Searching for Occam's Razor

So my father calls me tonight, and he says he's been thinking about this whole Nick Berg story, and wonders if there isn't more background than meets the eye. (Berg was the American who was brutally executed on video tape in Iraq last week.) Basically, my father's rumination is that the known facts seem to beg for a conspiracy theory to fill in the gaps.

First, according to CNN, there's the seemingly coincidental connection between Berg and Zacharias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th Hijacker". Apparently, Berg was riding a bus in Oklahoma, and lent his laptop and email password to the man sitting next to him. By coincidence, the man was a compatriot of Moussaoui's, and gave Berg's email password to Moussaoui, who later used it. Berg was interviewed by the FBI about this connection. [link]

Second, there's the question of how Berg ended up in Iraq. Berg worked as a freelance communications tower repairman, and apparently was in Iraq prospecting for business repairing cellular phone towers. It's not clear how he funded his excursion or whom he was prospecting for business.

Third, there's his more recent questioning by the FBI, who interviewed him three time after he was picked by "Iraqi police" at a checkpoint in Mosul for unspecified reasons. The FBI concluded, again, that Berg was not connected to terrorist activity. Berg's family claims that he was later transferred from Iraqi custody to a military prison, but the Coalition Provisional Authority claims that he was not in US custody. [link]

Fourth, there's the fact that Berg was executed allegedly by Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi, whom Time Magazine describes as "a Jordanian associate of Osama bin Laden's believed to be the kingpin behind the recent attacks in Iraq." [link] What are the odds that, of all the Americans in Iraq, al-Zarqawi picks up this guy?

And finally, there's the unusual statement by Attorney General John Ashcroft that Berg was not connected to terrorist activity. According to the Attorney General, "the suggestion that Mr. Berg was in some way involved in terrorist activity, or may have been linked in some way, is a suggestion that we do not have any ability to support and we do not believe is a valid one." Contrast this with the way that Cpl. James Yee's case was handled. Yee was the Army chaplain at Guantanamo Bay who was accused of espionage. Yee was charged with espionage, and when that case collapsed, he was charged with adultery and storing pornographic images on his laptop computer. He was later cleared of all charges and allowed to return to his post. The Attorney General did not make any statements concerning Yee's innocence.

It's possible that Berg was the victim of circumstance, and that the various pieces of his story were just odd coincidences, but some of the facts -- and particularly, the Attorney General's statements -- lead as easily to the conclusion that Berg was working for the US in some capacity. Something to think about, for sure.