CIA Says Al-Zarqawi Beheaded Berg in Iraq

[maddezmom]

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the person shown on a video beheading an American civilian in Iraq (news - web sites), based on an analysis of the voice on the video, a CIA (news - web sites) official said Thursday.


Intelligence officials conducted a technical analysis of the video released on an Islamic web site May 11 and determined "with high probability" that the person shown speaking on the tape — wearing a head scarf and a ski mask — is al-Zarqawi, a CIA official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.


The person who is shown speaking in the video — determined to be al-Zarqawi — is then shown on the video decapitating American citizen Nicholas Berg, the official said.


Berg's body was found in Baghdad on Saturday. On Tuesday, an Islamic Web site released the video, titled "Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi slaughters an American infidel with his own hands."


The speaker on the video, now believed to be al-Zarqawi, reads a lengthy statement criticizing Islamic scholars and taunting the crusaders.

~snip~


http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040513/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_american_beheaded_2

Will the story just die or will indpendent anaylsis be done on the tape? The story still stinks to me.


EDITED to Add Rueters link:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CIA: Zarqawi Probably Beheaded Berg



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda supporter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi probably was the one who beheaded American Nicholas Berg on a video shown this week on an Islamist Web site, a CIA (news - web sites) official said on Thursday.



"After the intelligence community conducted a technical analysis of the 11 May video, the CIA assesses with high probability that the speaker on the tape is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and that person is shown decapitating American citizen Nicholas Berg," a CIA official said.


U.S. intelligence agencies had been analyzing the video, which had poor quality audio, for clues about who was responsible.


The Muntada al-Ansar Islamist Web site that posted the video had said that Zarqawi was the one who beheaded the 26-year-old American.



http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040513/ts_nm/iraq_usa_beheading_dc_3

[NMDemDist2]

1. hmmm what can we make of that?

we already knew he was a bad guy and i guess the reports he was blown up in N Iraq are wildly inaccurate.

Will this be a major recruitment tool for him in arab countries do you think?

[havocmom]

4. the guy must have more lives than a cat.

CIA should never kill bad boys; they come in handy anytime you need a villian in a ski mask.

Hmmmmmmmmmm

[keithyboy]

40. They need it to be Al to stop the conspiracy theories

I guess it was his ghost that did it.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

57. All we know for sure is that someone claiming to be from the CIA...

...told the media that one of the voices on the tape sounded like a guy that's allegedly been dead for a while. With no way to know who was speaking, or even if ANY of the people in the video were speaking at all, how could anyone make an identification of any of those people?

First off, I wouldn't trust the media to report the truth even if they stumbled over it, and then I would take with a major grain of salt that the person giving information to the media is actually from the CIA.

Keep in mind that there is a major effort underway by the NeoCons to discredit Tenet and the CIA...and to blame the CIA for the failures of the intelligence presented by the NeoCon, Pentagon-based OSP. Don't forget that the NeoCons are responsible for destroying the CIA career of Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson's wife, and the endangering of the lives of everyone associated with her operation.

Hard to tell what to make of this story, IMHO.

[Just Me]

62. OSP,...never forget. n/t

[Karenina]

74. Some anonymous "CIA official"

Says Al-Z did it, Octavia Nasr RULES OUT that the voice is Al-Z's.
Who ya gonna believe? :freak:

In other news, U.S. tanks desecrate a cemetery near the holy city of Najaf...

[Nashyra]

2. Well does that not tell you that perhaps this could have been

avoided had we stayed "the course" anf gotten Bin Laden instead of going into Iraq to exact revenge for the *'s daddy.

[TroglodyteScholar]

3. But whatever happened..

...to reports that al-Zarqawi was already dead?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4446084/

[havocmom]

10. That just shows ta go ya how incredibly EVIL the guy is

he just won't stay dead. Or he is incredibly cooperative and dies whenever they need a good headline.

Hmmmmmmmmm

[notadmblnd]

22. Yes, he died and had a leg amputated

One would think it would take a great amount of strength and balance to hack a persons head off. If that was a prothesis he was wearing, he certainly mastered use of it, in just little over a year.

[progressivebydesign]

32. Don't mean to be gross...

.. but my uncle had a prosthesis leg.. there is NO way in hell he could kneel over like that.. You really notice it.. I would never watch the video in a million years... I can't get even the most mild descriptions of it out of my head.. but I DO know a new fake leg is not that nimble.

[cmayer]

39. Leg amputation story retracted. Did not happen.

The CIA took that one back months ago. It might not have gotten much play.

One GD post suggested that the men in the video were speaking Russian at one point. A follow up post suggested that they might be Chechnyan. Could be goofball stuff, but a thorough analysis of the tape is needed.

I'm glad it's not my job.

[notadmblnd]

47. This was reported on Faux News last night 5/12/04

the Greta whats her last name show. She actually emphasised this several time to the Govt spokesperson she was talking to.

[MGKrebs]

50. BBC still reporting it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3483089.stm

He is believed to have fled to Iraq in 2001 after losing a leg in a US missile strike on his Afghan base.

[Just Me]

63. Please post a link to the retraction. Thank you. *smile* n/t

[cmayer]

79. I knew I'd seen it somewhere. I think Molly Ivins mentioned it.

Try this:
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/06/us.zarqawi/

[Tinoire]

82. There's one curious sentence there

A U.S. official said Tuesday that al-Zarqawi traveled to Baghdad in May 2002 for treatment of a leg injury but, contrary to previous reports, appears not to have had a leg amputated. The official would not discuss the reason for the change in assessment.

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/06/us.zarqawi/

In other words (mine of course), we have decided that it HAS to be Zarqawi, so we'll make him grow a leg overnight and change our assessment to suit our need.

[Just Me]

83. Has there ever been any proof he is alive with both legs?

This guy has been the ONLY "link" the neocon PNACers have had to hang their hat on for purposes of some tie to 9/11,...the ONLY ONE!!!

We all know that there has been extreme control and scrubbing and filtering of information by the neocon cult that has its claws into our country. Don't we?

Is this individual anything other than a fictional bone to throw out for propaganda purposes?

[SheepyMcSheepster]

5. so....

they can conclude with high probability from an audio track alone? it is obvious the audio does not sync with the events and this guy is covered from head to toe, but with high probability they can say that it is him?

[UpInArms]

6. yeah, right -

the credibility of the CIA is so good!

Let's see - 9/11 - failed

Iraq war - failed

but, yeah! They are bound to know this one!

[goodhue]

7. emphasis on

CIA says

[maddezmom]

17. exactly, aren't there any other countries that can confirm or deny?

:shrug:

[leftchick]

8. None of the people had Jordanian accents!

That was the first thing some expert said on CNN after viewing the tape. This is just more bullshit from the WH.

[lovedems]

9. This doesn't seem right to me.

I can't put my finger on it but it appears they are desperate to make the connection. I saw an interpreter on CNN yesterday and she blew some holes into the CIA interpretation. For example, Al-Queda is never mentioned in the statement.

I don't believe it yet.

[havocmom]

The WH is desperate to show there are 'terra-ists' in Iraq

because all their other excuses for invading have been proven as crappola. Of course, the fact that the terra-ists arrived after we invaded and allowed chaos to reign never gets mentioned.

The junta needed to get the glaring lights off their Sec of Offense and whip the viewers up into a frenzy for revenge again. Might convenient such an evil and previously pronounced DOA arch-villain (wearing a ski mask) obliged at just the right time. Mighty convenient.

Hmmmmmm

[maddezmom]

23. it's so convienent he's making tapes and videos now

<<As recently as March, U.S. officials said al-Zarqawi's practice was not to make taped public pronouncements or take credit for attacks. However, in the last five weeks, he has increased his public profile with at least three recordings, including Berg's beheading.>>

Wonder why started all of a sudden? :eyes:

[havocmom]

25. Doing an album with Michael Jackson soon too... (n/t)

[lovedems]

28. This will probably chalk up to one more failure on top of all the rest.

I swear, their only concern is a one day headline. The truth comes out the next day, buried in the back.

I saw Meyers claiming it was the CIA who claimed it was Zarqawi. It will be buried tomorrow that Meyers misspoke. I know how they do this now.

[0007]

78. ....and the whore networks run with it 24/7 without knowing the truth

Oh, the White House sez it true. Then it's okay, 'eh?

[Mel]

11. CIA said

there was WMD's in Iraq to. :eyes:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

56. Wrong. Tenet told Junior and Powell not to reference WMDs in their...

...respective State of the Union and UN speeches.

The NeoCon, Pentagon-based OSP is the group that kept insisting that WMDs were in Iraq.

[Mel]

65. Right. According to Paul O'Neill's account

Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill, by Ron Suskind. In it O’Neill claims that from Day One the Bush Administration sought to topple Saddam above all other concerns.
O’Neill blasts CIA Director George Tenet when as evidence for Saddam’s WMD threat he produced a grainy photo of an Iraqi factory claimed to be producing chemical and biological weapons.


I see what your saying but Tenet has a piece in the lies and he's the head of the CIA. He may of told them not to use the information in the State of the Union and UN speeches but he was there in the WH from about day one pushing that there where WMD in Iraq.

[BadGimp]

12. no sale

I ain't buyin it...sorry.

I can't escape the sense that this kilig was staged for an American audience and not exclusively by the terrorists.

What a perfect way to deflect attention from the autrocities we committed over there by giveing this mound of red meat the the true America hating right wing nut jobs over here.

[UpInArms]

20. you mean, like this?

Iraqi Prison Abuse Photos Pale In Comparison To Berg´s Beheading

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=1620

Over the past few weeks, Americans have been outraged over the shocking photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse. Nude interrogations, sexual humiliation, attack dogs and other techniques were used to extract information from those in custody.

<snip>

Obviously, a breakdown occurred and illegal actions were taken by our military police. We need to determine whether they acted alone or were ordered to abuse the prisoners. However, it is doubtful that anyone ordered the military police to have sex with each other. So, maybe they did act alone. It is time that we discover what really happened. Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, nothing that has been released or describedmes anywhere close to the brutality involved in the beheading of American Nick Berg. The 26 year old Pennsylvania telecommunications businessman was captured and killed in a gruesome manner by animalistic terrorists who taped the event for an Islamic website. Now the beheading is being shown worldwide, but interestingly Arab television who will show every video tape that is harmful to Americans is refusing to show Berg´s killing. Why? It is becauseit will show the Islamic radicals in a bad light?

The video shows the type of evil we are facing and reminds us why we are in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hopefully, Americans will continue to stand behind our troops in this historic and vital struggle. We need a united American to win this battle. Our next goal should be to locate the terrorists who killed Berg and make them pay the ultimate price. This incident was conducted to try to break American resolve in Iraq,but it will actually have just the opposite effect by mobilizing even more support for our forces. Otherwise, the only winners in the tragic beheading of Nick Berg will be the terrorists and killers who we are battling.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

58. Exactly...and you've noticed that they no longer are considering...

...the idea of releasing any additional torture pics and videos.

[havocmom]

24. Staged is right!

Haven't watched the video, but there were comments that Berg had to have been dead prior to the beheading or our conveniently appearing 'terra-ist'
and his gang would have been sprayed with blood. If 'Berg' were screaming up to the final blow, jet the blood didn't react like it would with a live victim, and the head villain seemed to have 2 legs and the wrong accent...

Staged is right.

Hmmmmmmmm

[mom cat]

35. It looks staged to me too. Is there a larger version anywhere?

It just doesn't look real. How come there is blood slow spreading on the floor and not spraying all over the place? It is clear that the body of the person who had his hear cut off was already dead. Was that a case of compassionate terrorism or the result of someone who had already died- of a lethal injection perhaps? How come the two guys on the ends are not paying attention to the fiery speech? Why does it appear that the man in the center does the dirty work but the guy in the white mask comes up holding the head. And why is the head so void of blood since it had so recently been rubbed all over the bloody floor? Did the butchers decide to clean it up for the cameras?

[prodigal_green]

13. Damn, I wish I could remember

I was listening to the radio (it was either NPR or AAR) and they said it couldn't be Zarqawi because the accent was all wrong. He has a Southern Jordanian accent and the voice is clearly a Norhtern Jordanian accent. I can't remember which program I was listening to when they explained this.

[sinkingfeeling]

14. Did anyone follow the link to the old NBC story...

on Eric Alterman's blog? Apparently, the Bush administration had several changes to wipe him out, but declined.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4431601/

Where's those people that keeping saying Clinton let bin Laden get away?

[DakotaDemocrat]

15. Didn't he have his leg amputated?

Wasn't he the guy that Powell talked about at the UN about having his leg amputated in Baghdad, proving an al-Queda connection? Where's the limp?

Plus, I read somwhere about the reader did not have a Jordanian accent, where Zarqawi (since he's from Jordan) does...

They just keep throwing spaghetti until something sticks, eh?

[Minstrel Boy]

16. And imagine: just last month, he grew another leg.

For over a year we were told he'd been treated for an amputation in Baghdad. Then, in mid-April, the story changed. He now had two legs.

From Molly Ivins, April 13:

Note the interesting little factoids that are being dribbled out as everyone's attention is riveted on the larger slippage in Iraq. Apparently in the spirit of the British civil servant who put out a memo on Sept. 11 advising all departments that today would be a good day to unload any bad news lying around, we now learn that Abu Musad al Zarqawi has two legs.

This will not strike you as a stop-the-presses moment unless you remember that al Zarqawi was one of Osama bin Laden's Number Two men (we seem to have captured several "Number Two" men already, with more still out there.) Pre-war, the administration claimed the reason it was so certain Saddam Hussein had ties to Al Qaeda was that Zarqawi had gone to Baghdad to get his leg amputated. But now, oops, he has two.
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16754

Isn't that an interesting factoid to dribble out just four weeks before the Berg tape?

[daleo]

18. I haven't seen the video, and have no desire too

So, I will have to rely on others. But, I heard this al-Zarqawi character is supposed to be shy one leg. Does the corresponding person in the video appear to be disabled in this regard?

I can't say I have a lot of faith in the CIA's findings:
- wrong about all kinds of things, such as fall of the Soviet Union.
- wrong about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, if I recall Powell's bundle of lies at the U.N.
- more than a few people think the CIA itself may be behind Berg's murder, so their word may not be reliable in this regard.

[Joanne98]

19. Sorry CIA I'm not biting.

I haven't believed anything they say for YEARS. The timing was perfect though. I'd say the prison torture pictures were stopped from release just because of this be-heading video. Maybe Al-Quaida is still working for the CIA :)

[Just Me]

21. So much for my merc theory. n/t

[fishnfla]

26. Are they doing an autopsy on the body?

you know, cause of death, toxicology reports, etc


Anyone know?

[maddezmom]

27. yes, the FBI is heading up the investigation and autopsy

:eyes:

[fishnfla]

30. Thanks for that, the family should have their own done independently

I believe that is their right.

[maddezmom]

45. agree, but it a little late now for any foresnic info

the FBI will have "cleaned-up" everything nicely...

[notadmblnd]

48. Wouldn't a independant autopsy

be able to determine if he was dead before they mutilated him?

[Just Me]

67. Yes, an independent autopsy should be conducted, period. n/t

[Malva Zebrina]

29. Isn't it a shame that we cannot believe a thing anyone says, including our

own intelligence service(s)\? They made such a mess of things so far, how can we believe a thing they say.

[maddezmom]

31. Reuters headline: CIA: Zarqawi Probably Beheaded Berg

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda supporter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi probably was the one who beheaded American Nicholas Berg on a video shown this week on an Islamist Web site, a CIA (news - web sites) official said on Thursday.



"After the intelligence community conducted a technical analysis of the 11 May video, the CIA assesses with high probability that the speaker on the tape is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and that person is shown decapitating American citizen Nicholas Berg," a CIA official said.


U.S. intelligence agencies had been analyzing the video, which had poor quality audio, for clues about who was responsible.


The Muntada al-Ansar Islamist Web site that posted the video had said that Zarqawi was the one who beheaded the 26-year-old American.


The video on Tuesday showed five masked men standing behind Berg. One of them read a statement urging Muslims to seek revenge for Iraqi prisoners abused by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040513/ts_nm/iraq_usa_beheading_dc_3

[cspiguy]

33. stinky. Trying to show Al-Qaeda as a reason to stay fighting in Iraq.

don't believe it.

[ewagner]

34. No Sale!

Not buying it.....

This case has too many unknowns and glitches to buy this line hook, line and sinker......

sorry, CIA not buying today.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[nolabels]

44. This sounds funny Mr. Grovebot, but I do think they are up to something !

http://www.clipart.co.uk/cgi-bin/animdisplay.cgi?animdesc.txt,spaceships,,506,0,0,24,2,6


Mass Media Cover-up
Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press
Edited by Kristina Borjesson, Foreword by Gore Vidal



This is a 10-page summary of the fascinating accounts of 18 award-winning journalists from the book Into the Buzzsaw. All of these writers were prevented by corporate media ownership from reporting major, incredibly revealing news. Some were even fired or laid off. These journalists have won numerous awards, including several Emmys and a Pulitzer Award. Help us to create a more responsible media and a better world. Spread this news across the land.

The committee did not advise the CIA to cease or limit its lawlessness. The Senate Intelligence Committee proposed a bill that would immunize CIA offenders who violate treaties and international agreements while following orders. The bill passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on December 27, 2000. P. 313, 314

means that the Constitution does not apply to the CIA or any US intelligence personnel. Why? Because the constitution provides that all treaties are the supreme law of the land. Not just law, but the supreme law—and no exceptions. There was not a peep from the media about any of this even though such a story would not have affected corporate sponsorship or profits. P. 314, 315 The intelligence committees recommended that the “aggressive recruitment” of “terrorist informants who have human rights violations in their background” be “one of the highest priorities.” Within months of instituting the guidelines, incoming CIA director George Tenet assured Congress that not a single unsavory applicant had been rejected. P. 316



Former ambassador Robert White wrote that Manuel Noriega of Panama, Colonel Julio Alpirez of Guatemala, General Gustavo Alvarez Martinez of Honduras, Colonel Nicolas Carranza of El Salvador, and Emmanuel Constant of Haiti, all major human rights abusers, were CIA informants who “enjoyed profitable contractual arrangements with the CIA not because they were particularly important sources of information, but because they served as paid agents of influence who promoted actions or policies favored by the CIA in that country.” P. 317



Former CIA General Counsel Sporkin revealed that the CIA, not the president, creates findings to fit preordained covert operations and sends the findings to the president for his signature. P. 322



There is next to no meaningful coverage ever of the CIA in the mainstream media, let alone analysis. The few exceptions prove the rule. In 1984, I was involved in one such exception. ABC hired me to help produce a story about an investment firm in Hawaii that was heavily involved with the CIA. I had earlier provided the same story to BBC’s Newsnight, which aired it. The story was fully documented, and nobody, including the CIA, was able to disprove the charges. Part of the report charged that the CIA had plotted to assassinate an American, Ron Rewald, the president of . The ABC report provoked a brutal response from the CIA. The CIA demanded a full retraction without providing any counterproof other than their denial. P. 326, 327
(snip)

http://www.wanttoknow.info/massmediacover-ups

[Cocoa]

36. everything about Zarqawi is disinformation

I believe there is, or was, someone by that name, but that's all I believe.

That letter they conveniently found right before all the bombings was the beginning of the Zarqawi fiction. Now this.

[DenverDem]

37. The CIA should know

they were there shooting the video.

[Dover]

38. Here are some questions I'd like answered

When were the parents notified of their son's death?

When did the Pentagon contact CBS to delay the release of the prison photos?

When did the fuzzy beheading tape first show up on the web?

I think the prison pics and this beheading story are linked and I'm trying to get a time line.

Was the beheading tape produced to cover for or divert from the prison pics?

[Just Me]

46. From what I gather from memory, Berg's disappearance is very close,..

to the time that CBS was asked to delay the release of the prison photos (April 10th). I believe the parents were notified of their son's death on April 30th and apparently he had been dead for at least a couple of weeks. As far as I know, Reuters indicated the video was posted on www.al-ansar.biz on May 11th and 90 minutes later it was down.

This is from memory. I'll try to put sources to that.

<on edit - Tinoire is far more organized than I. I tend to just jot notes here and there.

[Dover]

41. Guardian article on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1215239,00.html

Reaching out from the shadows

Simon Jeffery profiles the Islamist militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been linked to the decapitation of US hostage Nick Berg

Wednesday May 12, 2004

The US-led occupation of Iraq was a great deal less complex at the beginning of the year than it is now. There were no images of abuse in the Abu Ghraib jail, no Shia uprising and no legacy of the siege of Falluja.
Less complicated it may have been, but it was still bloody, with suicide bombers targeting Iraqi cities in attacks that killed hundreds. The name most often attached to them was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's - and with the beheading of the US hostage Nick Berg, he has surfaced again.

The video, put up on Tuesday on an Islamist website, bore the title "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American." Whether he ordered the killing or was himself the executioner is not known.

Zarqawi is a shadowy figure, but most people agree that he is a Jordanian-born Palestinian who fought in Afghanistan, first against the Soviets and then with al-Qaida against the US.

His leg was amputated after an injury sustained in the second campaign, and at some point in 2002 he fled to either Iran or Iraq. US intelligence suggested he received medical treatment in Baghdad.

What happened from then on is less certain. The US indicted him for the murder of a US government official, Laurence Foley, in Amman in Jordan in October 2002, and the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, told the UN security council in February 2003 that Zarqawi had established a base in northern Iraq with the complicity of Saddam Hussein.

Since then he has been linked to many attacks, including those on the Baghdad and Kerbala Shia shrines. An intercepted letter from Zarqawi to the al-Qaida leadership released by the US in March gave a motive for these bombings: he said he could not drive US forces from Iraq, but a sectarian war would prevent Washington leaving a stable government....cont'd

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1215239,00.html

[Snellius]

42. Problems with Berg tape:

I only watched the WMV file passingly, not closely, and without sound. So correct me those who had the stomach to analyze it objectively. Here were the problems I found:

• The video was of unusually poor quality. I don't know of any digital format camera made in the past 5 years that would produce such a bad image. Even if transfered from tape, the quality is the worse I have ever seen.

• At the moment of execution, the camera pulls in, to a completely dark, jerky, blurred image in which nothing can be clearly made out.

• The expression on Berg's face does not seem to change throughout the butchery.

• There is no blood spurting from Berg's main artery.

• Berg's body does not seem to react during the ordeal, as if already dead.

• I didn't listen to the audio, but how could he scream if his throat was immediately cut?

[Just Me]

51. More to add:

- he appears very relaxed/calm

- the suspects have nearly every inch of their bodies covered

- only suspects eyes (and one cannot make out color) and hands show

- suspects hands are "pale"

- suspects are "chunky" and appear to be in a military standing position

- there is some question whether the garments worn by the suspects are authentic

- there has been an interpreter who indicated that neither the words aQ or anything having to do with an exchange of hostages was translated

- when one suspect pulls out knife, there is an 11 min. lapse until the beheading takes place

- the victim does not appear to jerk (involuntarily) or fight during the "event"

- the victim appears far thinner than in previous pictures

- no blood spray is apparent

- that's all that comes to mind right now

[Just Me]

64. Correction.

- the victim appears calm and without indication of stress while the suspects are both asking him to identify himself and as the suspects are making a "statement" for several minutes

- when a suspect pulls out a (small) knife, there is an 11 HOUR lapse until the beheading takes place

[Just Me]

52. More to add:

- there appears to be a kind of tarp on the floor

- the yellow walls resemble those of the prison now under investigation

- victim is wearing prison garb and bare feet with restraints

- the knife used appears rather small

- the dismemberment seemed quick/easy considering the bone and cartlige and the small knife involved

- when the dismembered piece is held up, there appears to be little or no dripping

- there is (I believe) a 13 hr time lapse between the time the victim identifies himself and the time the suspects begin reading

That's about all I can recollect from memory. Some may be repeats. I am not up to examining the video right now even if it is available somewhere. The video I did examine briefly had no sound.

[Nlighten1]

54. The Daniel Pearl video looked the same way.

Strange isn't it?

[Just Me]

59. I missed the Daniel Pearl event.

Was it the same? What happened with that?

Was he related to Richard Pearle?

[maddezmom]

60. no, not related to Perle

here's a link
http://india.indymedia.org/en/2003/04/4717.shtml

[Just Me]

66. The "shadow agents" should be extracted, along with those leaders

who are using them. Seriously, this kind of shit must end. ALL these people should be CAUGHT, charged, tried, and sentenced to the exact sentences that they impose upon others.

This world will not find sanity until this ridiculous crap ends.

[Nlighten1]

70. Daniel Pearl

Was a WSJ reporter who was beheaded in Pakistan. The actual beheading was of poor quality (film wise).

[readmylips]

43. I can't understand how.....

that Al Zarqawi guy can be hanging around so close the the famous Garub(?) Saddam's prison, when the prison is being ran by Americans. Berg's body was found in a near-by small town. That guy Al Zargawi is all over the map, with one amputed leg. How much is the money reward the US has on Al Zargawi's head? This whole thing is a mess.

[FlashHarry]

49. Didn't BushCo pass on an opportunity to "get" Zarqawi?

I seem to recall that they had him in their sites, but backed down. Anyone else remember this?

[KAZ]

55. Uh, yeppers. Link.

Avoiding attacking suspected terrorist mastermind

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4431601/

Edit: From the article.
Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi’s operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam.

[TahitiNut]

53. Bullshit. Based on voice? Show me where anyone's lips even moved!

What a load of total horseshit.

[PATRICK]

81. Yet Osama's voice

cannot, after all this time be absolutely used to authenticate anything for the simple reason the world is more familiar with his real voice. The CIA in this case can claim what they want and this time they want you to be sure.

Since 9/11 we don't know anything about the fate of the top leaders or the authenticity of various odd tapes.

[doc03]

61. I would venture a guess they may have captured Zarqawi and

will bring him out to help get the heat off the torture story.

[maddezmom]

68. CNN link: Berg's family request denied to be at base when body returned

~snip~
A private memorial service for Berg's friends and family is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Friday at a synagogue in his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania. It was not immediately clear when the funeral would be held.

Berg's body arrived Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. His parents had requested permission to be at the base when the coffin arrived, but that request was denied.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, said that refusal came from the Department of Defense.

"Inexplicably that modest request was denied," Specter said Thursday.

~snip~

[saigon68]

69. No PHOTO OP for the Bergs

We are decseding rapidly into a fascist hell.

Mr Berg Sr. will disappear soon.

[0007]

77. Can it be determined if Berg's head was cut off before or after death?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

71. Even Specter is starting to question the madness emanating from...

...the "Evil Neocon Axis" of the Pentagon and White House.

[CWebster]

76. And yet another shadow is cast...

Why?

[0007]

72. I belive the CIA has made a mistake on this one

It is clearly obvious to any intelligent person it was Kim Jong II of North Korea.

[oblivious]

73. Sure if they needed a replacement hate figure.

Just substitute names, any names. It's so easy to be an "unnamed intelligence official".

CIA Says Kim Jong-il Beheaded Berg in Iraq

WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that terrorist leader Kim Jong-il was the person shown on a video beheading an American civilian in Iraq, based on an analysis of the voice on the video, a CIA official said Thursday.

[robbedvoter]

75. They don't have OBL, but a man with uncertain # of legs for October

Building up an alternative to OBL. Just read the MSNBC article about "responsible for 700 deaths in Iraq" - interesting number. Just about all soldiers we lost - so it was this Zarquaei fellow behind them all! How conveeenient!

[Just Me]

80. Is there still a link somewhere that has the video?

I believe I am about ready to take another close look.

[frankieT]

84. my theory

I watched the video again, but more carefully. and I'm pretty sure, Berg was killed right there. I already watched Chechen videos of russian soldiers slaughtered and they're comparable: even a strong young man cannot do a lot, he's tied up, then lies on the ground, a rebel put his shoe firmly on his head, and starts cutting his throat, a lot of blood, and the most horrific scream you could hear from a man, it's less than 5 seconds , and its over. in "Zarqawi's video" despite the poor quality (i always wondered why terrorists use camcorders of the 80's when you can get decent ones for a few hundreds of dollars), i saw the flow of blood right after the beheading, and the face becoming white quickly. then there's a cut in the timecode, that's why the head seems to be so quickly "dried up".
moreover, Berg was ACTUALLY found beheaded, and wether its Al Qaida, CIA, Mossad, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Aliens, all these organizations have their cold-blooded killers capable of such murders.
why would they fake the murder ?
of course, the timing of the release of the video, the mysteries around Berg and Zarqawi in Iraq, the poor quality of the video (image and sound) make me think as everyone here that something isnt right with the official theory.