One purely speculative theory of mine is this:
Berg was in Iraq with the comm tower non-job for cover-for-action to travel around odd places.
His real mission was to act as a messenger, trying to become a go-between from Int'l A.N.S.W.E.R. to Al Queda. I mean, ANSWER can't exactly just pick up a phone to call Al Queda. To communicate with them, you have to GO to where they ARE, and fish around dropping hints, until you're picked up.
That's when you tell them the glorious news: you have come from a group "allied in the struggle against the Western imperialists" yadda yadda. You have a message, and an offer to coordinate activities, or perhaps hints on how to tweak their operations for the best effect, IOW, what and when to pull an operation which will result in the defeat of George W. Bush in November.
You expect to be treated fairly well, perhaps roughed up like the fake Japanese hostages/peace activists. After all, you can't talk to Al Queda, and just walk away like nothing happened.
But they saw the Jewish name Berg, and the Israeli passport stamp, and that trumped his ANSWER credentials. When the AG Prison scandal hit the papers.... Nick went on to serve a higher Al Queda purpose: human sacrifice on film.
That's why Daddy Berg (Mr. ANSWER) said "They killed their best friend."
The above is pure speculation on my part.
PING!
I'm trying to remember this correctly. He was riding around in a taxi cab trying to dig up business or perform work on the day he was taken into custody. I have no idea what equipment is used to fix radio towers, but certainly more than what can be fit in a cab maybe?
He was wandering around in the dark "acting suspicious". So he was looking for work in the dark?
bttt
The photo circulating shows his body not hanging, but rather laying prone on the pedestrian walkway of the bridge.
Ping.
John Batchelor on WABC in New York reported that Berg bought the PC for Mousaoiu that the FBI wanted to confiscate in Minneapolis. Sounds enigmatic.
Vewy intewesting.
Good article.
There is much more to be fathomed about Nick Berg and all these strange "coincidences".
The more we learn of this dude's life, the more questions we have. A pile of week-old lutefisk smells better than this fella's story.
"Reality check: it is virtually impossible to obtain such technical work as installing radio towers without a Professional Engineering license, let alone not having a college degree!"
She's wrong. A buddy of mine, no college degree, is with a group of soldiers of fortune types who travel the globe, installing radio comm. towers and gear. Last, in Africa.
This is by far the best post about this story posted here!
Thank you for posting it.
I found it odd too that the people who worked at the hotel where he stayed said he would stay out all day, and return to his room after dark (around 10:00p.m.) every night with drinks, papers, and his computer. They made a point to say he loved his computer and was always on it while at the hotel.
It was also written somewhere that Berg helped his "uncle" set up a e-mail account. But the uncle got scared and they both left the house. Where is the "uncle" now?
I know emails are better than calling people and cheaper, but I also know his *new* email account was still out there for the FBI/CIA to recover. I wonder what was in his sent and received mail?
As yet no radio towers that Nicholas Berg may have built while in Iraq on either trip have been identified.
Question: did his former uncle have political ties that caused any suspicions for the coalition?
The contract that Nick allegedly was going to get a subcontract chuck of was the contract awarded to Florida based Harris Corp. The contract was worth 96 Million and was the second contract awarded to Harris in Iraq.
Link
--snip--
The Florida-based company told Reuters it had been informed late Thursday by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority it was the winning bidder to develop the Iraqi Media Network and an official announcement would be made Friday.
Apparently the contract as soon as it was awarded came into question by the Iraqi Comminications Ministry
Link
--snip--
Less than 24 hours after Harris Corporation announced that it had won a lucrative contract to rebuild the technical infrastructure of the Iraqi media, doubts have emerged about whether it will go ahead.
Here is a link that indicates he worked on a tower near Abu Ghraib
Link
Berg was inspecting communications facilities, some of which were destroyed in the war or by looters.
During his time in Iraq, he struggled with the Arabic language and worked at night on a tower in Abu Ghraib, a site of repeated attacks on U.S. convoys and the location of the notorious prison where U.S. soldiers abused Iraqi inmates.
His father, Michael Berg, told the AP that Michael's sister, now dead, married an Iraqi man named Mudafer, who became close to Nicholas. In one of the e-mails, Nicholas Berg describes going to the northern city of Mosul, where he introduced himself to Mudafer's brother, identified as Moffak Mustaffa.
''We got along splendidly,'' Berg wrote. ''We spent a few hours and I helped him establish an e-mail account.'' --snip--
What else can comm equip be used for....IED
Bump for later.
Interesting. Berg's traveling does have questions that need answering.
Someone in another thread this after posted that Nick was receiving '11,000 pounds per month.' I assume the information was from a British publication (use of 'pounds' currency).
If true, that is a heck of an amount of money to just travel around Iraq. And who was paying it to Berg? Did he have active contracts or was it strictly freelance?
[The poster didn't give any more details or link.]
During the last couple of days, more questions than answers have arisen surrounding Nick Berg.
Good post. But did the FBI really visit Berg's family in the 13 days that he was being detained? Is this in the news lately?
One of his friends has been quoted as saying that the Iraqi police thought Berg was an Israeli spy. To add insult to injury, Berg was also carrying some literature written in Farsi including a book about Iran.