Michael Berg speaks out against Bush's war
Famous shot of Damian Williams' victory dance after beating Reginald Denny
June 16, 2006
Every once in a great while, human beings will stand up and react to situations in a manner which shows integrity
well beyond what most humans could conceive, let alone perform. In my mind, two stand out.
Let’s
look at the most recent one first. Michael Berg’s son, Nicholas, was
beheaded in Iraq. The perpetrators made available a videotape of the
beheading with bogeyman al-Zarqawi supposedly cutting off Berg’s head.
The
outrage in the U.S. was at a fever pitch. When Michael was first
interviewed about his son’s death, the warmongering administration
assumed they had a propaganda coup that would carry on for months. They
were wrong. Michael Berg quickly let it be known that he blamed his
son’s death on the U.S. government. Various occurrences made him come
to this conclusion. First, Michael stated that the war was illegal and
anyone’s death had to be attributed to the U.S. government for invading
Iraq. Secondly, his son’s death was shrouded with murky instances of
the U.S. arresting him and then releasing him. A few days later, he
disappeared.
With
the recent death of al-Zarqawi, the administration thought they may
still be able to salvage Michael Berg for propaganda purposes. Wrong
again. Instead of gleefully talking of al-Zarqawi’s death, Berg
lamented that he was sad another life was lost in the preposterous
ongoing spiral of violence in Iraq.
On June 9, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now of WBAI-FM New York interviewed Michael Berg. Here are a few words
from that discussion that encapsulate Berg’s current feelings about Iraq and his son’s death:
AMY GOODMAN: Can you first share your reaction to the reported death of Zarqawi?
MICHAEL BERG: Well,
I was not relieved, not comforted by his death. In fact, I was saddened
by his death, as I am about any human's death. Zarqawi is not the only
one that died if 1,000 pounds of bombs were exploded there. Aside from
being a human being and having people that love him that will suffer
the same pain that my family and I have suffered, Zarqawi is a
political figure. He and George Bush have been playing a volleyball
game of revenge for too long now, and this is just another spike in
that volleyball game, and it will bring about only more death, more
sadness, and it will perpetuate this endless cycle of revenge.
AMY GOODMAN: Michael Berg, do you believe that Zarqawi beheaded your son personally?
MICHAEL BERG: I
don't know, and I say that because I have been lied to so many times by
the F.B.I., the State Department, and by George Bush — we've all been
lied to by George Bush -- that I neither believe nor disbelieve
anything that I hear they said or that I hear them say. So I really
can't — I really don't know. I don't even know if Zarqawi was alive at
that time or whether he's been dead for a long time, whether he ever
existed.
AMY GOODMAN: Why are you — why do you have these questions?
MICHAEL BERG: Again,
because I've been lied to so many times. I don't believe anything the
American government says. I don't believe anything the F.B.I. says. I
don't believe anything the State Department says because I have been
lied to by them. The F.B.I. came to my house on March 31 and said, "We
have your son." On May the 11th, they denied they have my son. The
State Department sent me an email. I still have the original email
saying, "your son is being held in a military prison in Iraq." A couple
days later, they said — a couple of weeks later they said that that was
wrong, that he wasn't held in a military prison. George Bush lied to us
about weapons of mass destruction. He lied to us about the Al Qaeda
presence in Iraq before he destabilized the country, and he lied to us
about Iraqi involvement in 9/11. How can I believe anything that any of
these people say? The whole thing can be orchestrated. Maybe many
people are Zarqawi, maybe not. I don't believe, nor do I disbelieve.
Michael
Berg could easily have played the grieving parent role. George Bush
could have spoken about Nicholas in glowing terms and used his death to
reinforce the need "to stay the course in Iraq" to avenge Nicholas’
demise. Instead of being able to use the beheading as prime propaganda,
Michael Berg stopped the bandwagon before it left the parking lot. In
displaying such integrity, Michael Berg is scorned by many U.S.
citizens. He’s been called anti-American and a poor parent. However, he
will withstand these ridiculous taunts for the sake of truth.
Another person who showed unbelievable restraint and willingness to put things in proper perspective is Reginald
Denny. On April 29, 1992, his life changed forever, and not for the good.
Minutes
before he loaded his 18-wheel truck with 27 tons of sand for delivery
in Inglewood, the verdict in the Rodney King trial was announced. The
police officers who had brutally beat King (the entire incident was on
videotape), were pronounced innocent. Immediately, a rebellion began in
Los Angeles.
At
6:46pm, at the intersection of Florence Avenue and Normandie, Denny’s
truck was stopped and a group jumped on it and pulled him out of the
cab. For the next few minutes, he was beaten by a crowd and had a
concrete block thrown at his head. A motionless Denny was eventually
surrounded by area residents who protected him from further injury.
This
incident was shown live on TV as it was filmed by a news helicopter
directly overhead. It was replayed hundreds of times. The most famous
part showed Damian Williams throwing the concrete block on Denny’s head
and then performing a victory dance.
Miraculously, Denny survived. His skull was fractured in 91 places and a permanent crater remains in his head.
Many of those who attacked Denny were thugs from a local gang, not irate citizens who were protesting the
racist decision of the court. Their trial began in August 1992.
When
Denny took the stand, he shocked those in attendance with his statement
that he did not think any of the defendants should serve jail time. He
realized that the outrage in Los Angeles was legitimate and that he
happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
However,
the jury did assess sentences. Damian Williams received the longest: a
sentence not to exceed 10 years. (Williams was released early for good
behavior in 1997. In 2003, he received a life sentence in court for
murdering a drug dealer in 2000).
When the verdict was read, Denny approached Williams’ mother and hugged her. Other family members then
exchanged embraces with Denny and uttered words of reconciliation.
Today, Denny lives in Lake Havasu City in Arizona. He is a self-employed motor boat mechanic. He never discusses
the incident of April 29, 1992.
Both
Denny and Berg could have easily gained notoriety that would have made
them rich and famous. They could have been the lifelong ultimate
victims. However, they chose to exercise integrity and truth over the
greenbacks. By doing so, they are much richer than most human beings.
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