Nick Berg

Except for outrage and a promise from Bush that the killers would be brought to justice (uh huh), we've heard nothing from them. Even a statement why Mr. Berg's body was flown into Dover with other military bodies, something I read is unusual for civilian deaths, even when the civilians are contractors with the military.

Mind you, I don't like the extent to which some conspiracy theorists are spinning this. For example, one says there is proof that these were contractors playing al Qaeda who killed Berg as a symbol. But as long as the government response to this is only to demand outrage from Arabs (many of whom had already expressed such), they're leaving the field wide open for some nasty conclusions given some of the inconsistencies presented (plus the timing of the video's release).

Ironically, however, additional abuses - and word from Sy Hersh's article that orders for such abuse came all the way from Rumsfeld - have overshadowed this young man's death. I did not hear the young man's name referenced at all in mainstream media yesterday, and only slightly on Sunday during the pundit shows.