Nick Berg wanted to help rebuild Iraq's telecommunications infrastructure. He went to Baghdad in March seeking work with a company that had previously hired him, but apparently no job was available this time. Unfortunately, Berg did not heed State Department warnings to leave Iraq and he reportedly refused government offers to arrange his return to the United States. Earlier this week he fell into enemy hands and was beheaded by Iraqi captors who said they were avenging the treatment of Iraqis detained by Americans at Abu Ghraib prison. His killers released video of his execution on the Internet.
Berg's killing was an act of savagery that outraged many people, Arabs included, across the globe. Berg's executioners will come to understand that their brutality will not not only steel American resolve to advance freedom in Iraq, but it will curb global outrage toward Americans for the abuses of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.
"This shows how base and vile those who wear the robe of Islam have become," Abdullah Sahar, a Kuwait University political scientist, told the Associated Press. "We were winning international sympathy because of what happened at Abu Ghraib, but they come and waste it all."
It needs to be understood that Berg's executioners are not representative of all Muslims, just as the egregious conduct of a few at Abu Ghraib does a disservice to all American men and women in uniform.
But Berg's killing is akin to throwing gasoline on a fire. American leaders have apologized for the conduct of service members and private contractors at Abu Ghraib. The entire globe will watch how the United States brings the responsible parties to justice.
It remains to be seen if there will be any justice for Berg.
If anything, the actions of Berg's executioners remind us of the brutality suffered by thousands under Saddam Hussein's rule and the desperation of people who lack the freedoms to peaceably disagree or a justice system that would hold them to account for their savagery. It also is a graphic display of the type of enemy the United States faces in this conflict. If, as suspected, the killers have ties to al-Qaida, it is a reminder that the people who caused the attacks of 9/11 need to be hunted down and brought to justice.