, I can't hear the screams.

Have I suppressed my own horror? Maybe. Time will tell.

Nope, I won't be watching it a second time. I saw what I needed to see -- although, unfortunately, it did nothing to sway my opinion on the conspiracy theories one way or the other.

[Suspicious]

6. I have no desire to watch it,

I have enough trouble sleeping at night. I am curious to hear the thoughts of anyone who has the stomach for it and has seen it, though. I've spoken with people who, like someone in this thread, doubt the authenticity of the video.

I just don't have what it takes to watch it and come to my own conclusion.

[Jack_Dawson]

8. If If I can't watch knees getting blown out on Monday Night Football...

you think I'm gonna watch some person get their head cut off? You would be wrong. But props to those of you whom it doesn't bother.

[MGKrebs]

15. I am very curious about this lack of blood issue.

I do not plan to watch that thing. But are there any doctors or other experts here who could comment on the amount of blood?

I am not inclined to believe conspiracies- my theory is that since he was Jewish, someone in the Iraqi police ratted him out- but there is a fair amount of other circumstantial evidence to be considered, and the blood issue might be very significant.

[BlueStateGirl]

37. I watched the tape. There was definitely blood. A significant

puddle actually. But it doesn't , for lack of a better word, squirt, out like I thought it would. I mean , the jugular was severed and I figured there would be much more blood. But then I have never witnessed any living thing decapitated, so i really have no idea.

My best amateur guess is that he was dead when they started the decapitation.

[Padraig18]

23. The most appaling single act I have ever seen.

I was nauseated, and not much nauseates me, as I worked in a funeral home all through high school. :puke:

[goodhue]

27. but is it a "single" act?

time lag and other factors suggest otherwise

[jonnyblitz]

29. I haven't watched it yet ,Paddy.

I don't think I will. :(

[Dying Eagle]

32. I got sick

That was the most brutal thing I have ever seen. It will take a long time to get that out of my head.

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[Shananigans]

43. It just makes me wonder...

I pray to God that he was dead before this happened. However, I did notice a rather large amount of blood so my guess is that he was alive. I guess only time (and an autopsy) will be able to tell.

How could anyone do this??? Then again, how could our troops do any of the things they did. Even though, I don't think the actions are comparable I just wonder where our senses (our, being those of human beings) have gone!

[SarahB]

44. I have no desire to see this.

KNOWING what happens is bad enough thank you very much.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

45. Not gonna do it

No reason to watch.

[JCMach1]

46. Seriously don't watch... I intended not to... but then I did

I won't make that mistake again.

[Mick Knox]

47. Just wondering about the pooling blood

I dont agree that this person was dead before his head was cut off.

But for the sake of argument - does it really matter if they killed him before they cut off his head and just cut out that part of the video?

They did cut the head off of this man. That cannot be denied. If they were "nice enough" to kill him first, well that is a ton more credit than I am willing to give - since I also saw this horrible video, and I dont think it matters one lick.