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Berg's Father Says Bush "A Weapon Of Mass Destruction"
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"We need to let the evildoers on both sides of the Atlantic know that we are fed up with war," said Berg
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By
Mustafa Abdel-Halim, IOL Staff
CAIRO,
May 19 (IslamOnline.net) – Michael Berg, the father of the American
civilian beheaded in Iraq earlier this month, sent a letter to Stop
The War Coalition in London, saying that U.S. President George W.
Bush's "ineffective" leadership is a "weapon of mass
destruction".
"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," he said in the letter,
e-mailed to IslamOnline.net by the Coalition on Wednesday, May 19.
"We
are fed up with the lies from our government about Nick’s detention
and we are fed up with the lies from our government about the reasons
for this war," said the saddened father.
In
mid March, Nick Berg was held by the
U.S.
military in the Iraqi northern city of
Mosul
for no apparent reason, prompting his father to file a lawsuit in a
federal court in
Philadelphia
.
He
was released by the Americans on April 6 and disappeared since April 9
in unknown circumstances.
On
May 12, a video showed five hooded men standing behind Berg while one
of them read a statement denouncing the abuses of Iraqi detainees by
U.S.
soldiers at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.
The
bearded victim was seated on the ground dressed in an orange jumpsuit
while the statement was read.
After
the statement was finished, Berg's captors decapitated
him with a large knife.
'Ineffective'
Michael
Berg, a retired teacher and peace activist, heaped blame on the Bush
administration.
"His
[Bush's] ineffective leadership is a weapon of mass destruction,"
said the father, adding his son took the consequences of the policies
"both stated and given with a wink and a nod by the Bush
administration."
No
weapons of mass destruction, the main pretest of the U.S.-led
invasion-turned-occupation, have been found in
Iraq
more than one year since American tanks rolled into
Baghdad
.
"Bush,
though a father himself, cannot feel my pain nor that of my family or
the world who grieve for Nick because he is a policymaker, and he
doesn’t have to bare the consequences of his acts," said the
grieved father.
"I
am sure that the others looked into my son’s eyes and got at least
just 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," he said in the letter.
Berg
called on the Bush administration to stop "giving preconditions
to our peaceful coexistence on this small planet, and start honoring
and respecting every human’s need to live free and autonomously, to
truly respect the sovereignty of every state whether it be Israel, or
Palestine, or Iraq".
Boost
Berg's
letter is expected to boost the opposition of the invasion of
Iraq
and of the current American administration in the
United States
and
London
.
"People
who know me, ask me how I can stand in front of a TV camera and know
that I am speaking to the people of the world. Seven weeks ago I would
not have been able to do so. But seven weeks ago there was no need to
do so, and the world was not flooding me with mail, email and phone
calls and pouring into me the strength I needed," said Berg.
"This
is a good powerful message that those expected to be pro-war are
turning against it and also the Bush government," John Rees of
Stop The War Coalition told IOL over phone from
London
.
He
said Berg's strongly-worded message would be read out during anti-war
demonstration in
London
on Saturday, May 22.
Rees
expected the rally to draw thousands of Britons infuriated by the
practices of the
U.S.
and British forces in
Iraq
.
Stop
The War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain have called
for the march to demand an end to torture in
Iraq
and the withdrawal of troops from the country, according to the BBC
News Online.
A
total of 200 anti-war protesters demonstrated outside a fundraising
dinner in central
London
on Tuesday, attended by former
U.S.
president George Bush senior.
In
the
United States
, the letter is expected to draw greater opposition to the war, as the
murder of Berg was handled as a high-profile case and received wide
attention.
"The
letter will push many families against the war and Bush administration
to lay down their views unheard earlier," Nihad Awad, of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations, told IOL over phone from
Washington
.
The
advocacy group, along with several Muslim
scholars, issued condemned the beheading of Nicolas, but also
slammed the
U.S.
military aggressions in
Iraq
.
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