Stung Eye
Stung Eye

« [May 27] +/- ve
Freedom

Finally [Jun 14] »

Michael Berg is the father of Nicholas Berg, an American businessman believed to have been murdered by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2004.

When asked about the murder of al-Zarqawi by US forces, Michael Berg had this to say:

Well, my reaction is I’m sorry whenever any human being dies. Zarqawi is a human being. He has a family who are reacting just as my family reacted when Nick was killed, and I feel bad for that.

I feel doubly bad, though, because Zarqawi is also a political figure, and his death will re-ignite yet another wave of revenge, and revenge is something that I do not follow, that I do want ask for, that I do not wish for against anybody. And it can’t end the cycle. As long as people use violence to combat violence, we will always have violence.

The full text is available on Cnn.com.

A video of the interview was shown, in full on CNN, the morning of June 8th. Portions of the interview have in rotation since then, with the most provocative ideas absent.

* * *

Whenever war and murder are celebrated in the media, a dangerous meme is passed forward, further eroding global empathy.

Some recent headlines:

  • Bush Praises Death of Terrorist Al-Zarqawi [Cnn]
  • Why Zarqawi’s Death Is So Important [Houston Chronicle]
  • In radio address, Bush celebrates a “good week” [Newsweek]
  • A Big Victory for Good Over Evil [Fox News]
  • World press trumpets death of “executioner” [Dispatch Online]
  • In the end, a fittingly bloody blow [The Australian]
  • Zarqawi Has Been Eliminated [Blogcritics]
  • Who’s next? [Cnn]

Meanwhile, we have “homegrown terrorists” here in Canada, who do not believe in freedom. Actually, they do, but they will define it differently.

In war we kill with impunity those whom we perceive as tyrants, opposed to our ideals. In doing so, we too become tyrants.

Saddam Hussein was indirectly responsible for 30,000 deaths a year in Iraq. Now, George Bush is indirectly responsible for about 60,000 deaths a year.

Both are seen as tyrants by different “sides” who call each other evil.

Creative Commons License Valid CSS!