salon.com contacts DFU over FR's role in murder of Nick Berg by Islamofascist Terrorist b*st*rds

email from salon.com reporter | 5-12-04 | dfu

[doug from upland]

(Note to Admin Moderator: if trolls join this thread to disrupt it or cause problems for FR, please immediately remove stupid, foolish, numbskull, airheaded, threatening, nonsensical comments.)

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Apparently, I am in the middle of a controversy regarding the brutal murder of Nick Berg by the Islamofascist terrorist b*st*rds.

I received the following FReepmail today from a salon.com reporter and spoke to him off the record. I will either call him back on the record or he can use my comments here on the record.

Salon.com inquiry, your post on the "enemies list"
From (redacted) | 05/12/2004 11:45:13 AM PDT read

Doug,

Hello. My name is (redacted), and I'm a reporter at Salon.com. On March 7, you posted a list of signatories to an ANSWER protest; that list, which is now being discussed by a few left-leaning bloggers, includes the name of "Michael S. Berg," who is the father of Nick Berg, the man beheaded in Iraq.

It seems as if you just posted a copy of the list from the ANSWER site, but the trouble is, your list appears much longer than the one on their page. Michael Berg's name -- and many others -- is not on their page.

So I wonder if you can tell me where you got your list -- have you any idea why yours is longer than the one they have?

I also wonder what you think about the fact that you named these people enemies; do you really think they're enemies? Some people on left-leaning blogs are floating the theory that Nick Berg was detained or singled out by U.S. authorities in Iraq because of the list you posted. I wonder what you think of that idea?

I'm not trying to attack you; I'm a reporter trying to get to the bottom of this story, and it'd be great to get your input. Can you e-mail or call, or let me know where to reach you? Thanks so much.

--(redacted)
Reporter, Salon.com (phone number redacted)

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NOTE: my first suggestion was to tell the report to ask ANSWER why many of the names have been removed from that original post.

Here is my post from a few months ago -- HERE IS THE ENEMY -- they have posted their names

Here is the link for the following excerpt on an FR thread -- Beheaded Man's Firm Was On Right-Wing 'Enemies' List

Original source -- original article by Fintan Dunne

Beheaded Man's Firm Was On Right-Wing 'Enemies' List
Breakfornews.com ^ | May 12, 2004 | Fintan Dunne
Posted on 05/12/2004 12:59:00 PM PDT by Tarantulas
Beheaded Man's Firm Was On Right-Wing 'Enemies' List

The family firm of beheaded American Nick Berg, was named by a conservative website in a list of 'enemies' of the Iraq occupation. That could explain his arrest by Iraqi police --a detention which fatally delayed his planned return from Iraq and may have led directly to his death.

Nick Berg, 26 disappeared into incommunicado detention after his arrest by Iraqi police in March, 2004. He vanished again after his release 13 days later. His body was found last Saturday in Baghdad, and a video of his beheading --supposedly by a radical Islamic group-- was posted on the Internet on Tuesday.

The official story of his gruesome murder has many dubious aspects, not least the real reason why Iraqi police detained the young man at a checkpoint. New research by BreakForNews has uncovered a plausible explanation.

The FreeRepublic.com web site and forum has a reputation for right-wing views, often fanatical Republican and relentless pro-war activism.

On 7th March, 2004, just three weeks before the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, an 'enemies' list of anti-war groups and individuals was posted on the Free Republic forum.

It began: "Here you are, FReepers. Here is the enemy."

The list had been copied from publicly available endorsements of a call to action for an imminent anniversary antiwar protest on 20th March, 2004. The protest was being organized under the banner of the A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism).

Among those listed as having endorsed the call to action was this entry: "Michael S. Berg, Teacher, Prometheus Methods Tower Service, Inc."

That's Nick Berg's father, Michael who acts as business manager for his son in their family radio communications firm, Prometheus Methods Tower Service.

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Here is my immediate reaction --- what is the color of the sky in the fantasy world which Fintan Dunne calls home?

I can't wait for her next story. Let's set the scenario. Two guys are driving to the airport. Their upper radiator hose bursts, the car overheats, and they miss their flight. They get to the airport a few hours late and are able to catch the next plane. The plane crashes. Fintan Dunne headline: Pep Boys Implicated in Death of Innocent Travelers. If anyone could conceive such twisted logic, it would be Ms. Dunne. Without a defective radiator hose, they would have made it to the airport on time. Without a defective radiator hose they would not have been on the flight where the shoebomber detonated his loafers in the seat just behind the wing.

Do we have an official "enemies list"? If so, what do we do to them? Who is keeping track?

I will let you make some comments before I make additional on the record comments. Please don't be crazy. Think through your argument carefully. Some of this may appear on salon.com and we can perhaps help them get up to about 2 cents per share.

[weegee]

I used to read Pak News for laffs.

[doug from upland]

I had never heard of it before today.

[doug from upland]

And they called us conspiracy nuts for calling The Rapist a rapist. We truly live in a parallel universe.

[doug from upland]

I had no idea who Michael Berg was until a few days ago. This conspiracy has taken on a life of its own.

[rwfromkansas]

You hit the nail on the head.

[tpaine]

Seems like a fairly simple issue..
-- What possible motive could you have had for adding Bergs name etc, to the list you originally cut/pasted & posted at FR back in March?
48 tpaine

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I had no idea who Michael Berg was until a few days ago.
This conspiracy has taken on a life of its own.
544 -Doug-

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Exactly. This 'reporter' was absurd to claim otherwise.
- OR, more likely, was knowingly using agit-prop techniques to kick-start the conspiracy theory.

[doug from upland]

I really don't know how the "reporter" created this fantasy. I guess that because ANSWER has changed the list on their site and omitted Berg's name, there is some kind of conspiracy about adding his name. I never heard of him before. I paid attention to only a couple of names of that list that stood out---like the idiot in the Coast Guard who is supposed to be defending this nation. The other was the Washington State Church of Rock-and-Roll in Bellingham, Washington. And, of course, the Poets for Peace (spelled Poest). I have a poem for them --

It is clear you have air in your head
'Cause your name's on the site that I read
You say you're a poet
And though they may know it
Do you think that they don't want you dead?

[jjbrouwer]

"Mr. Reporter, here is my statement. You may use any of the quotes..."

They probably would have settled for a simple email reply.

[CharlieOK1]

bttt!

[doug from upland]

Shhhhhhh. Let's keep it secret.

[Khurkris]

"ya know............if we have this much power................................maybe we should use it for (ahem) useful stuff."

...well...if ya got the tools...and ya got the talent...and ya got the time...heh heh heh...

[Jim_Curtis]

Too bad Al Qaeda didn't do a google search. They might have determined that Berg was one of them by the ANSWER link and spared his life.

I still can't figure out why Michael Berg would use his "pro-Bush" son's business name in ANSWER propaganda. If he was being outed at all it was as being pro-Al Qaeda, unless Al Qaeda has a beef with ANSWER that no one knows about.

[rogue yam]

Secondly, Nick Berg was pro-Bush and pro-Iraq war. His father is the Answer member.

Is there any source for the "pro-Bush" views of Nick Berg aside from the statement to that effect by his leftie father? Is it possible that the father lied about this in pursuit of his (the father's) anti-Bush agenda?

[rogue yam]

...Michael Berg signed an anti war list despite the fact that his own son disagreed with him.

Is there any source for the "pro-war" views of Nick Berg aside from the statement to that effect by his leftie father? Is it possible that the father lied about this in pursuit of his (the father's) anti-Bush agenda?

[rogue yam]

... Nick, who was PRO WAR

Is there any source for the "pro-war" views of Nick Berg aside from the statement to that effect by his leftie father? Is it possible that the father lied about this in pursuit of his (the father's) anti-Bush agenda?

[CholeraJoe]

What a load of crap. BTW, just finished Richard Poe's book. Loved your comments.

[piasa]

This post might interest you since Joseph Wilson was involved with MOVEON

[DrewsMum]

“It’s all Bush’s fault”

I was roaming through the archives here at FR and I found this little comment from you in May of 2004....

hahahahhaha They’ve been blaming bush a long time... or were you prophecying??? LOL