No! Stop and think about it... If this connection between MM and Berg turns out to have legs, MM will surely pull anything off his website that may have potential clues. The Drama Queen's rantings need to be documented and stored for safekeeping.
Just do what I'm doing: Scroll past it and ignore it.
I don't have the stomach to read it, but it needs to be here for safekeeping, just in case.
JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press
In a 16-minute interview shot for Michael Moore's latest film, slain American Nicholas Berg said he was nervous about the security situation in Iraq as he prepared to travel there as an independent businessman, Berg's family said Saturday.
Moore's crew shot the footage at an Iraqi business conference in Arlington, Va., on Dec. 4, brother David Berg said. Nicholas Berg's decapitated body was found in Baghdad on May 8, and a video of his killing was posted on an Islamic militant Web site several days later.
Moore on Thursday confirmed he had footage of Berg - shot for the anti-President Bush film "Fahrenheit 9/11" - but said he would share it only with the family. Berg's brother and sister praised Moore for that, and said they would also keep the footage private.
Berg's sister, Sara Berg, said her brother told Moore's crew he was nervous about his safety in Iraq.
"He recognized it was a concern, and he kind of pointed out that he'd worked in difficult situations before," Sara Berg said. "It's definitely something that he didn't shrug off."
Berg went missing on April 10 and wasn't heard from again until his body was found.
Sara Berg said her brother seemed enthusiastic in the footage. David Berg said it was "weird seeing Nick talk," but described the interview as dry. He said the first thing he noticed was that his younger brother - who was most comfortable in casual clothes - wore a suit.
"It's one of the few times I've seen him dressed up, and he looked really good," David Berg said by phone from his home outside Newark, N.J.
The interview, which was not conducted by Moore, centered on the technical work Berg hoped to find repairing radio towers on behalf of his company, Prometheus Methods Tower Service. Berg, 26 when he died, also talks about humanitarian work he did in Uganda and Kenya.
"Nick seemed to be fairly conscious of using this thing to promote his business," David Berg said. "(The interviewer) does ask him at one point about the money and he said no one's denying there's money to be made. But it's very clear when you watch it, Nick knew he wasn't going to make a lot of money."
Sara Berg, speaking by phone from her home in Virginia, said she saw the video footage as a "gift."
Moore said he had considered using some of the footage in his film but that it got edited out, David Berg said. Aware of the footage they had, some of Moore's staffers cried when they heard about Berg's death, the filmmaker told David Berg.
Nicholas Berg's parents will see the video after returning to their suburban Philadelphia home from vacation, David Berg said.
"Fahrenheit 9/11," which recently won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, accuses the Bush administration of stealing the 2000 election, overlooking terrorism warnings before Sept. 11, 2001, and fanning fears of more attacks to secure American support for the Iraq war.
Given Moore's political leanings, David Berg said he was "really nervous" about what the footage of his brother might show. Nicholas Berg was in favor of bringing democracy to the Middle East, his family has said, but David Berg said his brother wasn't overtly political.
"He went to Iraq because he had certain beliefs about helping people in messed up situations, but it's not like he was trying to help the Bush administration," David Berg said.
David Berg said Moore has handled the situation with "dignity, respect and discipline."
"Michael Moore has really been a total class act with this whole thing," David Berg said. "He could have sold this to the media or stuck it in his movie."