A Man of Grace and Conviction

When I saw on the news that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed, before I could even decide how I felt about it, I saw an interview with Michael Berg. Michael is the father of Nicholas Berg, the young contractor who was beheaded on a live internet feed, very probably by al-Zarqawi himself. It would be perfectly understandable for him to have jumped for joy at the news of the death of the man who had murdered his son so brutally, but he didn't. He said that it was a tragedy and that he felt for the al-Zarqawi's family who would be grieving just as the Berg family had been grieving.

I found an article that gave a little more of what Berg said.

"I think al-Zarqawi's death is a double tragedy," Michael Berg told The Associated Press after learning a U.S. airstrike had killed the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. "His death will incite a new wave of revenge. George Bush and al-Zarqawi are two men who believe in revenge."...

Michael Berg, a pacifist who is running for Delaware's lone House seat on the Green Party ticket, said al-Zarqawi's death is likely to foster anti-American resentment among al-Qaida members who feel they have nothing left to lose.

Berg said the blame for most deaths in Iraq should be placed on President Bush, who he said is "more of a terrorist than Zarqawi."

"Zarqawi felt my son's breath on his hand as held the knife against his throat. Zarqawi had to look in his eyes when he did it," Berg added, pausing to collect himself. "George Bush sits there glassy-eyed in his office with pieces of paper and condemns people to death. That to me is a real terrorist."
Berg: No Good in Al-Zarqawi's Death

I am deeply humbled by this man. I, too, am a pacifist from as far back as I had any knowledge of war, but I'm not sure I could have the grace to apply it to the person who murdered my child with his own hands. It's things like this that remind me of how much I still need to learn.