Berg’s Father: Bush "A Weapon Of Mass Destruction"

"We need to let the evildoers on both sides of the Atlantic know that we are fed up with war. We are fed up with the killing and bombing and maiming of innocent people," he said in the letter, e-mailed to IslamOnline.net by the Coalition on Wednesday, May 19.

"We are fed up with the lies from our government about Nick’s detention and we are fed up with the lies from our government about the reasons for this war," said the saddened father.

In mid March, Nick Berg was held by the U.S. military in the Iraqi northern city of Mosul for no apparent reason, prompting his father to file a lawsuit in a federal court in Philadelphia .

He was released by the Americans on April 6 and disappeared since April 9 in unknown circumstances.

On May 12, a video showed five hooded men standing behind Berg while one of them read a statement denouncing the abuses of Iraqi detainees by U.S. soldiers at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

The bearded victim was seated on the ground dressed in an orange jumpsuit while the statement was read.

After the statement was finished, Berg’s captors decapitated him with a large knife.

‘Ineffective’

Michael Berg, a retired teacher and peace activist, heaped blame on the Bush administration.

"His [Bush’s] ineffective leadership is a weapon of mass destruction," said the father, adding his son took the consequences of the policies "both stated and given with a wink and a nod by the Bush administration."

No weapons of mass destruction, the main pretest of the U.S.-led invasion-turned-occupation, have been found in Iraq more than one year since American tanks rolled into Baghdad .

"Bush, though a father himself, cannot feel my pain nor that of my family or the world who grieve for Nick because he is a policymaker, and he doesn’t have to bare the consequences of his acts," said the grieved father.

"I am sure that the others looked into my son’s eyes and got at least just a glimmer of what the rest of the world sees. And I am sure that these murderers, for just a brief moment did not like what they were doing," he said in the letter.

Berg called on the Bush administration to stop "giving preconditions to our peaceful coexistence on this small planet, and start honoring and respecting every human’s need to live free and autonomously, to truly respect the sovereignty of every state whether it be Israel, or Palestine, or Iraq".

Boost

Berg’s letter is expected to boost the opposition of the invasion of Iraq and of the current American administration in the United States and London .

"People who know me, ask me how I can stand in front of a TV camera and know that I am speaking to the people of the world. Seven weeks ago I would not have been able to do so. But seven weeks ago there was no need to do so, and the world was not flooding me with mail, email and phone calls and pouring into me the strength I needed," said Berg.

"This is a good powerful message that those expected to be pro-war are turning against it and also the Bush government," John Rees of Stop The War Coalition told IOL over phone from London .

He said Berg’s strongly-worded message would be read out during anti-war demonstration in London on Saturday, May 22.

Rees expected the rally to draw thousands of Britons infuriated by the practices of the U.S. and British forces in Iraq .

Stop The War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain have called for the march to demand an end to torture in Iraq and the withdrawal of troops from the country, according to the BBC News Online.

A total of 200 anti-war protesters demonstrated outside a fundraising dinner in central London on Tuesday, attended by former U.S. president George Bush senior.

In the United States , the letter is expected to draw greater opposition to the war, as the murder of Berg was handled as a high-profile case and received wide attention.

"The letter will push many families against the war and Bush administration to lay down their views unheard earlier," Nihad Awad, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told IOL over phone from Washington .

The advocacy group, along with several Muslim scholars, issued condemned the beheading of Nicolas, but also slammed the U.S. military aggressions in Iraq .