Four years ago today, the morning of September 11, 2004 was an awful day. On this infamous morning I was asked by the high school students I was teaching at the time, why this awful thing had happened. I know that some of them wanted to hear a call to arms against evil people across the sea, but, instead, I told them the truth: A century of Anglo-American policies of economic colonization and buying-off-the-king occupation throughout the world had caused people the world over to hate us. I told them that people all over the world were frustrated and humiliated by their inability to obtain self determination for the people of their country, true sovereignty for their governments, and freedom from the abuse of economic domination which amounts to enslavement in all of the profitable markets with little or no defenses. I wanted the first answer that my students had that day to be the truth.

So what were we to do when we in America were attacked on September 11? I say we should have done then what we never did before: Stop speaking to the people we labeled our enemies and terrorists and start listening to them. Stop giving preconditions to our peaceful coexistence on this small planet, and start honoring and respecting every human’s need to live free and autonomously, to truly respect the sovereignty of every state whether it be Israel, or Palestine, or Iraq. To stop making up rules by which others must live and then separate rules for ourselves.

Then another awful day came to my life. On May the 10, 2004, I learned that my son Nick, a civilian looking for contract work in Iraq, had been murdered.

Nick told me he was going to Iraq for a big contract, but I knew better. I knew he was going over there to help. He would help rebuild Iraq. He believed the lies of the Bush administration. He was convinced that Iraq was a threat, and that they probably were responsible in some way for flying airplanes into the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. So Nick was there to support this president too. He never made a penny in Iraq. His trip not only buried him, but his company as well.

Nick was detained in Iraq illegally and without ever being accused of any wrongdoing by our military and FBI in Mousul . He was held until after the truth about the atrocities at Abu Graib Prison condoned by George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzalez became public. They became public and so humiliated and enraged the Iraqi people that the war which until that time had been mostly one sided, changed its nature and intensified to what it has been ever since.

And when by filing a Writ of Habeas Corpus I obtained the release of my son from the military prison, it was too late for him to make it back home alive. On May 7, 2004 Nick was murdered. On May 10 2004 I was called by the State department and informed. On May 11, 2004 a videotape of my son’s brutal murder was posted on the internet for all the world to see.

When I received that devastating phone call of May 10, 2004, I waited for images of revenge I was sure would quickly enter my mind. I waited but none appeared. That imagined revenge was held in check by what I thought Nick would do, by the endless cycle of violence it would perpetuate, by the justification of revenge it would stand for, by what it would do to me and by the thought of the parents of those against whom I would seek it. These thoughts then are what started me on my journey to forgive, to truly find peace deep within my being, and to travel the miles to share this peace with whomever I could. But, neither the inward journey nor the out ward one would be as easy as I thought it would be.

I have learned, on most days to forgive the people, whoever they were, who killed my son. And, on very good days I have even forgiven George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzolez the three of whom I hold most responsible for my son’s death. But, I have learned that to forgive does not imply to condone, to justify, or to forgive the act. We must forgive the people, not their acts. So it is completely within my philosophy of forgiveness when I say: George Bush was wrong!

George Bush tried to use my son’s death to justify his war. And he was wrong! I told the world: “Nick Berg died for the sins of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld.” And it that statement it is their actions not their surely wounded souls that I condemn.

I condemn George Bush’s effort to use my son’s death to further his politics! I condemn his lie to us that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction! I condemn his lie to us that Al Quiada had been in Iraq before he destabilized the country! I condemn his lie to us that Iraq was involved in the events on 911! And I condemn his continued insistence that “We must stay the course!” even as pieces of our once great nation sink back into the ocean from neglect.

George Bush is wrong about another thing too! He is wrong along with corporate America in thinking that our natural resources come out of the ground. They do not come out of the ground! They come out of the families, the schools, the neighborhoods and the communities where they live. He is squandering not only our most valuable resource, the human resource, but the only resource this nation can count on! And I condemn that waste.

Let’s make every day a Labor Day, by acknowledging that all that comes out of the ground is dirt. That is, it is dirt until the sweat, the blood, the skills and the labor of human beings converts it into something useful, and it is useful only in that it helps preserve humanity. The only value of precious metals and petroleum products is the value added by human labor! And George Bush is squandering this human labor! He is squandering this human resource! He has put my son, who had so much to give, and so much to share, back into the dirt where he lies buried today! He has put over 200 other civilian contractors from over 30 other nations back into the dirt too, and they had gifts to give humanity! He has put close to 2000 American Troops and other nations’ troops back into the dirt. They all had valuable gifts for humanity that they won’t be able to give now! George Bush has put over 100,000 innocent Iraqi men and women, boys and girls, babies and aged back into the dirt. And they had gifts for humanity that they will never get to give either!!!! AND I CODEMN THESE ACTS OF GEORGE BUSH TOO!!!!!

So we must stop George Bush before he puts you or someone you love into the dirt too! The sooner we bring our troops home, the sooner they will be out of jeopardy, and the sooner we will be safe in our skyscrapers, our subways, our trains, our homes our schools and our communities. As long as we keep trying to deprive the people of the Middle East of what they truly deserve, what we all truly deserve: Sovereignty! Self-Determination! Freedom from abuse! The sooner we will become again a civilization free from the fear of terror, and free from the spreading of terror.

There is nothing more crucial in your life, for your life, or for the lives of those you love than to stop this war and bring our troops home now. You can do it but not from here and not from your living room. Set aside the dates September 24^th and September 26^th. George Bush tried to put Cindy Sheehan in the ditch, but she wouldn’t roll over. Instead she got the ball rolling and got a caravan of buses rolling toward the White House. Cindy Sheehan has got the ball rolling, but she needs you and me and everyone we know to be by her side on September 24^th and September 26^th in Washington DC to show the world through united mass demonstration and acts of civil disobedience that we want our troops home now! That we want to stop putting our most valuable resources back into the ground, and get them started working for humanity! For civilization! And to restore decency to America!

There is nothing more important for you to do on September 24^th and 26^th than be in Washington DC by Cindy Sheehan’s side. Your job isn’t more important! Your money isn’t more important! Your time isn’t more important! Going to school that Monday isn’t more important! And staying out of jail isn’t more important! Henry David Thoreau said: “Dissent without resistance is consent!!!” ACT ON YOUR DISSENT AND RESIST WITH US ON SEPTEMBER 26!!!!! What good are jobs, money time, school and few hours avoiding discomfort if you or one of your family is thrust back into the dirt by this war? I would, Cindy Sheehan would, and every other survivor of a victim of this atrocious war would gladly give all of these things up to have their loved one back! We don’t get the chance though, but you do if you ACT NOW! BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! SIGN UP FOR A BUS TO DC NOW! DISSENT NOW!!! RESISTANCE NOW!!!

Michael Berg