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May 27, 2004

Michael Moore Interviewed Nick Berg for "Fahrenheit 9-11"

Interview Believed to Have Taken Place Before, During, or After Abu Ghraib Abuses

In the left-wing Salon magazine; requires you view a stupid ad.

But the hell with giving Salon traffic and ad revenue. Here's a fair-use excerpt of all the important stuff:

May 27, 2004 | Filmmaker Michael Moore filmed an interview with American Nicholas Berg in the course of producing his documentary film "Fahrenheit 9/11" before Berg left for Iraq, where he was taken hostage and killed, Moore confirmed to Salon in a statement Thursday. The 20 minutes of footage does not appear in the final version of "Fahrenheit 911," according to the statement.

Word of the footage reached Salon through a source unaffiliated with Moore or his film "Fahrenheit 9/11"...

In a statement released to Salon, Moore said, "We have an interview with Nick Berg. It was approximately 20 minutes long. We are not releasing it to the media. It is not in the film. We are dealing privately with the family." Moore's camp declined to comment further on any aspect of the interview. Because the footage is not in the film, a spokeswoman for Miramax Films, the production company behind "Fahrenheit 9/11," said the company had no comment.

Ahem.

First of all: subpoena the interview. This is a murder investigation, after all.

Second of all: I don't know what this means. Just because he was interviewed by the left-wing traitor Moore doesn't mean he was one himself; Moore interviews conservatives, too, in order to edit them into jackasses.

But the CIA theory would seem to be out the window.

Speculation: Sorry, Ilyka, I know you find this speculation about a murdered man distasteful, but I think we're moving past the point at which taste governs the inquiry.

I'd like to know who contacted who, here. My suspicion is that Berg contacted Moore, because I'm not sure anyone even heard of Berg before his death. If Moore managed to track him down because he learned of the FBI inquiry, he's a somewhat better Internet Detective than I gave him credit for.

If, on the other hand, Berg contacted Moore, I'd like to know for what purpose. The story has been that Berg was a big-time supporter of the War in Iraq. If it turns out he wasn't, well then, what we have here is a lie, and while some lies are innocent, most are not.

Nick Kronos makes the important point, which I overlooked, that the article doesn't say it's an interview with Michael Moore; it could just be an "interview" with his dad, which the dad then sent to Moore.

Who knows.

It does get curiouser and curiouser.

posted by Ace at 04:10 PM

Comments

Berg's father is highly active in the peace movement so that could be a link.

Also, haven't read the Salon story, but the AP piece I read just says interview. So it's not certain this is a Moore interview.

It could be that Berg's father has some tape of his son, Moore has seen Berg's criticism of Bush, and Moore is going, "Hey, I can use this guy!"

So he contacts the father and asks, "Whatya got?"

"Well, there's this video."

Posted by: Nicholas Kronos on May 27, 2004 04:42 PM

Sounds like a Michael Moore publicity stunt to me.

Posted by: on May 27, 2004 06:46 PM

I'll second that.

Notice Moore's wording: "We have an interview with Nick Berg." If it was an interview Moore had conducted himself he would've said exactly that. And it wouldn't have taken him this long to bring it to light.

If we've learned anything about Michael Moore it's that he words his statements very deliberately -- to avoid people calling him a bald faced liar. You can punch holes in his logic all day long, but he's not going to get caught on the particular wording of something like this.

What happened to Berg is horrible, and this is just another example of the sick-headed opportunist Michael Moore is.

I bet it's a publicity stunt. A shameful one at that. Moore probably didn't give two shits about Nick Berg until he saw a way to exploit the tragedy in order to discredit Bush.

Posted by: The Right Wing Conspirator on May 27, 2004 08:15 PM

Can this get any more bizarre? First, we find out that a terrorist had used his computer while he was in college. Next, we find out that his dad is a member of a Stalinist "peace" group. Now we find out he may have been interviewed by Michael Moore? I'm certainly not claiming the kid was up to no good, but what is the joint probability of all 3 events independently happening?

Posted by: Mark on May 27, 2004 09:23 PM

I know you find this speculation about a murdered man distasteful

Is your name Paul? Does this post contain the word "exclusive?" Do you make bold assertions like "this guy was dirty" and then backpedal desperately from them? Do you often leave comments at other blogs calling the author a "fucking coward" or "hypocritical moron" while filling in an email address like a@b.com--without apparent irony? No?

Then I have no quarrel with what you write about this. If anything, I'd say 80% of your work on this blog is consistently better written, better researched, and more professional than most of what I see in my local paper.

Posted by: ilyka on May 28, 2004 04:28 PM

Watching the video, i have no doubt it was real, but i ask everyone to listen to the video. At the VERY END you here in plain English a man ask "AND HOW WILL THIS HAPPEN?" It is so clear and occures after the last arab chants, there is a pause and then you hear a man in a English speaking voice speak.
Why was Berg over their? Looking for work? All I hear about is how abundant work is over their. HE was a wack, and his father is a wack, but i cant help but be mad, since no one cried foul about this as much as they do these frat prank pics of Iraqs. Come on, for some reason the media feels compelled to stick up for the side that cant possibly win. Why was Moore able to walk around so freely in Iraq, how can anyone miss that lard? They should have gutted his fat butt and fed a nation

Posted by: BEAU on May 28, 2004 07:01 PM

To watch the video will make you sick but lets look back at the facts. #1 Nick lets a terrorist use his email account(without knowing he did it)and is questioned by the FBI. #2 Nick gets stopped by Iraqi police because of an Israeli stamp in his passport(Israeli Mossad says he visited the West Bank and Gaza when there). This is where Hamas & Fata has its headquarters.#3 Then he gets his head chopped of in Iraq by terrorists. Yes another brush with terrorists. #4 Moore has a clip of him that was shot for his ANTI-BUSH, ANTI-U.S.MILITARY movie. Come on guys. Don't you think that a couple of brushes with known terrorists by the same cat in just a few years is way out there. Then a visit to the West Bank and Gaza. There refugee camps are not where a person goes on vacation. Come on. His guy was up to something no good.

Posted by: Thor on May 28, 2004 09:40 PM

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