Diplomat's E-Mails Show Berg in Custody

[floda]

By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press Writer


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New Tampa Bay Devil Rays general partner Stuart Sternberg, left, poses with managing general partner Vince Naimoli before the start of the Devil Rays game with the Texas Rangers Thursday, May 13, 2004, in St. Petersburg, Fla. A group led by Sternberg purchased the interests of five of the franchise's general partners. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)








A U.S. diplomatic official in Iraq told the family of slain American Nicholas Berg that he was being detained by the U.S. military when they lost contact with him for several days in early April, according to e-mails provided by the family Thursday.
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040513/APA/405130871

U.S. government officials have said Berg, who was found dead last weekend in Baghdad, was detained by Iraqi police and was never in the custody of American forces.

He is believed to have been kidnapped within days of his release by either Iraqi police or coalition forces, and later beheaded by militants who videotaped the slaying.

To back its claims that Berg was in U.S. custody, the family showed The Associated Press an April 1 e-mail from Beth A. Payne, the U.S. consular officer in Iraq.

"I have confirmed that your son, Nick, is being detained by the U.S. military in Mosul. He is safe. He was picked up approximately one week ago. We will try to obtain additional information regarding his detention and a contact person you can communicate with directly," the e-mail said.

more...

http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040513/APA/405130871

[Spazito]

1. Bam!

A solid blow to the lying bush cabal! The question that becomes, to me, bigger and bigger, why are US officials lying? What are they afraid of?

[Demonaut]

11. LIHOP, what other explanation could it be

Now the american public is pissed about arab abuses, distract the sheeple from the real problem. Once I truly thought the powers that be were to be trusted, that they had the american public interest at heart..but now I realize that their only interest is self interest. preaching to the choir I know.

[Just Me]

24. I am a firm MIHOPper on this one. n/t

[UpInArms]

2. the lies and cover-ups regarding Nick Berg are astounding

the implications of such are frightening and the possibilities are endless.

The more I read, look at and think about this, the more it appears that our government, our military and our fellow citizens are involved in a dastardly plot.

[thecrow]

3. So why are we being told otherwise??

This is incredible.
But will this reach the mainstream "press"?

[UpInArms]

17. this story is also in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V2117.AP-American-Behead.html?urcm=y

with an Associated Press by-line

Diplomat's E-Mails Show Berg in Custody

AP Photo SPD101

By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press Writer

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP)--A U.S. diplomatic official in Iraq told the family of slain American Nicholas Berg that he was being detained by the U.S. military when they lost contact with him for several days in early April, according to e-mails provided by the family Thursday.

...more...

[BattyDem]

4. But ... but ...

The US said we never had him - the Iraqi police had him. If these emails are real, that would mean the US is ... gulp ... LYING!!! :eyes:

[AP]

5. It might be time for people to watch Costa-Gavras's Missing again

if you haven't seen it in a while.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6300182738/qid=1084472684/sr=8-2/ref=pd_ka_2/104-9735327-8803944?v=glance&s=video&n=507846

[Judi Lynn]

12. AP, bless your heart. I had given up, as I could NOT find it anywhere.

It's simply not available from Blockbuster, etc. for rental or purchase.

I missed it the first time and have been trying to find it to buy for ages. I'm thrilled I saw your post and already bagged it.

I don't think people were prepared for it the first time around, anyway, as we had been living DEEPLY within our well-prepared, propaganda cocoon. We had NO IDEA how often and how horribly they had lied to us.


Charles Horman, tortured to death in Chile, and his wife, Joyce



The creature from the black lagoon, friend of Nixon & Kissinger, Augusto Pinochet

[AP]

19. Are you my doppleganger?

Sometimes I wonder.

[DoYouEverWonder]

20. Why is it that most Nazis

love to play dress up?

[LeftHander]

6. If MIHOP or Even LIHOP for 911

Berg would be easy compared to that....

[k in IA]

7. later today the response will be "Beth A Payne does not work for the

US consular office in Iraq and we have no idea who she is and where this e-mail could have come from or if it is real".

[LowerManhattanite]

8. Uh-oh...

...something is rotten in Denmark here with this story. And I think the family's onto something that could blow the whole Iraq situation wide open. This aint tinfoil hat talk....I just have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that the government's culpability in this tragedy is gonna be a LOT greater than we know now.

[DUreader]

9. Beth Payne will shortly issue a mea culpa, 'I was mistaken'

[TacticalPeek]

10. I'm sure Ms. Payne "misconfirmed", and then "mistyped" several words.

:evilgrin:

[daa]

13. I said chimpy would do anything to stay in power nt

[mulethree]

14. Friggin sloppy

If we're paying pro's to run our country and they decide they need to do underhanded stuff and cover it up, why are they so bad at covering their tracks?

Can't we afford real professionals? All this incompetent racketeering is a national embarrassment. Perhaps we need to enforce more laws to remove the profit from private-sector racketeering so we can induce more real pro's to public service?

Either that or just quit the amateurish efforts and resort to being truthful.

[Changenow]

22. The answer to that is easy.

They have never had to hide anything, in fact keeping their crimes out in the open is a sure way that the media won't cover them. The list of examples is as long as the list of crimes. There is barely one of them that the real motives or actions aren't available to anyone who choses to learn about them.

This story is a small example of the disinterest in the story after the first run. Unless it's Lacy's last meal they just won't investigate. Period.

[denverbill]

15. Beth Payne article.

http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/rotarian/0310/iraq.html

Rotarian Beth Payne is no stranger to international hot spots, having served the U.S. Department of State in Israel, Kuwait, and Rwanda.

But her current assignment may present the ultimate test of her ability to perform under pressure. The 37-year-old member of the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., recently was named the first U.S. consul to postwar Iraq, temporarily attached to the Defense Department's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. Her main duties are to aid and protect U.S. private citizens in Iraq and process U.S. visa requests. Creation of a consular affairs office is seen as an important early step in the troubled nation's rebuilding process.
<snip>

[markses]

16. Scroll down a bit on Google and check out her PowerPoint slides

On security in Iraq for American contractors and those seeking business. She was certainly the correct person for the Berg family to contact.

[Mountainman]

23. Has she spoken about this since the death of Berg?

[David__77]

18. Aha!

Of course they are all liars of the worst sort! If I were Berg's parents, I would have serious doubts as to how involved the US might have been with his murder...

[maddezmom]

21. I knew the emails would be proven to be helpful....

to the Bergs case. Wonder how many more there are? :)

[Nay]

25. And I wonder how much more evidence the Bergs possess,

and how long they will have to wait for the BFEE to issue more lies before they reveal that evidence to blast the lies all to hell?

[maddezmom]

29. probably lots: links between Berg and Moussaoui ???

especially now that we found out the FBI contacted him after 9/11 about his password and Moussaoui.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=553244&mesg_id=553244

edited to add DU link...

[Just Me]

30. That was an amazing revelation. n/t

[Windy]

31. The Moussoui link

is just the buzz word to inflame Bushco's base....the lemmings.
All you have to do is mention something re: 911 and they're all rooting on the pres and cursing anyone that speaks against them.
I bet if you go to Free Republic the buzz is that he has a connection to al queda..that he is another John Walker Lynn...
trust me...look and I'm sure I'm right!!! Sick

[maddezmom]

33. nah, never go to Freeperville

as for your speculation...agree 100% it the RW spin machine in overdrive.

[Just Me]

41. Black-hole, with no breathing space, at all. Anti-democracy/freedom spot.

[Eloriel]

37. Here's more evidence --

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.berg13may13,0,1712176.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

On March 24, he was detained by Iraqi police in Mosul in a late night sweep. He was released on April 6 after his parents filed alawsuit in federal court in Philadelphia, contending that the U.S. military was illegally holding him.

U.S. officials say he was never in the custody of coalition forces. While in Iraqi police custody, they said, he was interviewed three times by FBI agents who were suspicious of his identity and warned that the country was too dangerous for unprotected Americans. He was offered a free flight home, but he declined, officials said.

But Hugo Infante, a Chilean reporter who got to know Berg in Baghdad, told Newsday that Berg recounted that Iraqi police had quickly handed him to U.S authorities in Mosul and that he had been held the entire time in a jail where U.S. soldiers were his guards.

Berg contacted his parents April 9, but he was not heard from again.

-- more --

I imagine he also told his parents all about it, don't you?

This link was first posted in this thread:
Reporter says Berg held in custody entire time by US authorities
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x551660

[Tellurian]

26. Treason, is a high crime... When will someone in Congress point this out

to the media and the House?

[Piperay]

27. I am glad that the family

is speaking out with the truth and hope they will continue to do so. I also hope they are being very careful, because with this rotten regime they could be in danger. :scared:

[salin]

28. ah... so that is why the FBI announced that they had asked the iraqi

police to hold him... Wondered why they were quasi contradicting earlier statements with this announcement. Guess, due to Berg's family, their hands were forced.

[John_H]

32. I consider myself the least tinfoil hat DUer--but this stinks like a rat!

[bklyncowgirl]

34. I'd been resisting the conspiracy theories but this is just too weird

One of the theories going around about Berg is that he was a spook for Mossad--at least that's what he said in one of his e-mails that the Iraqi police thought.

Who was this guy, an innocent do gooder who got messed up in something he couldn't control or was he working for something.

[bklyncowgirl]

35. --er I meant someone--not necessarily Mossad

[Nlighten1]

36. In the US justice system..this would make them a suspect...

because they were the last to see him alive. Right?

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Just Me]

39. US Officials are STILL denying he was in US custody!!!

Deny, deny, den-freakin-ny!!! Do they really expect anyone to trust them when the spout so many lies and inconsistencies?

[RebelOne]

40. Heard that on TV. They said the information was wrong.

Really pisses me off. The Berg family has it in black and white.