Posted on 05/13/2004 2:05:20 PM PDT by kcvl
Wow!
That's the quote I've read in news articles.....maybe it was different on TV ?
I read that book recently too! This is getting stranger and stranger! Love Ludlum novels! They seem real!
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.berg13may13,0,1712176.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
EXCERPT
...'An adventurous sort'
The youngest of three children, Berg attended Cornell University, Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Oklahoma. He didn't receive a degree from any of them, but he did find his niche - rigging and repairing telecommunications equipment, some of it hundreds of feet above the ground.
In 2000, he helped set up the electronics equipment at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.
Two years ago, he formed a small company in Pennsylvania, Prometheus Methods Tower Service, named after a character from Greek mythology who stole fire from the gods and brought it to mortals for their use.
Acquaintances describe Berg as equal parts entrepreneur and good Samaritan. He liked lifting weights, enjoyed comedy and had a passion for taking modern technology to Third-World countries. Friends and family say Berg did volunteer work in Kenya and Ghana, where he taught villagers how to make bricks and drill for water.
"He was an adventurous sort. You kind of have to be if you're going to be climbing these big towers 500 to 1,000 feet up in the air, hanging only by a sling," said Walt Billings, a colleague of Berg's who, along with fellow employee Ed Bukont, turned down the Pennsylvania man's invitation to join him in Iraq.
Billings said Berg worked as a subcontractor for a division of his Baltimore-based company, Total Engine Service and Supply Co.
"He did tower work for radio and television stations. He went up the towers and did all the work associated with that," Billings said. "He knew his work was going to be in demand in Iraq, and that it was going to pay quite handsomely.
'On his own'
"We chose not to go just because of the deteriorating circumstances and concern for life and limb. It's a war zone. We saw it a little bit differently than Nick saw it.
"He wasn't attached to any particular company. He was there on his own," Billings said. "But it's not like he was bumming around looking for a job. He was a specialist in tower work, and one of the first contracts being released was for rebuilding of the radio station infrastructure. He wanted to be in the country, on the ground, when that work started to take off."
Because of increasing security concerns, though, the work never took off, leaving Berg in limbo, Billings said.
"It kept getting pushed back. I'm sure he wasn't hanging around because he wanted to hang around. I'm sure he was waiting for that opportunity to break."
Billings said Berg had done work for his company for about a year and a half. He said he had three jobs waiting for Berg once he came back.
Jeff Loughridge, chief engineer for Infinity Stations, based in Washington, also hired Berg for tower work.
"It started as a business relationship, but he became a very trusted friend," he said. "It takes a unique individual when you are having someone do work 500 feet in the air. You have to find someone you trust. They don't come along all the time, Nick was one of these people. I could trust him to do it top drawer."
E-mail from Iraq
When Berg helped install a communication system in Kenya last year, Loughridge said, he would send his clients e-mail about his adventures there and the work he was doing.
He continued that practice in Iraq.
"About Iraq ... I am taking photos - where allowed," he wrote during his trip in January. "It's actually pretty sad - I just got off one of two 320 meter monster towers in Abu Ghraib (also home to the main political prison) which use[d] to support most of Baghdad area's VHF and UHF. Both have been badly looted. ...
"I'll definitely share some of these pix with you and others next time I'm in the area - I'd love to put together a little presentation for SBE [Society of Broadcast Engineers] ... in about six months after I've been on every site and fixed some of them."
(snip)
They probably provided e-mails from Nick Berg saying he was detained. Anyone can do that. Watch:
Hi Little Jeremiah. This is P-Marlowe. I'm sorry I haven't contacted you lately. I've been detained here in Baghdad by the Military police. They will be releasing me tomorrow.
P-Marlowe
There is profile of Berg over at Newsday (dated today) saying that he hung around the hotel a lot, lifted weights and read novels.
Will do, I'm just blown away by this one....and wish I had time to read the entire thread tonight. (I will tomorrow though) I heard the report on CNN...so the mainstream is picking it up.
now Loftus is saying that Mousauoui BOUGHT Berg's used computer. Most people keep their email password stored inside their mail reader, could that be how he obtained it? Maybe he didn't format the drive before selling it.
See the posting
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/message/19463
Tower pro group is the Yahoo site for the professionals, who work on tall towers.
That part makes me think he could have been a naive dupe --- an idealist good with computers and communications --- maybe not up to treason but hanging around some types who were using him --- how many individuals have been asked at least once to leave Iraq? It sounds like the government knew he wasn't safe the way he was living --- but not so concerned with his activities that they had to detain him. You can make friends in college when you're pretty naive especially if you come from a family that steers you in a certain direction, friends who might be impressed by your abilities who would want to use you.
Knight Ridder Newspapers reported that Berg told friends in Iraq that Iraqi police arrested him because he had a Jewish-sounding last name and an Israeli stamp in his passport.
From what I understand he had his own business with his father
You asked a lot of good questions ... I just don't know the answers
But I will say .. this whole thing smells and it smells bad
My two kids have email accounts at OU and they are not like logging into AOL. You have to have several codes to get in the email accounts and the student's email screen name is not one of the items required. It has been like that for a long time. I do not believe Moussoui just happened to use this guy's email account either because he left an open account on a computer lab computer. That is not going to happen according to what my daughter told me!
Moussoui did not live on campus but in an apartment and he was over at Westenheimer Airport on the North Base not on the OU campus so it makes less sense about the email account being used unless he was given the access codes!
I agree with all you said.
I have a radio/TV tower construction company as one of my clients. They have a web site as do all of their competetors. They don't need to go to Baghdad to get business. They have all the business they need right here.
Hmm. Almost the same wording from a friend of Nicks as the father used.
Do all these people really equate "Iraqi's" with "al Qaeda"? Most people make a basic distinction between the two.....
Prairie
He slipped badly when he blurted out the truth: "They killed their best friend."
I don't know about private citizens but Government contractors, civil service, and military that have Government passports have two passports if they travel to Israel and the rest of the Middle East as they don't want to have a passport with an Israeli stamp if they are traveling to Saudi or other ME countries.
My husband used to work for AFMC's Contract Maintenance Center back in the late 70's and he had two passports for that reason. According to someone I just asked, the same is true today.
ROFL, it wasn't my comment...go read posts to me and you will find out who said he wasn't right size.
Yeah, that's it! I do that all the time. Let's me share recipes with OBL.
In fact, the RATs go out of their way to say there is no connection between the Iraqi's and Al Qaeda!
Strange and getting stranger!
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