[News] George Bush never looked into Nick's eyes
News at freedomarchives.org
News at freedomarchives.org
Fri May 21 11:34:12 EDT 2004
George Bush never looked into Nick's eyes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1221644,00.html
Even more than the murderers who took my son's life, I condemn those who
make policies to end lives
Michael Berg
Friday May 21, 2004
<http://www.guardian.co.uk>The Guardian
My son, Nick, was my teacher and my hero. He was the kindest, gentlest man
I know; no, the kindest, gentlest human being I have ever known. He quit
the Boy Scouts of America because they wanted to teach him to fire a
handgun. Nick, too, poured into me the strength I needed, and still need,
to tell the world about him.
People ask me why I focus on putting the blame for my son's tragic and
atrocious end on the Bush administration. They ask: "Don't you blame the
five men who killed him?" I have answered that I blame them no more or less
than the Bush administration, but I am wrong: I am sure, knowing my son,
that somewhere during their association with him these men became aware of
what an extraordinary man my son was. I take comfort that when they did the
awful thing they did, they weren't quite as in to it as they might have
been. I am sure that they came to admire him.
I am sure that the one who wielded the knife felt Nick's breath on his hand
and knew that he had a real human being there. I am sure that the others
looked into my son's eyes and got at least 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.
George Bush never looked into my son's eyes. George Bush doesn't know my
son, and he is the worse for it. George Bush, though a father himself,
cannot feel my pain, or that of my family, or of the world that grieves for
Nick, because he is a policymaker, and he doesn't have to bear the
consequences of his acts. George Bush can see neither the heart of Nick nor
that of the American people, let alone that of the Iraqi people his
policies are killing daily.
Donald Rumsfeld said that he took responsibility for the sexual abuse of
Iraqi prisoners. How could he take that responsibility when there was no
consequence? Nick took the consequences.
Even more than those murderers who took my son's life, I can't stand those
who sit and make policies to end lives and break the lives of the still
living.
Nick was not in the military, but he had the discipline and dedication of a
soldier. Nick Berg was in Iraq to help the people without any expectation
of personal gain. He was only one man, but through his death he has become
many. The truly unselfish spirit of giving your all to do what you know in
your own heart is right even when you know it may be dangerous; this spirit
has spread among the people who knew Nick, and that group has spread and is
spreading all over the world.
So what were we to do when we in America were attacked on September 11,
that infamous day? I say we should have done then what we never did before:
stop speaking to the people we labelled our enemies and start listening to
them. Stop giving preconditions to our peaceful coexistence on this small
planet, and start honouring and respecting every human's need to live free
and autonomously, to truly respect the sovereignty of every state. To stop
making up rules by which others must live and then separate rules for
ourselves.
George Bush's ineffective leadership is a weapon of mass destruction, and
it has allowed a chain reaction of events that led to the unlawful
detention of my son which immersed him in a world of escalated violence.
Were it not for Nick's detention, I would have had him in my arms again.
That detention held him in Iraq not only until the atrocities that led to
the siege of Fallujah, but also the revelation of the atrocities committed
in the jails in Iraq, in retaliation for which my son's wonderful life was
put to an end.
My son's work still goes on. Where there was one peacemaker before, I now
see and have heard from thousands of peacemakers. Nick was a man who acted
on his beliefs. We, the people of this world, now need to act on our
beliefs. 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. We are fed up with the lies. Yes, we are fed up
with the suicide bombers, and with the failure of the Israelis and
Palestinians to find a way to stop killing each other. We are fed up with
negotiations and peace conferences that are entered into on both sides with
preset conditions that preclude the outcome of peace. We want world peace now.
Many have offered to pray for Nick and my family. I appreciate their
thoughts, but I ask them to include in their prayers a prayer for peace.
And I ask them to do more than pray. I ask them to demand peace now.
· Michael Berg is the father of Nick Berg, the US contractor beheaded on
video in Iraq this month by a group believed to be linked to al-Qaida. This
is an extract from his message of support for the Stop The War Coalition's
demonstration, End the Torture - Bring the Troops Home Now, which will be
held at 11am tomorrow at the Embankment in London
The Freedom Archives
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