Pros/Cons: Viewing the Nick Berg Beheading

I would like to discuss the Pros and Cons of Americans viewing the Nick Berg Beheading, and understanding whether watching it helps Americans:

A. Understand this brutal War On Terrorism

B. Understand the evil individuals behind these acts

C. Know why these terrorist groups hate Americans so much

D. Know if the video is a threat/warning/or plea to America

E. Show a never-ending war against evil

Please state your side, overall, or on each subject. Thank you

[Edited on 5-6-2004 by MKugs]

I am not even sure what the "sides" to this topic are.

To understand the relevance of the video we must first have an idea who is behind the video. All we really know at the moment is that the CIA have stated that they identified Abu Masab Al-Zaraqawi as one of the men on the video. It is apparently quite clear this is untrue. So either

(A) The CIA is lying or
(B) The CIA is quite stupid.

From this perspective it helps Americans understand the CIA.


[Edited on 5-6-2004 by Seekerof]

If you (anyone) have seen the video , for whatever reason , it opens your eyes(and wrenches your gut) to the brutality of war that the news agencies and uncle Sam try to sugar coat for We The People ...
It is VERY diturbing and sobering in regards to wartime news coverage (or lack of) to see a young man have his head severed and displayed to you with an open mouthed , dumfounded expression still on it . I feel terrible for his parents/family/personal friends and the images that must haunt them . I understand that he was there to rebuild for his company , and to make a living . I think these fanatics are telling us that absolutely no one is safe while we occupy there land , and they surely beleive in "an eye for an eye" with no seperation between what assistance you may be there for , and who you are . I beleive the war is a joke , based on lies and misinformation by our monsterous commander and cheat , but I support the men and women who have had this forced on them . The desensitizing of the media is completely erased with the viewing of this video . We need our families and friends back here (or helping somewhere they were truley needed in the first place) , and I think it is insane to impose our values on a society that we collectively know little or nothing about . They can ask for our help if they feel they need it , and if it profitable for us we will be there right quick . Let Cheney do a personal inspection for the company he still works for......Rambling off there , pardon....

The video puts a face on the monstrocites of war , and at the very least should remind us that we need to speak up against the greed and corruption that allow these things to happen . Don't forget to vote , ballots are available for the disabled , shut ins , vacationers abroad . Hopefully we will get around to counting them all this time .

Pro is: knowing what the face evil is without its facades.

Con is: it leaves a deep distress in the psyche to know that humans can be carnal savage animals.

So who really endorses such ruthless bloodshed, man or divine power?

Why not show it? I mean, they show VHS records of FLIR and LANTIRN targeting systems blowing up buildings. Whoever is inside those buildings not only won't have heads, they won't have bodies anymore. I really see no difference, you still watch people die in horrible ways.

Originally posted by oddtodd
If you (anyone) have seen the video , for whatever reason , it opens your eyes(and wrenches your gut) to the brutality of war that the news agencies and uncle Sam try to sugar coat for We The People ...
It is VERY diturbing and sobering in regards to wartime news coverage (or lack of) to see a young man have his head severed and displayed to you with an open mouthed , dumfounded expression still on it . I feel terrible for his parents/family/personal friends and the images that must haunt them . I understand that he was there to rebuild for his company , and to make a living . I think these fanatics are telling us that absolutely no one is safe while we occupy there land , and they surely beleive in "an eye for an eye" with no seperation between what assistance you may be there for , and who you are . I beleive the war is a joke , based on lies and misinformation by our monsterous commander and cheat , but I support the men and women who have had this forced on them . The desensitizing of the media is completely erased with the viewing of this video . We need our families and friends back here (or helping somewhere they were truley needed in the first place) , and I think it is insane to impose our values on a society that we collectively know little or nothing about . They can ask for our help if they feel they need it , and if it profitable for us we will be there right quick . Let Cheney do a personal inspection for the company he still works for......Rambling off there , pardon....

The video puts a face on the monstrocites of war , and at the very least should remind us that we need to speak up against the greed and corruption that allow these things to happen . Don't forget to vote , ballots are available for the disabled , shut ins , vacationers abroad . Hopefully we will get around to counting them all this time .

I agree whole-heartedly with you. Especially the voting part. Anyone else?

I had put off watching for as long as possible........ I finally did one night after the wife and kids were in bed. I decided that I need to see it to form my own opinions of it, and really for my own education as to what's going on outside of the pacific northwest. I watched it once, sat there and thought about it some, and then watched it again-- this is after reading Valhall's and others in-depth analyses of the movie-- looking for cues, miscues, etc. Depending on your stance as to the questions surrounding its validity, it's either horrible to you or a horrible B-Movie.

I'd have to say that after watching it those two times, I don't really need to see it again.

Originally posted by sweatmonicaIdo
Why not show it? I mean, they show VHS records of FLIR and LANTIRN targeting systems blowing up buildings. Whoever is inside those buildings not only won't have heads, they won't have bodies anymore. I really see no difference, you still watch people die in horrible ways.

Dont you mean airborne artillery or bombs blowing up buildings through the eyes of the FLIR systems?

Sure those videos are displayed but they pale in comparison to the gurgling screams of a man having his neck hacked off while he was still trying to breath. Those are sanitized and distant, this is up close personal and horrifying.

I can tell you why I chose to. As a member of the ATSNN reporting staff I felt I should. As an event that could be a pivotal moment in history, I believed I should. It might be pointed out that I had never seen anything even related to this. I had never viewed the Pearl video. I'm not a viewer of "Faces of Death" or any such thing as that. So on a personal level the decision caused anxiety.

The video is evidence of pure evil. No matter who the perpetrators are. It's evil incarnate as far as I'm concerned. Therefore, it is a personal decision whether you want to see what evil looks like on whether you want to watch the video or not. There was a report that some anti-war dumb-ass in a west-coast elementary school forced his class room of elementary kids to watch this and then summed up with "this is what you get when you go to war". This man should be taken out in a field by a group of parents and have a mud-hole stomped in his ass by a conglomeration of feet. I would have a lawyer right now if some one had made my kid see this.

After spending a week viewing the thing over and over in trying to match the audio and video, something weird happened. I felt like life had been sucked out of me. I asked John Nada if he had felt the same way after the time he spent with it, and he confirmed that he had (John I hope it is okay to share that - please forgive if not). On the day I finally got the matched audio/video version of the file to save so that it could be shared (and I have to say that it had become a mission at that point because there is significant doubts that go away once this occurs), I went into physical exhaustion for about three days. Taking 3 hour naps for two days in a row...and I don't nap.

It was a very dark experience. And as I stated shortly after viewing it for the first time, I wish I could rewind the clock and not have seen it...but most importantly, I wish I could rewind the clock and it not exist at all...

I would recomend watching it for no other reason then to watch the time stamp jump almost a minute from when they push him down to when they start the cutting.

Seems like a wierd place for an edit.

Originally posted by MKugs

Originally posted by oddtodd
If you (anyone) have seen the video , for whatever reason , it opens your eyes(and wrenches your gut) to the brutality of war that the news agencies and uncle Sam try to sugar coat for We The People ...
It is VERY diturbing and sobering in regards to wartime news coverage (or lack of) to see a young man have his head severed and displayed to you with an open mouthed , dumfounded expression still on it . I feel terrible for his parents/family/personal friends and the images that must haunt them . I understand that he was there to rebuild for his company , and to make a living . I think these fanatics are telling us that absolutely no one is safe while we occupy there land , and they surely beleive in "an eye for an eye" with no seperation between what assistance you may be there for , and who you are . I beleive the war is a joke , based on lies and misinformation by our monsterous commander and cheat , but I support the men and women who have had this forced on them . The desensitizing of the media is completely erased with the viewing of this video . We need our families and friends back here (or helping somewhere they were truley needed in the first place) , and I think it is insane to impose our values on a society that we collectively know little or nothing about . They can ask for our help if they feel they need it , and if it profitable for us we will be there right quick . Let Cheney do a personal inspection for the company he still works for......Rambling off there , pardon....

The video puts a face on the monstrocites of war , and at the very least should remind us that we need to speak up against the greed and corruption that allow these things to happen . Don't forget to vote , ballots are available for the disabled , shut ins , vacationers abroad . Hopefully we will get around to counting them all this time .

I agree whole-heartedly with you. Especially the voting part. Anyone else?

SAME HERE.

I saw the video and it is horrible.

I thought it would be bloodier.

It was a long slow painful death.

It was not pretty.

On a side note, did anything ever come of the discovery of the "American sounding" voices at the very end of the video?

[edit on 11-6-2004 by mpeake]

mind control, the guy was dead when they beheaded him-- no blood was pumping out, barely bled, a super fine line in the video==edited.. why not send a tape like all terrorists? How many terrorists upload directly to a website??lol, when holding a hostage--how many terrorists leave them in orange so they can be spotted?? why did one of the terrorists have a gold ring(hint* Islamic terrorists don't wear gold, in islam it's forbidden), why federal CIA issue bulletproof vests? lol why is there a white chair in the video just like the iraqui prisioner tortures? Same white chair lynnie england took a pic in?? Cause it went down in the same psy-ops jail baby!

I can't see any pros for it, as I'm one of those who believe it was all a psychologic propaganda operation from the power that be.

Cause it went down in the same psy-ops jail baby!

Yeah baby! You're right on that one.

[edit on 11-6-2004 by m0rbid]

For anyone with questions about the video itself and speculation as to its veracity, please see the following:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Feel free to discuss the pros & cons of viewing the video in this thread, but reserve other comments for one of the existing discussions.

Thx.

I have seen the video, I noticed the strange things mentioned in the earlier posts. My first reaction was that of shock, followed by absolute rage. I'm not sure if seeing the video will help people understand the war on terrorism, but I think it push some that were "sitting on the fence" over to the pro war side. I don't think too many people will even try to understand these evil individuals, due to the cowardly nature of the act. If one can get the translated transcript of the speech, It might help people understand why they hate america. It boils down to Americans being on Arab soil and alot to do with American support to Israel. If it was a threat, it didn't work, as it only stirred up anger and more hatred towards them. This being a warning from them would have the same effect as the threat. As for it being a plea? That's no way to make a plea, as it wouldn't gain much sympathy from anyone I know. As far as the never ending war against evil.....The video shows just how evil human beings can be, reguardless of who is behind it.