# american beheaded in Iraq, video **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 11, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662 "2004-05-11T18:23:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/261 "2004-05-13T02:21:42Z")
> [@SimonX](#): > > It’s healthy to note that despite what what some may have said and what you may have heard, what you speak of as “a typical liberal feeding frenzy… for political gain” isn’t all that different from a a typical conservative feeding frenzy for political gain. > The baser nature of man is not excised, exorcised or otherwise nullified by being a conservative. > We’s Them. > googoog’joob Oh, I agree totally. I was just as offended by 8 years of conservatives foaming at the mouth and wasting tax time and money on stupid shit during the Clinton administration. I had thought that the liberals were better than that, but the last 4 years have proven me wrong. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/262 "2004-05-13T02:42:24Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > If that’s a live man…why no struggling? > > Where’s the blood? Look again. The floor is awash in blood. And yes, he was struggling . . . and screaming. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/263 "2004-05-13T02:46:48Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Look again. The floor is awash in blood. And yes, he was struggling . . . and screaming. The head was held up. Nothing was dripping. Nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/264 "2004-05-13T02:48:17Z")
I must have watched a different video than you. He didn’t struggle at all. And how could you tell who was screaming? The quality of the video is not first rate. ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/265 "2004-05-13T02:54:20Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > If that’s a live man…why no struggling? > > Where’s the blood? So what are you saying? That Mr. Berg was already dead when he was decapitated? Or that the whole video is fake? If so, whom do you suppose faked it? President Bush? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/266 "2004-05-13T02:58:40Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > So what are you saying? That Mr. Berg was already dead when he was decapitated? Or that the whole video is fake? If so, whom do you suppose faked it? President Bush? I think the video was faked yes. But I don’t think it was Bushco that did it. There are other powers at play in Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![WernhamHogg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a587f6/32.png) [@WernhamHogg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WernhamHogg)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/267 "2004-05-13T03:04:46Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > I think the video was faked yes. But I don’t think it was Bushco that did it. > > There are other powers at play in Iraq. They certainly have evidence that Berg was decapitated. They found his body without a head. So even if the tape is fake, it’s faked to show something that really happened. It sure as heck doesn’t look faked, and such an act isn’t beyond the people who are assumed to have made it. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/268 "2004-05-13T03:11:52Z")
I believe it was faked in that he wasn’t alive when they did it. ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/269 "2004-05-13T03:15:12Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > I believe it was faked in that he wasn’t alive when they did it. I haven’t seen the video. I don’t want to see the video. But, it was my understanding that at the very begining of the video Berg gives his name and where he is from before the hooded group behind him makes their statement. ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/270 "2004-05-13T03:21:29Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > I think the video was faked yes. But I don’t think it was Bushco that did it. > > There are other powers at play in Iraq. Ok, so you think he was dead when the video was made. So who faked it, and for what purpose? Who are these “other powers” at play in Iraq? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/271 "2004-05-13T03:37:00Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > Ok, so you think he was dead when the video was made. So who faked it, and for what purpose? Who are these “other powers” at play in Iraq? What other country wants to see Iraq crushed along with others in the Mid East? ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/272 "2004-05-13T03:58:42Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > What other country wants to see Iraq crushed along with others in the Mid East? Oh, let me guess. Israel, right? Maybe I have missed it in the past, but you have just outed yourself as a bigoted asshole. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/273 "2004-05-13T04:04:13Z")
**WeirdDave** , with all due respect, a virtual mountain of cites from reputable sources have been presented in this thread about the allegations of rape, sodomy and torture. Enough that your call of “post proof or post a retraction” seems a _bit_ disingenuous. (meaning no.2 “Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; [faux-naïf-dictionary.com](http://xn--faux-naf-dictionary-w2b.com)”) Surely, you must know that “post proof or post a retraction” is a polite way of calling someone a liar ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/274 "2004-05-13T04:49:46Z")
**Reeder** , stop being so goddamned retarded. Or stop posting. Whichever you prefer, since your immensely ignorant drive-bys serve no purpose other than to destroy that which you presume to serve. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/275 "2004-05-13T05:29:18Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > I must have watched a different video than you. He didn’t struggle at all. What the fuck? I would **love** to see you do any better with your ankles tied together, your hands tied behind your back, and at least one fully grown man holding you down. Are you kidding? You’re kidding, right? If you didn’t notice struggling, blood, HIS FUCKING FACE FOR GOD’S SAKE, and very distinct, horrified screaming, fucking consider yourself lucky. I wish I hadn’t seen any of that, either. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/276 "2004-05-13T05:41:56Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > If that’s a live man…why no struggling? > > Where’s the blood? The guy was tied up, for fuck’s sake. His spinal cord was cut within a few seconds, for fucks sake. There was fucking blood everywhere, for fuck’s sake. The reason it didn’t show up well was because of a combination of low light, low resolution and having been digitised from a third or fourth-generation tape, for fucks sake. Remember the other day in GD when you did a simple math problem and came up with an answer that was off by a factor of 10,000? Well, you’ve just done it again. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/277 "2004-05-13T11:29:38Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > I think the video was faked yes. But I don’t think it was Bushco that did it. > > There are other powers at play in Iraq. Time to fetch my tinfoil hat. ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/278 "2004-05-13T12:01:38Z")
The video quality is pretty bad (and that’s probably a good thing), and the audio is out of sync with the video. The screams are heard well before the decapitation begins. The time stamp shows a lapse of at least 12 hours which leads me to believe it was shot with two different cameras (one with an incorrect time) and inaccurately pasted together. Of the various versions available on the web, some are of much worse quality than others. It you happened to view one of the better quality ones, you can clearly see a lot of blood flow on the floor, which should not be the case if they were decapitating an already dead body. ---
**Author:** ![Grant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a5b964/32.png) [@Grant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grant)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/279 "2004-05-13T12:59:51Z")
Berg had not been heard from since **April 14** and the video was released **May 11**. It is possible the poor guy was in captivity for almost a month and who knows how many beatings he recieved before this final incident. He could have been starved and dehydrated. Not to mention tied up and held down by another guy. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662/280 "2004-05-13T13:11:33Z")
I have to admit that **I was wrong** about the reaction from the Arab world. So far, the reactions I’ve seen have been those of shock and revulsion, and a rejection of the beheading as un-Islamic brutality. Good on the Arabs, and I apologize to them for my lack of faith in their innate decency. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-beheaded-in-iraq-video/244662.md?page=15)