If you believe that, then you could as well believe that he was trying to infiltrate Al Qaida. Honestly, in the current situation, an american Jew trying to infiltrate it seems significantly more likely to me than an american Jew trying to join it.
Also, an intelligence agent is more likely than a random wannabe terrorist to contact someone like Moussaoui since the former would have access to more informations than the latter.
Loathe though I be to deconstruct this any further, and unwilling to delve (as some have) into the “primary sources” I cannot resist the temptation to add:
Why is the moussaoui story taken at face value? That is, suppose the following is true:
After Berg’s father makes too much noise, the fbi wants info on HIM.
They pick up nick, they flip him.
He goes home, needs a story for his dad to cover why he was picked up (and, more importantly, why he was let go…you always wonder about the bona fides of an associate who reappears on the streets with no ostensible legal detriment following a brief period of detention…)
(That is, that’s what I am told…)
.
improvises a story about the only name he knows connected with 9/11, makes up preposterous email password tale, which only later surfaces because of his misfortunes with al-ansar and now has us all chasing our tails?
Zarqawi / Moussaoui / Berg Timeline
Hopefully this will help bring the details together into a coherent narrative.
1980s - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi fights as a mujaheddin against the Soviets in Afghanistan, reportedly alongside Osama bin Laden. Because the CIA are rumored to have funded some of this resistance, Zarqawi may have been viewed as a U.S. ally at this time.
1989 - Soviets pull out of Afghanistan; Zarqawi returns to Jordan where he is imprisoned for trying to establish an Islamic caliphate in place of the Jordanian monarchy.
1996 - Zarqawi released from prison.
1999 - an acquaintance of Zacarias Moussaoui shares a bus seat with Nick Berg. Berg is taking a class at a “remote campus” of U. of Oklahoma, possibly Tulsa (which offers a Master’s in Telecom Sciences). Since Moussaoui later settled in Norman, and attended flight school there near the home campus of UO, it’s possible that the detail calling it a “remote campus” is incorrect, and that the person Berg spoke to was in the same cell as Moussaoui.
Also 1999 - Zarqawi’s recruits begin training in “large numbers” in Afghanistan. Some of them make use of Al-Qaeda facilities at Herat (near the Iranian border), reportedly specializing in chemical and biological agents. This serves to connect Zarqawi and bin-Laden as at least business associates.
October 2000 - Zarqawi indicted in absentia for Millennium bombing plot targeting several sites in Jordan. US Treasury report agrees that his terrorist group, al-Tawhid, is determined to overthrow the monarchy of Jordan because it is “un-Islamic”.
February 2001 - Moussaoui enters America.
17 August 2001 - Moussaoui arrested on immigration charges and prevented from becoming the “20th hijacker”. His connection to the September 11th plot solidly ties him to Osama bin Laden and to Al-Qaeda. When he was arrested, Moussaoui had an address book which listed a phone number for fellow Moroccan Amer el Azizi, who studied chemical weapons (reportedly Zarqawi’s specialty) at the Zarqawi camp in Afghanistan.
28 October 2002 - US diplomat Laurence Foley assassinated in Jordan. The assassination was carried out by two gunmen who implicated Zarqawi as the planner. Foley was probably targeted because he was a valuable link in the relationship between the Jordanian monarchy and the United States.
2003 - Berg travels to Kenya to install telecommunication equipment. There is probably no connection between his presence and Kenya’s increased vigilance for terrorism, but it should be noted that 2003 was also the year that Kenya undertook several major initiatives to combat terrorism. If Berg was covertly working for someone other than himself, his “communications tower repair” cover would have been ideal for traveling around a country where nearly every locale needs more communications towers.
February 2003 - Colin Powell testifies before the United Nations that Zarqawi has likely moved to Baghdad. Powell also asserts that Zarqawi is associated with Saddam Hussein.
March 2003 - US Invades Iraq.
21 December 2003 - Berg heads for Iraq. While trying to secure telecom contracts, he also looks up an acquaintance in Mosul: an Iraqi man whose brother had been married to Berg’s late aunt.
1 Feb 2004 - Berg leaves Iraq; this stay lasted just over 30 days.
February 2004 - Zarqawi’s letter detailing his plans for inciting sectarian violence is intercepted.
14 March 2004 - Nick Berg returns to Iraq for the second time.
24 March 2004 - Iraqi police arrest Berg in Mosul while he was riding in a taxi. His story to friends was that he had been up to “drunken mischief.” Local police chief claims that Berg had no ID on him. Contradicting reports state that he was accustomed to carrying a U.S. Passport that happened to have an Israeli stamp. It is possible that he was reluctant to show this passport because of the stamp.
25 & 26 March 2004 - FBI[sup]1[/sup] agents reviewed Berg’s case and questioned him. They also questioned him about a week later, while he remained in the custody of the Iraqi police. However: both the Mosul police and the U.S. authorities deny holding him for the thirteen-day period.
30 March 2004 - According to his parents, Berg had planned to return home on this date, but was prevented from doing so because he is still being held by Iraqi police. If he had any hidden agenda or mission – and if what his parents say is true – then we would expect that he accomplished it (or was interrupted before accomplishing it) in the last weeks of March.
31 March 2004 - an FBI agent visits the Bergs in Philadelphia to confirm their son’s identity and ask them a few questions.
1 April 2004 - US Consul official sends an e-mail to Berg’s parents informing them that he is being held by the US military.
5 April 2004 - Berg’s parents filed a petition in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, saying that the US military was illegally detaining their son.
6 April 2004 - Berg is freed in Mosul and returns to Baghdad that day. He checks into room 602 of the Al-Fanar hotel despite being advised by the FBI to leave the country. Employees of the hotel later recall that during his stay, he returned late to his room (10pm ish) each night, usually with beer and mineral water.
8 April 2004 - a reporter from the St. Petersberg Times runs into Berg in a Baghdad gym while working out. The gym owner is obviously familiar with Berg, as are several of the other regulars.
10 April 2004 - Berg disappears from Baghdad after checking out of his hotel at about 0700 local, having placed some bags in storage with plans for an eventual return (“Inshallah […] in a few days” according to the receptionist). Whether he was leaving the country (since he had planned to do so earlier) or just traveling in-country is a mystery. An American diplomat offered to put him on a flight to Jordan. He reportedly declined, intending rather to travel overland to Kuwait and leave from there. Why go to Kuwait if he was coming right back?
12 April 2004 - Berg’s parents e-mail the diplomat in question (name?) and let him know they haven’t heard from him yet.
14 April 2004 - US Consulate sent a private contractor to Berg’s hotel, the Al-Fanar, where according to the contractor, nobody recalls him staying there.
Late April / Early May 2004 - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi kills Berg in Iraq (probably Baghdad).
8 May 2004 - Berg’s body discovered near a highway overpass in Baghdad, presumably the same day he was killed.
11 May 2004 - Video of Nick Berg’s death is distributed/broadcast to Al-Qaeda websites.
Whew! Did I leave anything out? Alright, here are the bits that don’t make sense to me:
The US diplomat offers Berg a flight to Jordan; he reportedly declines, and then is killed by – what are the odds? – terrorists who operate primarily in and around Jordan.
He had refused the flight on the grounds that he would be exposed to kidnapping and attacks, having to travel through bad territory to get to his flight. Nonetheless, the “safe” route he chooses gets him kidnapped and killed.
Why the long gap between Berg’s disappearance in Baghdad and his reappearance (dead) in the same city?
Why can’t I get any information on when Nick was in Israel, other than “just before” he went to Iraq?
If he was carrying anti-Semitic literature, is it possible he wanted to have it translated, or demonstrate to a friend what ignorance existed in Iraq? Or did he get the same kind of kick out of it that some Dopers get out of reading Chick tracts?
No, but he got a funny look in his eye when the Queen of Diamonds was mentioned.
If you look in some of the other threads, you can find still more corroboration of the story.
Nobody ever said that he worked for the coalition, he was there on his own.
It’s not that I’m a trusting guy; I just try to be scientific and find the most reasonable explanation.
Possibly to cover his ass precisely in case he would be kidnapped or run in some kind of troubles, perhaps expecting that appearing to be antisemitic and intereste din the Koran could help in such situations?
I thought it was odd that the person whose password was stolen by a terrorist would end up murdered by terrorists in Iraq. Separately the odds of each event are probably pretty slim. Combined they are even less likely to occur. I’m not a conspiracy freak but I couldn’t see the harm in an investigation of Mr Berg.
OK, finding out Michael Moore interviewed Berg for his movie is just weird. Statistically and cosmically.
Funnily enough, that is the most sense I’ve ever heard you make. 