I thought it odd that you'd have to go TO Iraq to drum up business. However, read on as to what he was supposedly doing since what he'd done, in the past, was go to Africa and develop ways to build radio towers with concrete blocks, obviating the need for steel. Just because Berg supported the war, it does not follow that he did so as a mindless mushroom patriot does. His corp's name suggests, to me, a sense of the use of radio for people. Stealing fire from the gods an' all that. It's pretty pointless to describe individuals as war profiteers anyway. Like individuals have much of a choice. (Woot! Wait for it! another thread on individual culpability! I'm going to go jump off a bridge and end my evil, war profiteering, third world oppressing life right now!)
Anyway, while I sit here waiting for my kid, here's some info from Snitilicious Sleuthing Services.
[knowing how incompetent the Keystone Fedz can be, I wouldn't be surprised if they were suspicious of Berg also because of the company's name, his earlier visits to Africa, and his ideas for brining radio to people. Combine that with his father's war activism and the Keystone Fedz probably had a woody for five days straight.]
1]. From the Yahoo! Group Tower Pro: Nick was supposed to have been a member, but there's nothing in the archives from or about him or Prometheus Towers.(Prometheus Radio is also the name of a alt radio outfit in Phila.) There also wasn't any info on the PA search page to find out more about business names, incorporations, DBAs, etc.
<http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/message/19321>http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/message/19321
>Dear Friends and Customers of Nick Berg and Prometheus Towers,
>
>I am enclosing the following news release which my wife and I are about to
>release to the media for you. If anyone out there in the broadcast
>industry can do anything to help us spread the word about our son's
>disappearance especially to the Mid East, we would be very appreciative:
>
>On March 14 our son, Nick Berg, left for Iraq to inspect some radio towers
>that had been damaged during last years war. His goal was to secure some
>contract work for his business, Prometheus Methods Tower Service. He
>planned to return on March 30 through Amman, Jordan.
>
>On March 24, Nick was picked up by the Iraqi police in Mosul and held for
>questioning for no apparent reason. He was subsequently detained by the
>U.S. military and interrogated by the FBI until his release on April 6. No
>reason was ever given for holding him for these 13 days. Immediately upon
>his release he emailed the family and proceeded south to Baghdad where he
>was staying at the Al Fanar Hotel.
>
>On April 9 he called us and said that he was seeking a safe route out of
>the country either through Jordan, or possibly Turkey. Most of the major
>routes were closed due to military action around Fallujah. Since that time
>we have had no contact with our son. No one we know in Iraq has seen or
>spoken to him, and we know that he has not accessed his email. We are
>extremely worried about his safety. We are asking anyone who has seen Nick
>or knows anything about his whereabouts to come forward and give us this
>information so that he can be safely brought home.
>
>We extend our sympathies to all of the many families who are in the same
>situation.
>
>Suzanne and Michael Berg
>
>suzdolls at msn.com
>michielberg at msn.com
<http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/message/19321>http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/message/19321
2]. Also posted at Tower-pro, with no identifying details, so take it for what it's worth: ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Humphrey" <<http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/message//group/Tower-pro/post?postID=S8deoJjKfWSFmj-GGbutuDgMHX_KHYWJDj7CdyIa88Iq4iOvAvnIQpBeT91wChO6adg6INQ>mark at y...> To: <<http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/message//group/Tower-pro/post?postID=Trjn7LX-YV8j1DlebJPHazvxxKKpH8o-e6sJOjH_dWj9JNDZORdI2SRKY9QwbKB8yZ2foOXan05Z8u_vSiCs>broadcast at b...> Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 11:35 AM Subject: [BC] [BC]Remembering Nick (was Why was Nick in Iraq?)
> The tragic news about Nick Berg's murder hit very close to home, as I
> had known him for about two years and we hired him for several recent
> projects -- in fact, he installed an auxiliary antenna for WPLY in
> February, just before heading back to Iraq. Perhaps I can shed some
> light on this situation.
>
> First, let me say that Nick impressed me as a very bright, resourceful
> and dedicated individual who cared a great deal about improving our
> quality of life by applying his skills and knowledge. Nick not only
> possessed the necessary physical ability and stamina to do the job, but
> had also studied engineering at Drexel, Penn, and Cornell, so I felt
> very comfortable letting him handle our work. I knew that he wanted to
> grow his own business, and I felt obligated to give him that
> opportunity.
>
> He had all sorts of ideas to bring technology to less-developed
> parts of the world, including a concrete tower which could be
> fabricated in remote parts of the world using locally-
> available materials, thus avoiding the problems of shipping steel in
> the absence of a good transportation network.
>
> In fact, at last year's PAB Engineering Conference in Hershey, he and
> his father (who served as business manager of the company) displayed a
> prototype modular structure called "Bovl Blocks", made of interlocking
> concrete blocks that could be cast on site, then stacked to the desired
> height. He thought this product would be particularly useful in the
> African interior, where cellular networks are just beginning to be
> built out.
>
> Why did he go to Iraq?
>
> He was aware that some towers were damaged last year during bombing
> missions, and many more had been looted... copper lines removed,
> diagonal members taken out, etc. Few obstruction lighting systems were
> functional -- he mentioned an 800 foot tower two miles from an airport
> (used by our military) that was totally dark. So he first went over in
> December to see if he could help to assist in the reconstruction,
> restore Iraq's broadcast services, and repair the serious structural
> damage that endangered the lives of their citizens.
>
> I received the following email message from Nick in early January:
>
[this is supposedly from Nick Berg]
> >About Iraq-
>
> >I am taking photos - where allowed. It's actually pretty sad - I just
> >got off one of two 320 meter monster towers in Abu Gharib (also home
> >to the main political prison) which use to support most of Baghdad
> >area's VHF and UHF.
> >Both have been badly looted, including 4000 feet or more of flexible 6-
> >1/8" heliax, two full 12X4 panel TV antennas, and even some structural
> >members. I was also in the North as I mentioned, but here there
> >wasn't as much damage. I'll definitely share some of these pix with
> >you and others next time I'm in the area - I'd love to put together a
> >little presentation for SBE or PAB in about six monthes after I've
> >been on every site and fixed some of them.
><...>
>
> I knew that Nick was planning to return to Irag in March, but hadn't
> heard any word from him over the past two months, which had me
> concerned. Then I received the message from his parents (which Stu
> Engelke posted here last week) and my heart sunk. I was at lunch
> yesterday when the news broke about his brutal murder, and I was
> devastated.
>
> If you've been following all sides of this story, you may have read
> that his parents did not receive much cooperation from OUR Federal
> Government when trying to learn his whereabouts, which is very
> disturbing. He had reportedly booked a March 30 flight back to New
> York, but missed it because he had been detained by our military.
> Today's "spin" on the story is that they told him to get out, but I'm
> not buying that.
>
> Let's keep his family in our thoughts and prayers. Our industry (and
> humanity) has lost a very fine person.
>
> Mark http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tower-pro/message/19520
Berg's E-Mails Depict Dangerous Travels
JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA - The independent businessman who was beheaded in Iraq wrote colorful e-mails to family and friends at home, foreign dispatches that showed a 26-year-old with limited Arabic skills traveling solo through dangerous parts of the country.
The January e-mails, in what now seem to be chilling references, also describe Nicholas Berg's work near the Abu Ghraib prison - "a notorious prison for Army and political prisoners," he wrote - and his brief detention by Iraqi police.
His killers cited the abuse of prisoners by U.S. personnel at Abu Ghraib as the reason for Berg's killing. The abuse was made public months after Berg wrote the e-mail.
Berg's body arrived in the United States on Wednesday, and a private memorial was planned Friday in suburban West Chester, said funeral director Carl Goldstein. A stream of well-wishers left dozens of flowers at the Bergs' home.
Nicholas Berg, the owner of a small communications company, first worked in Iraq in December and January.
He returned in March and was detained by Iraqi police working under U.S. authority - preventing him from safely leaving the country, his family contends.
In Baghdad on Wednesday, Dan Senor, spokesman for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, said that to his knowledge, Berg "was at no time under the jurisdiction or detention of coalition forces." Senor would not specify why Iraqi police, who generally take direction from coalition authorities, had arrested and held him. He said the investigation was continuing.
The FBI warned Berg shortly before his disappearance that Iraq was too volatile a place for unprotected American civilians but he turned down a State Department offer to fly him home, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
He went missing on April 9. His body was discovered in Baghdad on Saturday and an Islamic Web site on Tuesday broadcast the killing.
In his e-mails, Berg wrote of traveling to Diwaniya, about 110 miles south of Baghdad, to locate a radio tower to work on. Night had fallen, and while trying to negotiate with taxi drivers for a ride to Baghdad, Iraqi police stopped him.
"It seems they had reports about unknown Iranian people infiltrating their town, and at night they can't see much of my face," Berg wrote on Jan. 18. "The police collect me and take me off to the Lieutenant who is more worried for my safety than about me being an Iranian spy."
After explaining his story, he was allowed to leave.
The e-mails were shared with The Associated Press by David Skalish, a friend and colleague of Berg's who is an engineer for a Philadelphia radio station.
"Would that (the detention) have been a warning? Sure, I think so," Skalish said Wednesday. "But he was on a journey. In his mind it was a journey of a lifetime. He had a different comfort zone for the region."
In a Jan. 4 dispatch, Berg talks about working near Abu Ghraib.
"Then I'm back to Baghdad to hire our local business manager and hopefully get on two 1000' towers outside of Baghdad at Abu Ghreb (the site of a notorious prison for Army and political prisoners)," he wrote.
Berg's father, Michael, who opposes the war in Iraq, said top U.S. officials created an environment of limited civil rights that led to the abuses at Abu Ghraib.
"Nick died for the sins of the Bush administration," Michael Berg said Wednesday in an interview with the AP.
Skalish said it was "uncanny" Berg would have been near the prison in January. "I read this a while back and you think, oh a prison ... but now, oh my word," he said.
In a likely nod to the dangers of solo travel for an American, Berg wrote that he found it handy to be confused as a Turk.
Other dispatches from Berg talk of a "wicked sand storm," encountering few people who could understand his elementary Arabic, and of the beautiful countryside.
Berg also surmises that the U.S.-enforced no-fly zones in Iraq from the 1990s led to hundreds of radio towers not having warning lights.
"Just last week a Coalition helicopter ran into a short utility tower in the North near Mosul, knocking out one of the main 400 kV lines," he wrote.
Berg also mentions meeting a brother of an uncle by marriage. Michael Berg said that his sister, who is now deceased, married an Iraqi man who lives near Baghdad.
At times, Berg's dispatches turned technical, writing he put under this banner: "WARNING TO CASUAL READERS, TECHNICAL STUFF AHEAD."
Berg's body had been scheduled to land at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday, and officials gave conflicting accounts of whether the family had received permission to view the arrival.
Base spokesman Lt. Col. Jon Anderson said there was no outright prohibition on families' being present, but the office of Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said the Pentagon denied the family's request to witness the arrival.