How can I comment without seeming churlish? Michael Berg, father of Nick, is venting his more than understandable grief, by attacking Bush, Rumsfeld and the Patriot Act. All good targets for stand-alone reasons, but to tie them into Berg's death is a bit much.

If the invasion of Iraq was unfounded or unjust, fine. If Rumsfeld rushed us into a war that he didn't know how to handle once he "won" it, fine. If the Patriot Act is over-reaching and unconstitutional - fine again; plenty of people feel the same way.

It goes without saying that Berg's son did not deserve to die, nor are the men who killed him anything less than savage animals. However, Nick Berg went to Iraq, not once, but twice, of his own volition, to make money, which by his own words, he did.

Mr. Berg is suffering through something I simply cannot comprehend. I watched the video and couldn't make it through to the end - it's just that horrific. But for all that, it is irresponsible for the media to publish his grief-distorted thoughts as some sort of proof that the war/invasion was wrong, that Rumsfeld must go, and that the Patriot Act is a violation of every civil right we possess. Berg should not be a symbol to anyone of anything - other than a reinforcement that the extremists need to be hunted down. Will we get every one? Of course not. Must we try? We must.