Nick believed Iraq needed US

Nicholas E. Berg wanted to help rebuild Iraq. Far from having opposed the war, he believed US presence there was a positive thing, family and friends said. And he saw it as a business opportunity as well. So defying State Department warnings, Berg, 26, travelled to Iraq late last year in search of work for his small Pennsylvania-based company, which builds and maintains communication towers.

He didn’t find a job, but was taken captive by Islamic terrorists. As family and friends began mourning his death, they also struggled to sort out the complicated circumstances of his beheading. It was unclear why he was singled out in the terrorists’ “retribution for US soldiers’ abuse of Iraqi prisoners”.

Berg was detained by Iraqi police in Mosul in March, US officials and his parents said. While in custody, he was questioned by FBI agents who were trying to determine what he was doing in Iraq and whether he was a US citizen. At the same time, his parents, frustrated by their inability to find out their son’s whereabouts, filed a lawsuit in in Philadelphia on April 5 asserting that he was being held by the US military in violation of his civil rights. A day later, he was released. He disappeared soon after that. US officials, however, said Berg was not detained. — (NYT)