The Sad Spectacle of Michael Berg

This is truly pathetic:

The spectacle of Michael Berg appearing on national television to lament the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the man who decapitated his son, will probably end up as nothing more than a bizarre footnote in the War on Terror.

But Berg's statements provide a window into the psychological state of those whose hatred of the president has grown into an obsession. It is one thing to dislike President Bush or think that the Iraq War was a colossal mistake. But Berg despises the President so much, that it leads him to sympathize with his son's murderer.

"Well, my reaction is I'm sorry whenever any human being dies," Berg told CNN when asked about the death of Iraq's leading terrorist. "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."

The world should need little reminder of the grisly video in which Zarqawi saws off the head of a screaming Nick Berg, and holds it up to the camera. Zarqawi's group took credit for the May 2004 beheading and the video was published with a caption reading, "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi slaughtering an American."

Berg describes himself as a "pacifist," yet on Fox News, he excused Zarqawi's use of violence. Berg said it was "to defend his region of the country from American invaders." The statement makes even less sense given the fact that Zarqawi was Jordanian.

Perhaps if Nick Berg were a soldier who was killed in action as a direct result of Bush's decision to send troops into Iraq, his father's anger toward Bush would be easier to understand. But his son went to Iraq voluntarily, to make money as a contractor after the invasion.

Given that it's difficult to explain Berg's statements from a logical standpoint, we are forced to examine them within the context of the psychological trauma he experienced.

You're pretty far gone when you see a man cut off your child's head and identify with the murderer more than with your countrymen.

I hope God will grant Michael Berg and his family the strength to cope with the horrible, horrible murder of Nick Berg. Nobody should die that way. Thanks to the President and our fine, fine armed forces; Zarqawi at least will never do such a thing again.