While there are as many as 200,000 Americans in Iraq, most are easily identified with specific groups: U.S. military, diplomats and others working for the Coalition Provisional Authority, private contractors working on coalition reconstruction projects or providing security, those working for aid groups, and journalists.
Berg apparently fit into none of those groups, and what's known about his activities in Iraq comes from interviews with his parents and a lawsuit they filed alleging he was being held illegally by the U.S. military in Iraq.
...He kept in touch with his family by phone or e-mail every day. He'd planned to return March 30, in time for a friend's wedding.
He didn't return as scheduled, however, and FBI agents went to the Bergs' West Chester home March 31 and told them he'd been jailed in Iraq.
On April 5, the Bergs sued in federal court in Philadelphia, alleging that the American military was holding their son illegally.
According to his parents, Berg called April 9, saying he'd been released April 6. He said he'd been detained for 13 days after being arrested at a checkpoint in the northern Iraq city of Mosul. He said he didn't know why he was jailed.
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Berg apparently fit into none of those groups, and what's known about his activities in Iraq comes from interviews with his parents and a lawsuit they filed alleging he was being held illegally by the U.S. military in Iraq.
...He kept in touch with his family by phone or e-mail every day. He'd planned to return March 30, in time for a friend's wedding.
He didn't return as scheduled, however, and FBI agents went to the Bergs' West Chester home March 31 and told them he'd been jailed in Iraq.
On April 5, the Bergs sued in federal court in Philadelphia, alleging that the American military was holding their son illegally.
According to his parents, Berg called April 9, saying he'd been released April 6. He said he'd been detained for 13 days after being arrested at a checkpoint in the northern Iraq city of Mosul. He said he didn't know why he was jailed.
The parents of Nick Berg, the American civilian beheaded in Iraq, said on Tuesday their son might be alive if he had not been held for nearly two weeks by Iraqi police and they were angry at the lack of information from the U.S. government about his detention.
Their congressman, Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach, said after visiting Berg's parents that they had been frustrated by lack of information from the U.S. government when Berg was detained without charge by Iraqi police from around March 24 until his release on April 6.
"Had he not been detained for so long it's quite possible he would have made it back to the U.S.," Gerlach said, adding that Berg had missed a plane flight because he was incarcerated .
"They did not feel they were getting the full information they wanted to help them understand what was happening," Gerlach, whose constituency includes the Bergs' Philadelphia suburban hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania, said at a news briefing.
He said he would be seeking further information from the U.S. government as to why they had not provided information to the family.
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Their congressman, Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach, said after visiting Berg's parents that they had been frustrated by lack of information from the U.S. government when Berg was detained without charge by Iraqi police from around March 24 until his release on April 6.
"Had he not been detained for so long it's quite possible he would have made it back to the U.S.," Gerlach said, adding that Berg had missed a plane flight because he was incarcerated .
"They did not feel they were getting the full information they wanted to help them understand what was happening," Gerlach, whose constituency includes the Bergs' Philadelphia suburban hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania, said at a news briefing.
He said he would be seeking further information from the U.S. government as to why they had not provided information to the family.
Quite a different angle. Of course, as always, it's the first spin that makes the biggest impact.
Also, it appears that Berg was not screaming while his head was being sawed off. The film apparently shows that the executioner slit Berg's throat before severing his head, which, while still horrible, is a whole lot more humane.
