Wizbang: The Nick Berg Video

Wizbang: The Video

You've been hearing about the horrific video of the Nicholas Berg murder by Islamic militants. The video is available to see in a variety of places on the internet. I hunted it down at the site above, which also lists other places online that have a copy of the video. I watched it because I want to know the character of the enemy we are dealing with. Uncensored. I don't need mainstream media to mediate what I see and hear. If you want to see it, the link above will take you to it.

Its a horrible thing to watch. This man died in terror and great pain. It was not quick or merciful. It was brutal, and showed the absolute lack of humanity in his killers. As I noted in a previous post, there has not been what I would consider a real outcry from the Islamic world about this atrocity. And while many Muslims are quick to say that what was done to this man has nothing to do with Islam, his murderers killed him while chanting "God is Great", and after reading a prepared statement citing a basis in the Koran for their actions. He was slaughtered with no more regard than you would kill a rabid dog or cattle.

If a Christian did this to an innocent Muslim person, it would be swiftly repudiated and condemned by a very clear majority of people in the West. And that condemnation would not be qualified in any way. However, in the Arab world, that is not the response. In the Arab world, there are mixed feelings about this crime. I simply can't understand that.

Atrocities like this lead one ever more in the direction of thinking that we are heading toward, if not already in one, a clash of civilizations. The West vs. Islam. Because its hard to imagine finding common ground with a culture that can find in its faith a justification for this atrocity.