I have a collection of books called 'what if ...' they contain many stories written by well established historians & journalists as to what if something happened differently in some event, esp ones that changed history in some way ... The What ifs start with known facts and the author then paints an alternative based on reasonable probabilities or possibilities (fantasy is not a part of a 'what if' scenario, the what if has to be entirely plausible)

The facts at hand ...
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1) US is embroiled in a prisoner scandal that starts to tear the US community apart and generates massive problems for the president and his secretary of defense right at a time US is experiencing its worst insurgency in Iraq. These problems extend into US relations with other countries and are also a threat to the re-election of Republicans and other leaders of the US led Iraq 'coalition'

2) That Rumsfeld meant it when he said that the US mission in Iraq could fail (assuming he meant because of growing hostility to US troops there & a potential country wide rebellion)

3) That someone with a Jewish background and said to be a communications specialist goes to Iraq 'to seek his fortune'

4) Assuming that there is substance in reports that this same Berg had some association with Zacarias Moussaoui and thus directly or indirectly with the 9/11 hijackers for some as yet not known reason.


The what if scenario is as follows ..
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What if Berg was working for either Mossad or some other clandestine agency
and what if the reports indeed are true, that Berg had some association (spying on him, friend of his, etc:) with Moussaoui. Such an association between a prime participant of a world history shaping event like 9/11 & the person reported beheaded in another history shaping event such as the Berg beheading, has odds that defy belief.

What if, Berg was on some kind of 'operation' in Iraq but had his cover blown when arrested in mosul by suspicious Iraqi police (note Berg was supposed to be in US custody right at the start of the brewing prisoner scandal, not in the middle of it). He then went missing over a month ago after returning to Bhagdad from Mosul.

What if someone planned that if a 'victim' (it would have to be someone with an identity that could appear to be verified (such as Berg's 'family' in the US) but who had no widely traceable ties such as being well known in a small community or having a traceable military background. What if the plan was to go thru the charade of a beheading without anyone having to commit murder to do it (it would have to be convincing enough to satisfy both Arab and western observers).

The goal of the deed being to 1
1) deflate the attack on the US presidency and in one-fell swoop, to deflate the furore over treatment of Iraqi prisoners as well as to justify why other material & investigations subsequently get buried, esp the ongoing investigation into the 23 deaths in custody that are being looked into.

2) To take the heat out of arab hostility that was threatening to trigger a mass uprising in Iraq that in turn could have spun out of control. Arabs hearing of the Berg beheading are quoted as saying how pleased they were that a US citizen got killed (as we saw on our local news).

The actual video of the beheading is of very poor quality and right at the point that Berg was supposedly killed the camera waves all over the place such that it is quite impossible to say the he was seen being actually killed (very very poor planning if indeed the intention was to do this deed just to be videoed). The body on the floor at the point of decapitation could have been anyone including a cadaver made up to look the part, there are plenty of them in Iraq at the moment). The perps were so well disguised that they could have been anyone (except perhaps members of the Mickey Mouse club). The noise was drowned out by shouts of Allah Akubar & thus very confused.

If the beheading was staged, it was done well enough to have achieved its goals. It appears to be readily available on the Internet for all to see.

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Whatever any variation of the above 'what if' scenario might be and whatever the truth turns out to be, the above 'what if' is not totally implausible. If the beheading was real then it was a godsend for Bush & my how they turn up just when he always needs them.

The impact of the act was dramatic and appears to have taken the sting out of the Iraqi rebellion as well as the people rebellion in the US. A catastophe for the US may have been avoided. The republicans are all but back in control and dissent has again been brought under control.

Doug Marker

PS I would not have entertained the above 'what if' story here had I not read about Berg being Jewish and Berg having had some direct or indirect association with the one supposed hijacker that survived 9/11 (Moussaoui was to be lead pilot of the 4th plane). The odds of the connection between Berg & Moussaoui having a common 'friend' who used Bergs email & notebook seems to me to be beyond belief. Taken further the 'what if' scenarios regarding just who & what Moussaoui is/was or how he got nabbed provide a whole lot more 'what if' speculation. Was Berg there in Oklahoma tracking Moussaoui knowing he was part of a plot to do harm in the US.

I have a K5 account & went looking but am not sure where to look. I found several items on the Berg video that were very close in theme to the points covered.

I have no real notion as to if the video was real or staged, it just struck me as having glaring inconsistencies & I now see that many other people picked up on the same plus a lot more aspects.

Doug M

#2
- Just discovered I don't have an account (I thought I was logging in but it now seems not. To complicate matters they say that due to recent abuse they have stopped accepting new members. I guess I will have to wait this one out.

is this a place where members 1st debate then vote on submitted material which when approved goes up for public viewing ?

Tks - Doug

For me, it seems that my little list of discrepancies is tiny.

Some additional material K5 item brings up ...

Seeing Berg in an orange jumpsuit seemed odd but I missed the point that it was standard US prison issue & WTF was Berg as a captive of al-Qaeda militants, doing in it.

K5 item seems to accept without doubt that Berg is dead (I had not concluded that other than to wonder how his body was identified - no head, perhaps fingerprints - maybe they had them on file from his earlier US incarceration). Implication from K5 being that perhaps he died in US custody while being being 'interrogated' at Abu Ghaib prison & that the video was a way of covering this up whilst taking heat of the administration ?

K5 also mention the matter of the chair. I am now inclined to wonder about this coincidence (same model & colour as the one appearing in other Abu Ghaib photos ??? - sure al-Qaeda terorists might shop at the same supermarket in Bhagdad WTF ???).

Thanks for pointing me to the article. It doesn't end the issue, just reinforces the need to question the stuff we get dished up.

Doug Marker

PS in today's news I see that Colin Powell is asking why more Arabs haven't reacted to the murder of Berg ----- poor man (Powell that is).